Internet celebrity

An Internet celebrity, ,,online celebrity, or Internet personality is someone who has become famous by means of the Internet. The Internet allows people to reach a very large audience across the world and so become famous within one or more Internet communities.

Millions of people write online journals or weblogs. In many cases these contributions do not make them notable on a large scale, or only for people with the same specialist interest. But if the author has or develops a distinctive personality, they may rise to fame derived from this as much as from the content of their blog.

In some cases, people might rise to fame through a single event or video that goes viral. The Internet allows videos, news articles, and jokes to spread very quickly. Depending on the reach of the spread, the content may become considered an "Internet meme," and thus, any of the people associated may gain exposure. For example, Zach Anner, an Austin, Texas-based comedian gained world-wide attention after submitting a video to Oprah Winfrey's "Search for the Next TV Star" competition. There is substantial searching online for people.

Internet celebrities have also become a popular phenomenon in China (PRC) with the likes of Sister Furong (Fu Rong Jiejie), who received worldwide notoriety and fame for her unashamed efforts at self-promotion via Internet postings.

The concept of web celebrity ties in to Andy Warhol's quip about 15 minutes of fame. A more recent adaptation of Warhol's quip, possibly prompted by the rise of online social networking, blogging, and similar online phenomena, is the claim that "In the future, everyone will be famous to fifteen people" or, in some renditions, "On the Web, everyone will be famous to fifteen people". This quote, though attributed to David Weinberger, was said to have originated with the Scottish artist Momus.

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