“Today we live in a culture of celebrity where people can rise to fame from either ordinary or extraordinary circumstances” – Kelli Burns
The popularity of YouTube comes from peoples desire to watch other people in real life situations, a desire cultivated by reality TV shows were real people exist and respond to real or sometimes fabricated situations and events. It isn’t exactly clear what makes a YouTube video popular and as Burns explores in this chapter ‘Connecting on YouTube, there are many random things that can spark an audiences interest literally overnight. For people wanting to become famous online, or just put themselves out there, there is no formula for how to make a video spread. This idea that the most popular video or the most popular user is someone who has the reputation of being “in the know” is important. The person with the most popularity is at the centre of what people want to watch or should be watching, again, a popularity competition but an achievement that lasts only until the next most popular user appears. This can be within a matter of seconds or minutes it seems. You need to have your finger on the pulse at all times. Like other social media we have explored, popularity and gaining an audience means you need to be an active participant, someone who knows the media and knows how to produce material suitable and engaging for other users and media makers. To just receive or watch videos on YouTube is not enough if you want to be a sensation of any kind. And even if your video is funny, whimsical, satirical, paradoxical or whatever else, doesn’t mean it will necessarily be engaging for any number of reasons. This is why we will continue to experiment, to understand how this user generated material can be used to promote our girl Cate Klancey and encourage her rise to fame!
Fabiana
Burns, K 2009, Celeb 2.0 How Social Media Foster Our Fascination with Popular Culture’, In New Directions in Media.Santa Barbara
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