Online mockery of outsiders can convert into mainstream fame opportunities

Evidence

Even those mocked online found ways to reclaim their narratives. In 2007, autistic graduate student Adam Nyerere Bahner, a.k.a. Tay Zonday, uploaded an earnest anti-racist song called “Chocolate Rain.” With its repetitive piano hook and idiosyncratic vocal delivery, the video became a meme, initially drawing ridicule on forums like 4chan. But the buzz catapulted Zonday into national fame, proving that even the internet’s targets could turn mockery into opportunity. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 286

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A viral venting post can transform a user into an intentional activist microcelebrity — Crystal Abidin and Megan Lindsay Brown (eds.), Microcelebrity Around the Globe:…, 904; Parody performances are routinely mistaken for sincere commitment to what they mock; Open-ended social media platforms let non-mainstream individuals attain popularity. — Alice E. Marwick, Instafame: Luxury Selfies in the…, 5 (+1 more)