The Cult Of Blog Personalities

Andy Warhol’s famous quote that everyone will be famous for 15 seconds was retrofitted in 1991 by Scottish artist Momus, who said “in the future, everyone will be famous for 15 people.”

What was true in 1991 seems even more so in 2008, where every blog or micro-blog in the form of tumblrs spawn ‘followers’ who beget ‘followers’ and thus create some strange form of micro-personality.

Most tumblrs are innoculous, simply reblogging some random internet meme or song they have stuck in their head, while others crave something more. The more personal the tumblr seems to get, the bigger the backlash seems to be. Relationships played out over tumblr only to flame out serve as cautionary tales of what not to blog. There has yet to be one end happily ever after.

What drives someone to want to become the next Julia Allison? Everyone who shares themselves online does so with equal parts ego and foolishness thinking anyone cares about what they have to say. While some write with the sole intention of trying to discover some deeper meaning to their experience, others do so hoping their experience may lead to some greater experience by being discovered by a well connected personality. A hope at some chance encounter, an appreciation for ones work that could lead to become part of something bigger than themselves.

Before there was blogs, and the hyperconnectedness of both small and large personalities in the collective universe of micro-celebrity, it required a bit more effort to get the attention of those who might propel one from an audience of one to virtually limitless possibilities.

It seems that this idea of an unlimited audience, far greater than the 15 people that Momus surmised, is what those grabbing for followers are aiming for. Whether or not they’re able to reach this level of micro-fame (or micro-infamy) seems to depend on how much they’re willing to share and willing to risk, and if the price is worth the juice.