New Media Self Promotion & the Web Celebrity

This week we examined Social Networking Site (SNS) profiles as modern-day self portraits. Users have the ability to portray or even promote themselves in anyway they want. Users send signals in these portraits to reveal information about their personalities, interests, and other personal information.

These online portraits that users create can be constructed as a means of self-promotion to either fabricate or gain fame. With this ability to self-promote, aspiring celebrities and even actual celebrities flock to SNS's to garner attention and awareness about the cause closest to their heart: their fame and notoriety. Celebrities like "D-Lister" Kathy Griffin use their Facebook Fan Pages as a way to promote their latest business ventures, appearances and thoughts. Griffin's page encourages fans to purchase her recently released memoir, to purchase tickets to her comedy shows, to tune into her Bravo reality TV show and to attend book signings across the nation. The SNS medium has allowed Griffin's status as a celebrity to rise, as well as the value of her bank account.

This ability to gain fame through new media has spawned a new class of celebrity: the Web Celebrity. Celebrities have been made out of regular folks like Mario Lavandeira also known as blogger Perez Hilton, author turned blogger Arianna Huffington, and Jessica Rose better known as Youtube star Lonelygirl15. These three individuals have taken advantage of New Media to gain international notoriety. Hilton's blog on celebrity culture garners millions of a hit day, as does Huffington's blog which incorporates aspects of news, blogs and videos. Advertisers pay big bucks for the opportunity to reach Hilton's and Huffington's readers. Jessica Rose has translated her fame to land lucrative commercial and movie deals. New Media has given an eclectic group of individuals the opportunity to attain fame and fortune by giving them a platform to showcase their unique insights and talents.