Celebrifying ordinary lives benefits producers far more than the famous.

Evidence

Broadcasting and celebritizing ordinary lives in traditional media allow viewers to learn and critically assess what is real and what is constructed in the media. It can teach viewers to self-brand14 and can persuade viewers to practice more reflection and empathy by identifying with other people’s stories in a practice that visual media scholar Craig Batty15 has called “emotioneering.” However, despite these apparent benefits, putting ordinary people and their lives on display to reap commercial profits for television stations in exchange for short-lived fame is not a fair game. Such commodification of private lives disproportionately benefits producers and traditional media. — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity, 70