What’s a microcelebrity? No, not a teeny tiny version of Tom Cruise or Angelina Jolie.
As Clive Thompson describes it, microcelebrity is “the phenomenon of being extremely well known not to millions but to a small group — a thousand people, or maybe only a few dozen.”
And microcelebrity is distinct from traditional celebrity in that
Traditional celebrity relies on distance and separation from one’s spectators, but as Justin Hall’s famous quip, “In the future, everyone will be famous to fifteen people” indicates, micro-celebrity depends on closeness and accountability.
Yesterday, Nora hosted a panel discussion on the phenomenon of microcelebrity. Her guests were:
- Theresa Senft, a Senior Lecturer in Media Studies at the University of East London in the U.K., the author of CAMGIRLS: Webcams, LiveJournals and the Personal as Political in the Age of the Global Brand. She coined the term “microcelebrity.”
- Sarah Meyers, a Manhattan-based video journalist and the host of Pop17, a show about microcelebrity.
- Merlin Mann, the founding editor of 43Folders.com. He’s a writer, speaker, broadcaster, and bona-fide microcelebrity.
An abbreviated version of this panel will air on an upcoming episode of Spark, but you can listen to the whole thing now or download the MP3.
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Great panel. I couldn’t help thinking that microcelebrity is a consequence of the fact that the internet can (amongst many other things) act like a giant, virtual, 24/7 cocktail party where you can hang out with various clusters of people, decide which ones are interesting and then either stick around or realize you really need to check the hors d’oeuvres table. One important difference may be that, unlike the offline version, the introverts are generally more interesting.
I found your panel discussion on micro celebrity to be very stimulating. As a blind person, I have a harder time getting around to places. The online world is a place where my mobility limitations are negated. It has given me a way to make a very positive difference for people and use my talents to good effect. My online identity is something I take very seriously. Whenever possible I use my real name on social networking sites. Accountability is an absolutely essential part of the equation. The Audyssey magazine is a free ezine I started to get people talking about computer games accessible to blind people. Because I took it seriously, other people did as well and began to pitch in. It’s quite a heady rush getting emails from people in other countries who have found something you started on a whim to be meaningful to them. It becomes all the more important to keep it real and take a measure of responsibility for what you post and for people who care enough to become part of a community surrounding your project. I found myself thrust into a position of leadership and learning a tremendous lot from that experience. The eight years I spent editing Audyssey and being a community leader is something I will always be proud of.
I’ve seen the darker side of the micro celebrity phenomenon as well. A hacker tried to impersonate me in order to shut down the ezine. I’ve also had the experience of having words I wrote and decisions I made come back to haunt me later. Once you wave the sorcerer’s wand and post information online, it’s out there for keeps. If your intentions are good, people will mostly respect that and cut you the slack you need to move on after making what amends are possible. Despite plenty of mistakes, I don’t have any real regrets. It’s been a splendid adventure of the mind.
Glad you liked the panel. We’re experimenting with longer format pieces like panels that can live online, and be cut in a different way for the radio show/podcast.
I'm a little late on this, but Cutewithchris.com fits nicely with the subject.
Chris Leavins is an ex-pat Canadian actor living in LA (you might remember him from The Hanging Garden, numerous Fringe shows or CBC's very own Traders) who started a hilarious video podcast where viewers submit and rate kittens and puppies. He's since garnered a significant fanbase, and even took his show live, with talk of a tour.
Anyways- myself and the roomies are hooked on his show, and this link is handy as he explains why he decided to parlay his acting and writing experience into the podcast/youtube world:
<a href="http://http://www.cutewithchris.com/chris_live/index.html“target=”_blank”><a href="http://<a href="http://www.cutewithchris.com/chris_live/index.html“” target=”_blank”>www.cutewithchris.com/chris_live/index.html“target=”_blank”>http://<a href="http://www.cutewithchris.com/chri…” target=”_blank”>www.cutewithchris.com/chris_live/index.html
It says alot about technology and its use as a new platform.
What I find interesting about microcelebrity is that it can occupy an autonomous space between the common cliches of toiling in obscurity and idealistic mega-stardom.
In a sense, micro-celebrity is about community, and acknowledgement of one's talents but not always on the celebrity/stardom media machine's terms. What I like about it as well is that podcasters like Chris and and video bloggers like TokyoCooney (who's organizing a group hanami viewing/party in Tokyo)are willing to step outside of the interweb and into the real world.
Add to this mix things like flash mobs, improv everywhere, blogger meet-ups, Anonymous vs Scientology, text-messaging as organizational tool for political protest….
Heck, I'm even doing a talk at Colourschool, a relational "school-within-a-school" at Emily Carr Institute in April about blogging and internet culture in relation to contemporary art practice and visual culture. It's kind of nerve-wracking to step outside of the online persona, but at the same time, I think it's imporant to engage with people IRL.
Great discussion!
I think I hate the term microcelebrity, though. It presumes some absolute benchmark which doesn’t exist. Is Wayne Gretsky a microcelebrity in China?
Jonathan Coulton is another great example of a microcelebrity. He’s a quite well-known singer/songwriter amongst the geek set (he wrote ‘Still Alive’, the final song in the recent game Portal), but is virtually unknown outside of that group.
OMG merlin mann! on CBC OMG!
Interesting discussion. The comment that struck me most was about people having never heard of each other’s micro-celebreties. Certainly my experience. My colleague called the blogs I followed “my imaginary friends.” something distubingly true there!
Ha! Very funny, Maureen. It’s kind of like a ‘first order celebrity’. Like, even if I don’t watch a particular tv show, I know that a person on that show is a celebrity. With bloggers, unless you actually read the particular blogger, it’s all very ‘yeah, who cares?’
Interesting topic, but something Merlin Mann said REALLY stuck me odd. In describing micro-celebrity, he used Marlena Dietrich as a comparison. I found this highly peculiar in that Mr. Mann doesn’t sound like an aging senior – the typical demographic that would consider Ms. Dietrich as a bona fide celebrity in the 21st century.
Ms. Dietrich has never ascended to the immortal pop cultural status that Elvis and Marilyn Monroe has achieved. IMO, Marlena Dietrich has probably evolved into the micro-celebrity status that he bestowed on Brent Spiner.
I’m not picking on Mr. Mann’s pop cultural interests, but just wondered why he wouldn’t pick someone more contempary as an example of more relevant celebrity.