Feigned indifference to fame makes online popularity seem deserved
Evidence
This studied unaffectedness is similar to what Schwarz found on the Israeli site Shox, where users tried to “deny and conceal” their conscious attempts to gain followers. Successful performers on Shox were able to encourage followers while actively concealing that they were trying to do so (Schwarz 2010: 178). Whereas mainstream celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry ignore the vast majority of their Twitter or YouTube followers, Friesz declines to acknowledge not only her fans but also her very Instafame, instead breezily portraying herself as an all-American high school girl. Part of what makes her so appealing to young people may be this seemingly effortless cool in the face of fan adoration; much like the big man on campus or the high school queen bee (which, almost certainly, Friesz embodies in her day-to-day life, considering the endless parade of photos of parties and football games with equally attractive friends), she appears to find her popularity unworthy of comment and thus makes it seem deserved and, indeed, unsurprising. — Alice E. Marwick, Instafame, 51
Categorization
- XREF: The studied-unaffectedness dynamic echoes the vanity/self-promotion paradoxes in my other social-media material and in Marwick’s broader attention-economy work. — connects to: Online fame seekers face hatred for not deserving their fame — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 402; Internet celebrity’s deep impacts grow quietly rather than loudly — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame…, 58; Audience reception, not content quality, constitutes internet celebrity — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame…, 92 (+3 more)
- DEEPTHINKING: The insight that performing indifference converts mediated fame into ‘deserved and unsurprising’ status is a genuinely subtle mechanism about how attention economies code worth, worth sitting with.
Related
- Pop stardom now rewards reflexive ironic disavowal rather than sincerity (similarity 0.85)
- Achieved status, not mere visibility, is what earns admiration online. (similarity 0.80)
- Internet celebrity is audience-dependent high visibility, not intrinsic merit (similarity 0.79)
- Internet celebrity’s deep impacts grow quietly rather than loudly (similarity 0.79)
- Microcelebrity status on Instagram can arise without an obvious platform or talent (similarity 0.79)
- Internet fame is neither universally desired nor reliably sustainable. (similarity 0.78)
- Internet fame remains dependent on audience preferences and requires escalating self-disclosure (similarity 0.78)
- Online fame seekers face hatred for not deserving their fame (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Online fame seekers face hatred for not deserving their fame
#expands(0.80) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 402 - Audience reception, not content quality, constitutes internet celebrity
#expands(0.80) — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity, 92 - Achieved status, not mere visibility, is what earns admiration online.
#contradicts(0.75) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 256 - Notoriety became a career asset once poptimism demanded respect for fans’ tastes
#corroborates(0.72) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 148 - Internet celebrity’s deep impacts grow quietly rather than loudly
#complicates(0.70) — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity, 58