Early internet celebrity scholarship studied platform emergence rather than celebrities themselves.

Evidence

The first epoch considers digital platforms in relation to content creation. The texts include major studies of the structural, economic, social, and cultural histories of various self-publishing and social media formats. … Although these texts do not focus on internet celebrities per se, they crucially outline how these digital platforms come into being and the nature of users’ relationships with content consumption and production. — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity, 627

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Early Bay Area tech elites openly despised aspirational internet celebrity — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 337; The newest scholarship epoch shifted from platforms to the culture of internet fame itself. — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame…, 652; Academic research on internet celebrity has progressed through five distinct historical epochs. — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame…, 626 (+1 more)