Viral meme fame can be non-consensual, damaging, and unmanageable by the subject.

Evidence

Heidi Yeh found herself embroiled in an extensive web of internet folklore and slander that she was unable to counter, despite her best attempts and statements to the press. Her ideo-geographical location within East Asia subjected her to double scrutiny; first internally within the region by dedicated internet users known as the “human flesh search engine” who devoted their time to tracing people’s data online and exposing their deceit, and then externally among hegemonically white, Western internet users around the world who viewed this incident with ethnocentric lenses as “just another weird Asian fad.” — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity, 182

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth chasing: what became of Heidi Yeh’s efforts, and how does ‘human flesh search engine’ function as a vigilante mechanism?
• SEED: An essay angle: the double-edged nature of virality, contrasting those who profit from memes with those destroyed by them.
• CANDY: The ‘human flesh search engine’ - internet users who hunt down and expose people flagged by crowds - is a striking, shareable phenomenon.
• XREF: connects to: Meme personae arise when meme faces intentionally monetize their iconized image — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame…, 167; Becoming a meme erases the person’s context and identity markers — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame…, 164; Meme virality can generate sustainable income for owners within days. — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame…, 173 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Factual corrections cannot undo reputational damage once a meme spreads. #expands (0.85) — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity, 183
• Micro-celebrity status can be imposed by media regardless of self-presentation #expands (0.85) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 345
• Micro-celebrity transforms personalities without offering the protective infrastructure of mainstream fame #corroborates (0.85) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 408
• Internet fame is neither universally desired nor reliably sustainable. #expands (0.80) — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity, 183
• Achieved micro-celebrity is a deliberate self-presentation strategy, not a social position #contradicts (0.80) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 277
• Internet virality can reward despised content as strongly as admired content #qualifies (0.75) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 294