Legacy media deny exploiting viral stars by claiming the stars control their fame
Evidence
In other words, to obscure the fact that they are exploiting the surplus value of Dobyne’s accidental celebrity and that Dobyne’s celebrity was not parlayed into social or economic progress for herself, traditional media sidestepped the racist overtones in their systemic curation and creation of eyewitness virality to assert that Dobyne was and still is very much in control of her viral fame. — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity, 158
Categorization
- XREF: Parallels the labor-exploitation-through-love framing in ‘On Sacrifice’ — institutions extracting value while claiming the subject is empowered. — connects to: Micro-celebrity status can be imposed by media regardless of self-presentation — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 345; Traditional media smear viral stars to protect their own declining attention market share — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame…, 206; Many actors profit from viral stars’ images without returning value to them — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame…, 161 (+2 more)
- SEED: Angle: how the ‘empowerment’ narrative about viral fame functions as a wage-substitute for victims whose likeness generates millions — the folklore of ‘she chose this.‘
Broader Connections
- Micro-celebrity status can be imposed by media regardless of self-presentation
#expands(0.85) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 345 - Traditional media smear viral stars to protect their own declining attention market share
#contradicts(0.85) — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity, 206 - Eyewitness viral stars are accidental celebrities manufactured by television news networks
#corroborates(0.82) — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity, 150 - Many actors profit from viral stars’ images without returning value to them
#complicates(0.75) — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity, 161 - Internet fame remains dependent on audience preferences and requires escalating self-disclosure
#qualifies(0.72)