Blog Group 2: Blog Post 2-We’re All Famous Now

    Say goodbye to the Kardashians, the Hiltons, and all the other celebrities who are famous simply for being infamous. Fame is available to anyone with an Internet connection. We can be YouTube famous, Twitter famous, or Instagram famous. The idea of celebrity has rapidly changed since the adaption of social media. A survey conducting by Variety magazine reports, Americans between the ages of 13-18, are more enamored with YouTube stars than more mainstream celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence or Seth Rogen (Variety, 2014). I’m a few months shy of 40 and even I am more interested in YouTube celebrities than the carbon copy celebrities that mainstream media pushes on us. One of my favorite “reality,” shows is created by natural hair expert and daily vlogger Naptural85. It’s just her and her family with a couple of simple point and shoot Canon cameras. Every morning, like clockwork, I am on her channel ready to enjoy the regular everyday antics that are her life. Between her natural hair channel and her daily vlog channel, Naptural85 has over 650,000 subscribers. At 39 million video views (YouTube, 2014) she is one of the many people on YouTube who make a profitable career by regularly uploading videos onto YouTube.

    Technology has made it possible for many aspiring creative types to take control and direction of their art by bypassing the traditional routes to fame and doing it on their own. We no longer have to move to Hollywood or New York. We do not have to send our demos out to multiple record companies hoping for our big break.
    The new opportunities that technological advancement is creating have allowed a diversity of talent to be shared with the larger world. We are now finding images of ourselves, our particular cultures, and variety of identities being reflected in the entertainment media we absorb. No longer are we inundated with images of only type of celebrity that fits a stereotypical norm of conventional beauty or talent.
    An example of Internet success reflecting an overlooked demographic is Issa Rae’s YouTube web series. Launched in 2011, “The Adventures of Awkward Black Girl,” is a series about a young black woman who, like many others, is awkward and a bit socially inept. A series featuring a dark skinned Black woman with short natural hair would have been very difficult to get produced had Rae decided to take the traditional route to get her series produced. Her web series was so successful it allowed Rae to create her own network, ColorCreative.tv. She is now able to provide opportunities    and showcase stories not being told anywhere else (Naasel, 2014). With new technology she proves an original idea and some inexpensive equipment can create massive success and launch an actual career.

References
Ault, S. (2014, August 5). Survey: YouTube stars more popular than mainstream celebs amont U.S. teens | Variety. Retrieved October 16, 2014, from        
    http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/survey-youtube-stars-more-popular-than-mainstream-celebs-among-u-s-teens-1201275245/

Issa Rae. (2011, February 3). [S. 1, Ep. 1] "The stop sign" - Awkward black girl [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIVa9lxkbus&list=PL854514FC0EBDCD8E&index=1

Naasel, K. R. (2001, September 25). How Issa Rae went from awkward black girl to indie TV producer | Fast Company | Business + Innovation. Retrieved October 19, 2014, from
    http://www.fastcompany.com/3036176/innovation-agents/how-issa-rae-went-from-awkward-black-girl-to-indie-tv-producer

YouTube. (2014). Naptural85. Retrieved October 18, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/user/Naptural85/about