Famous Online
Have you ever harboured ambitions of being famous, or at least being considerably popular online? Even if only as a fleeting thought? If you can honestly say you have not, it is very likely that you’ve been acquainted with someone like that in some capacity, whether they are open about it or not.
Fame is nothing new, and has existed to some extent since humans have been forming societies. With the advent of mass media, especially international media in the 20th century, it was much easier for those who did not do amazing feats or be a progenitor of schools of thought that remain to this day, to become famous. Not everyone needs to be a Plato, Alexander or Genghis Khan to leave a widespread and highly influential reputation anymore.
The famous, on average, die somewhat younger than average. It is unclear if this is solely because of the nature and consequences of fame itself, or that the traits a “celebrity” often possesses are also associated with a shorter lifespan. This includes things such as risk-taking behaviour, or mental and psychological impairments, which also may correlate with high intelligence and/or expressing oneself in a novel yet appealing way. Some, like van Gogh, become famous only posthumously. Perhaps it is a combination of both.
I do think though, fame is not something that is easily handled by most. This internet in particular has exacerbated this. I have seen too many originally sane, good-natured, if somewhat misguided individuals, mentally snap from the strain and become pretentious, deceitful and miserable.
This phenomenon isn’t exclusive to the internet. That said, many professional celebrities have good PR teams, and are usually capable of handling their controversies with a modicum of grace, even if they are a mess privately. Of course, this merely shows that many celebrities need a support network to sustain their fame and keep in good health.
Of all my time online, there are perhaps a handful of people I have associated with who I think would be able to handle fame without it warping their personality or fundamental character, and without the need for a support network to do this. I myself do not really know if I would be able to handle fame or not. I enjoy my privacy. There is an appeal in being a “folk hero” of sorts, as it is missing some of the connotations that come with being a celebrity or necessarily famous. It is a legend detached from yourself, and not one that you might be personally associated with, unlike for instance, someone who shows his or her face on camera for a living.
Among older generations, there is a common shared interest in celebrities’ personal lives, which took hold in the late 20th century and lasted until about the late 00s. While it is not entirely gone, it appears to me that discussing the lives of celebrities is far less common than it is. Or maybe, I am not exposed to that much anymore due to having less social interactions than I used to. Hah hah.
Anecdotally, this obsession with celebrities is less common among younger generations, but there appears to be a far stronger obsession with the ones that do have it, largely enabled by the internet. When I was a teenager, Justin Bieber was a craze among many young girls my age. Nowadays, it largely seems to be K-pop groups. There were other groups that were very popular internationally in the past, such as The Beatles and Michael Jackson. This attitude is not new, yes, but to me, it seems much more dispersed. The obsession with actors is not nearly as strong among younger generations.
With the prevalence of the internet and the anonymous culture around it, there is less of a mystique around most people: it is more of a constructed identity. It is somewhat ironic, as it is easier to conceal information and be more choosy about who you interact with online compared to real life. In turn, the audience of the celebrity ends up forming parasocial relationships, or semi-parasocial ones, with the celebrity.
It is much harder to trick yourself into thinking someone with no internet presence cares about you, compared to a fleeting interaction with someone on social media who does that. The ease of doing this and the tacit enabling of this is often why certain desperate losers “simp” for streamers or obsesses with a boy band, especially when they have little going on in real life socially.
You are building a mythos around a person, and if that person interacts with you while not knowing you personally, that feeds into this mythos. This mythos is different from the ones of old, because it’s not entirely your own creation; it is based on what you see online and how you interpret it. I am sure COVID restrictions and their consequences have enabled this behaviour even more, but for now, clearer trends need to emerge before I can comment on that with more confidence and specificity.
You probably don’t want to truly be famous. Most likely, you want the romantic idea of being famous – if at all. Biologically speaking, ordinary humans are not suited for having that much attention drawn to themselves, even as society moves towards a place where this not only occurs, but is incentivized.