Internet celebrity
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An Internet celebrity is a person who reached fame over the Internet. An Internet celebrity would be either in acting, writing, singing, or even their own appearance would make them an overnight sensation.
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[edit] MySpace
Due to its popularity, MySpace has helped to boost celebrity status to some of its members. A classic example is Tila Tequila, a Vietnamese American singer who became an overnight sensation by her appearance and singing. Another celebrity that considered to reach this status by looks as well is model Christine "ForBiddeN" Dolce, as well as Jeffree Star, Arctic Monkeys and Tom Anderson, the founder and creator of the site.
[edit] YouTube
Internet celebrities also appeared in videos on YouTube. The majority of them are members. One of the most notable celebrities is Jessica Lee Rose, a New Zealander actress, who stars in the internet series, lonelygirl15, as a home-schooled character named Bree, who is looking for friends. Smosh and Cory Williams are also some examples.
Another considered is LisaNova, writer and actress who would parody real-life events, or just make fun of them. She is also notable for doing impersonations of Salma Hayek, Lindsay Lohan and Keira Knightley.
Also notable is the "Leave Britney Alone" video by Chris Crocker, a flamboyantly gay teenager from the conservative south who find solace recording random solo improvisations of dramatic and eccentric characters he invents in his bedroom at his grandmother's house.
[edit] Made Famous by Mention
Other new internet celebrities rise to cyberstardom after being mentioned or linked by a popular site or existing internet celebrity. When Perez Hilton mentioned Tinaecmusic in his notorious celebrity gossip blog at Perezhilton.com, Tina's base of fans (and foes) was jump-started instantaneously.
[edit] Other
Recently, a community of social networkers launched a website, testyourcelebrity.com, to make it easier for internet celebrities to get noticed. The community ranks the popularity of various internet celebrities across the internet and displays links to the content of the top 100 internet celebrities.
[edit] Mainstream success
In some cases, people who achieve fame on the Internet go on to enjoy mainstream success. For example, American humorist Maddox, creator of The Best Page in the Universe, has written a New York Times bestselling book, called The Alphabet of Manliness. In another case, Dutch singer Esmée Denters created a channel on YouTube on which she posted videos of her singing cover versions of popular songs; subsequently, she was signed to Justin Timberlake's Tennman Records.
In 2007, Tila Tequila also found mainstream success when she appeared on A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila and in 2008, A Shot at Love 2 with Tila Tequila.
[edit] Popular Culture
- In the South Park episode, Canada on Strike!, there is mention of many popular internet celebrities such as Adam "Tay Zonday" Nyerere Bahner, The Star Wars Kid, Gary Brolsma, Tron Guy, Chris Crocker, Sneezing Panda, Afro Ninja, Dramatic Prairie Dog (Gopher) and Laughing Baby.
- In the Weezer music video, Pork and Beans, several internet celebrities appeared in the video. This include Gary Brolsma, Matt McAllister, Mark Allen Hicks ("Afro Ninja"), Chris Crocker, Caitlin Upton, Judson Laipply, Kicesie, Tay Zonday, Kevin Federline (archival footage), Liam Kyle Sullivan, Ryan Weiber, Michael "Dorkman" Scott, Jeong-Hyun Lim, The Star Wars kid and many others.
