I recently read a Wired article called “Clive Thompson on the Age of Microcelebrity: Why Everyone’s a Little Brad Pitt” (in the printed version, it’s titled “Almost Famous”). Intriguing stuff. It was my first exposure to the term “microcelebrity,” but from the sounds of things, it probably won’t be the last.
Thompson’s premise is simple: with the flood of social networking sites, blogs, personal web pages and photo sharing sites, anyone who has stuff on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, a blog, etc. may have a mini following—a micro fan base, if you will. So a “microcelebrity” is someone that is “extremely well known not to millions but to a small group…maybe only a few dozen.”
According to Thompson, the pundits worry that the omnipresent scrutiny of online admirers (or haters for that matter) will result in everyone talking “in the bland” to avoid ruffling any feathers. However, Thompson doesn’t agree with that bleak outlook. I don’t either. Like Thompson concludes, I think people will just better learn how to behave “in front of a crowd.” We already do that in real life when we’re with our friends and colleagues; now it just extends to the virtual world.
Personally, I’m not too worried about having info out there that I don’t want others to see. I save all that for my personal journal that I keep on Pyxlin.com—part of FamilyLearn.com—my brother’s site. The public can’t view any of my private stories, life lessons or personal secrets on Pyxlin. They’re encrypted (call me crazy, but I don’t want the whole world knowing the details of the time my baby sneezed in my mouth). And I can have all those personal stories published into a hardbound book. Yes, I’m saving the private me for my posterity. Not for superhottie17 or HobbitKiller2193.
So, my beloved fans, I welcome you to my virtual life—at arm’s length of course. No offense.
