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Jamie Wilkinson
Evan Roth
James PowderlyAlice Marwick on celebrity theory
NYU PhD student Alice Marwick delivered an excellent keynote on Day 2 of ROFLCon last weekend, where LOLs and anecdotes were in abundance. Presenting some of her work on “social status and elitism in Web 2.0″ Marwick brought a badly needed breath of critical analysis to the conference.
Ideas that stuck out to us, expanded by her recently released lecture notes.
A taxonomy of celebrity
- careerist promoters: people who maintain an internet presence to further their offline careers or activities. e.g. Julia Allison
- creative promoters: “seeking recognition based on what they create, not just their own persona.” e.g. Ze Frank, Robert Scoble
- self promoters: “people who are promoters, but they’re promoting themselves as a product.” “scenequeens of Buzznet” cited; sure Tila Tequila falls in here too.
- reluctant celebrities: “someone with no desire to become famous can become notorious very quickly… some end up enjoying their newfound fame, others find it disturbing, distressing, and even deeply troubling.” e.g. Star Wars Kid
Clash b/w Internet humor and IRL humor
- “Internet humor isn’t universal humor. It’s localized.”
- e.g. the real world did not find the 8th-inning Mets rickroll very funny.
- Also, Jimmy Kimmel appearances of Internet celebs like Tay Zonday and StSanders aren’t received so well by the audience. Audience doesn’t get it, and Kimmel never tries to explain. Maybe because he doesn’t get it either?
Fame as a drug of validation
- “Educational programs that emphasize self-esteem have created a generation of narcissists.”
- Cited in Alice’s talk, Jake Halpern’s book Fame Junkies details fame lust at length, and in particular highlights the notion kids today perceive it to “easier than ever” to become “famous”… which is a big part of why we call it “famo” around here.
veVIcT Kudos to you! I hadn’t thought of that!