Achieved status, not mere visibility, is what earns admiration online.

Evidence

This can lead to a sense of life as an ongoing performance. Megan McCarthy scoffed, “If nobody was watching I think half the people in Web 2.0 would not know what to do with themselves.” People who attract attention without any sense of accomplishment or skill, however, are derided as “famewhores,” which suggests that visibility itself is not enough. Just as Kawasaki distinguished between followers and number of re-tweets, visibility based on merit—achieved status—is what people admire. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 256

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the key distinction between visibility and achieved status, and introduces ‘famewhore’ as field vocabulary.
• XREF: Connects to Weber’s distinction between achieved and ascribed status from classical sociology lying beneath this book’s framework. — connects to: Social media can build professional status without conventional business accomplishments — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 718; Social media’s design rewards visibility and self-promotion with social status. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 39; Online fame seekers face hatred for not deserving their fame — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 402 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Social media’s design rewards visibility and self-promotion with social status. #contradicts (0.82) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 39
• Social media can build professional status without conventional business accomplishments #qualifies (0.80) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 718
• Online fame seekers face hatred for not deserving their fame #expands (0.75) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 402
• Attention and status-seeking motivate people to endure micro-celebrity’s costs #complicates (0.75) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 409