Gossip blogs imposed stock celebrity narratives onto tech micro-celebrities

Evidence

Just as mainstream celebrity media treats celebrities as characters to be written into often fabricated plotlines, gossip blogs of the day, like Valleywag, fit micro-celebrity personas into preexisting narratives and character arcs that reflected both long-standing tropes about celebrity and the meritocratic mythology of the technology scene. Valleywag is one example of how celebrity was ascribed to individuals and how the behavior of people within the tech scene was publicly policed by and judged against the values of Silicon Valley. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 338

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the ‘Complaints About Immodesty Go Way Back’ article’s point that moral panics are vehicles for policing group values via identity. — connects to: Micro-celebrity status at conferences is signaled and reinforced through gossip and panels — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 199; Silicon Valley gossip media enforced gendered, conservative moral codes on tech celebrities — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 367; Micro-celebrity status can be imposed by media regardless of self-presentation — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 345 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Silicon Valley gossip media enforced gendered, conservative moral codes on tech celebrities #expands (0.90) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 367
• Micro-celebrity status can be imposed by media regardless of self-presentation #exemplifies (0.85) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 345