The impact that celebrities have these days
is ever increasing among all age groups. Recently however what is defined as a
celebrity is slowing changing as a result of the Internet and globalisation,
but do these ‘internet stars’ fall under the celebrity category. A prime
example of this is how, an individual can record a video of them singing a song
put it on Youtube and over night become a celebrity.
The above link shows a 12 year old boy- Greyson Chance, who
virtually over night became an internet star after he posted a video of his
rendition of Lady Gaga’s ‘Paparazzi’. The video clip was seen by more than 20
million people and lead him to be invited onto Ellen Degeners talk show, where
he performed and thus signed onto Degeners record label. But do you see Chance
as purely a star of the internet or a celebrity?
Be you an internet star or a celebrity
there is a downside.. or what most people think is a downside.. The Paparazzi,
everywhere you go watching your every move waiting for you to crack. Singer/Song
writer Britney spears was a celebrity that let the pressure of the industry get
to her. In 2008 she hit rock bottom, blaming the paparazzi for pushing her into
having a mental breakdown- the constant pursuit for photos of her to a rapid
downward spiral, which to the loss of custody of her two children.
Despite this obvious negative of
being a celebrity the desire is still great. ‘People want so badly to
become celebrities that they’ll take as their model the talentless nobodies
they worshipped in there youth’. [Di Giovanna 1996]
References:
Di
Giovanna 1996, High Noon on the Electronic Frontier: Conceptual Issues in
Cyberspace, ‘Losing your voice on the internet’ – PG 449. edited by Peter Ludlow
Your blog on this topic really got me thinking about celebrities vs. internet stars. I am a big celebrity fan but not so big on the internet stars – until I remembered how much I loved watching Rosie and Sophia Grace on Ellen.
ReplyDeleteThe internet now has a way to create stars like never before as exposure through YouTube is almost guaranteed.
I like the way you’ve pointed out that it’s not all smooth sailing in the world of celebrity, but also that people are so desperate for it that they will go to any means to get it.
A very though provoking post!
Well done on your post! I somewhat agree with the question are they just internet stars or celebrities. As you said, it is so easy to become an overnight internet star these days as millions of people including myself waste hours searching YouTube and watching all the “most watched videos” of the day. Videos can go from 0 views to thousands overnight but does that really make them a celebrity.
ReplyDeleteI think it all started when the Beibs got scouted from YouTube videos. It's becoming relatively well known that the internet is a viable platform to promote oneself and to hopefully make it big. A friend of mine's ex-boyfriend whom I still have on Facebook is making such an attempt. Unsuccessfully and humiliatingly so far, but as far as branding and promotion goes, should he have actually been funny, he might have been able to make it. That is, branding, promotion, advertising and dispersal of the image is what is needed to 'make it'. Speaking of which, I think Jason Derulo may have found his fame through YouTube videos also. There's a pattern here, I wonder when we'll find ourselves with a Twitter Superstar.
ReplyDelete