Social Media: The Blurred Line

Remember the days when you could only imagine what a day in the life of your favorite movie star or famous singer was like? You wondered if Michael Jackson ate Fruit Loops or eggs and bacon for breakfast or how Sharon Stone felt about the latest Julia Roberts film. Think back a little further, possibly past most of our own eras (although Betty White is hot on the net,) to the days when the life of Hollywood A-listers like Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra or Cary Grant were mere myth and legend to most inhabitants of Anywhereville, USA.

Celebrities were demigods and the adoring public forever dwelt within a shroud of mystery. They were famous for doing something that most of the public audience could not do (or didn't have the confidence to try doing) and so we envied, loved, and adored them. Their worlds seemed so much different than ours and one could only imagine thousands of adoring fans, paparazzi (another more recent phenomenon boom,) fancy cars, lavish homes, and fabulous entourages.

But with the rising popularity of social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace, the worlds of celebrity and 'non' have collided. I personally like to refer to this 'collision' as:

The Big Bang of Realebrity.

Years ago, if I wanted to talk to, let's say, Demi Moore I had to first get through her publicist, agent, manager and finally her personal assistant. Today, I can send her a direct message on twitter and she'll possibly see my message within minutes (apparently she's super popular on twitter so it's a crap shot that she will read mine - but hey, can't blame a girl for trying.) Oh and I can even follow the Dalai Lama; that's right, the Grand Puba of Peace is a tweeter (or is it twitterer... twitah...twatter.......)  

Not to be verbose, but I say all of this to focus in on the fact that celebrity has totally been downgraded in the past 10 years. Almost anyone can become a celebrity thanks to Social Networking and Reality television... people aren't celebrity's anymore for 'doing' anything but simply for just being. Being in a house full of women all vying for the affections of one man can make you a celebrity.... if you're slutty enough. Being a contestant  trying to be the last survivor on a remote island can make you a celebrity.... if you're a total bitch. Being one of several housemates in New Jersey can make you a celebrity.... if you get drunk and rowdy enough.

The idea of celebrity has definitely suffered a major fail thanks to social media and now I'm wondering... in 10 or 15 years what will be the difference between being a major movie star or famous singer and just a young girl with a dream, a blog and thousands of followers... ( besides maybe the money.)

and for my next act...

 

Cartoon by Dave Walker

Not to sound all heavily cliched and self gratifying but this is definitely not my first trip around the block. I've had a few (read: 2) blogs in the past that didn't quite catch, but I'm hoping this one is a keeper. For starters, my dedication was... well, for lack of a better word: lacking and I found that I never got into the 'groove' of the blogosphere. 

It is with this knowledge that I've decided that I will truly dedicate myself to the general upkeep, fun and information within this blog (whatever that should turn out to be) and I will relentlessly pursue my niche in the blog world. 

Now that the formalities have been covered, I'd like to give a great big thank you to fellow blogger Chris Brogan  for his blog entitled: "100 Blogs I Hope YOU Write." In the entry, Brogan gives a pretty awesome list of blog topics ranging from "Somebody Has to Say It" and "My Mother uses Facebook" to "Presentation Skills for a New Conversation" and "The Internet Application I Haven't Seen", that really anyone, with any type of blog could write about.

Empowered with this list I plan to cover most of its contents and challenge myself to become a better blogger, writer and communication powerhouse. Of course, I plan to interject the samplings from Brogan's wish list with my own topics and ideas - but hey, everybody's got to start somewhere right?

for my first post...

I would like to quickly say how difficult it is proving to be for me to choose a blog template.

That is all.