User:Wadewall/sandbox

Sometimes described as "Internet famous," A microcelebrity is a person who has generated public interest and fascination in digital environments. Microcelebrities develop personal brands and accumulate a following by using social media platforms to propagate their crafted identities online. The key quality of microcelebrity is influence over niche online subcultures. Unlike celebrities, microcelebrity status stems from online identity creation and commodification (see Berardi Bifo's "Commodification of the Soul"), not wealth or professional proficiency (though microcelebrity status can be gained from professional endeavors). Though microcelebrities are often covered by traditional media (i.e. newspapers, magazines, online news sites, etc...), their fame is not defined by pervasiveness in these outlets like traditional celebrities. Anyone can become a microcelebrity by proper command of any online social media platform.Microcelebrity status is ruled by these key tenets: command of social media, authenticity, brand development, and impression management. Microcelebrity status can grow to traditional celebrity status when online fame bleeds into non-digital spheres. Examples of microcelebrities who have become full-fledged celebrities include YouTuber turned international popstar Justin Bieber and style-blogger turned fashion magazine editor Tavi Gevinson.

The term is a fairly new one: the only official definition available is provided by the World English Dictionary, defining microcelebrity as someone "whose fame is relatively narrow in scope and likely transient." Though it has yet to be formally defined and widely accepted, the term has been used in media scholarship by the likes of danah boyd and Alice Marwick. Marwick describes microcelebrity through the process of self-branding: "a series of marketing strategies applied to the individual. It is a set of practices and a a mindset, a way of thinking about the self as a salable commodity that can tempt a potential employer," or, as she later writes, a potential fan base. The origins of the concept stem from Erving Goffman's "The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life."

Microcelebrity creates a divide between a 'real self' and an image presented to an online audience. These users carefully craft their personas using characteristics that appeal to their specific audiences. To gain a following, microcelebrities engage in personal brand development, self-marketing, and self-promotion practices. Traditional celebrities have PR teams and managers who do this for them; for the most part, microcelebrities must brand themselves. To grow their followings, microcelebrities engage in internetwork connectivity practices—the most successful microcelebrities market themselves to niche communities in multiple online networks. The more crossover that occurs, the more visibility their social media pages accrue and the more fame they generate.

In order to maintain a following, microcelebrities must appear authentic to their audience. While authenticity is important to traditional celebrities, carefully controlled public images and mass media coverage are handled by their management teams. Here, authenticity takes a backseat to impression management. What constitutes authenticity varies between each individual follower, and is relative to the media platform and online community that the microcelebrity inhabits. In a collapsed online context, where multiple social contexts collide in digital space, microcelebrities create content that appeals to the most followers. The authenticity of microcelebrities is called into question when self-promotion and mutable personalities get in the way of originality and the ‘true voice’ of the user, the voice that the users audience has developed a personal attachment to.