Social Media: Has Social Media Devalued Celebrity?

While celebrities have always existed in some shape or form, it has never been as easy as it is today for someone to be famous. There is no need for someone to have achieved something significant; the only thing they need is an online presence.

This is something that one can develop in a matter of weeks or even hours; it is no longer necessary for one to wait for a prolonged period of time. For example, if someone creates something that ends up going ‘viral’, it can end up being seen by millions of people in a matter minutes.

A Star Is Born

When this happens, one can go from being a relative unknown to someone who is known by people from all over the world. And while this may relate to a video that they have made that demonstrates a certain talent or skill, this might not be the case.

It could just be a video that makes other people laugh, or they might be sharing their life with others. This is not to say that comedy has no value or someone’s life has no importance; what it comes down to is how times have changed.

Values

Even though one generation values something, it doesn’t mean next generation will have the same outlook. This is why it is to be expected that there will be a difference when it comes to who each generation elevates.

Although there will still be some people who have values that match up with the values people had in the past, it is not always possible for someone to realise this. And this is because their attention might be consumed by what is taking place in the mainstream.

The Mainstream

When it comes down to what people believe about the world, or about the people who inhabit the planet, there is strong chance that they developed these views through being exposed to the mainstream media. One reason for this is that it takes effort to think, and how one doesn’t need to think if they let others do it for them.

So on one side, this will allow one to save energy, but on the other, it will set them up to be manipulated. This is not the say that everything the media presents is false, but at the same time, it would be dangerous to believe everything.

Control

In the past, the mainstream media and the other establishments would have had most of the power when it came to who would be famous. But the internet has changed this, and this have given people far more control than ever before when it comes to whether they will be famous or not.

It has been said that everyone wants to be famous, and in today’s world, this is something that one can make a reality. And while they will need other people to elevate them into a certain position, they won’t need other people to give them any kind of financial backing in order to ‘make it big’.

Suppression

If one does have the need to be famous, they will no longer have to suppress this need. They can embrace how they feel, and do what they need to do in order to fulfil this need.

The first thing they can do is to look at what other people are doing, and then come up with the same thing or something similar. From here, they can set up an account on a social media site.

Saturated

Once they begin to look into what other people are doing, they might start to get an idea of what they need to do to be famous. However, this might also make them think about how saturated the internet has become with people who are ‘famous’.

During this time, they may begin to see how anyone can be famous, and that it doesn’t matter what they look like, how talented they are, or whether they are adding value to the world. So even though they may feel inspired by what they see, it might also cause them to feel overwhelmed.

Meaningless

If everyone drove around in an expensive car, the car would no longer stand out, and this is because it wouldn’t be exclusive. These cars wouldn’t have the same value, and they would just be seen as another car on the road.

When a small amount of people are famous, it will be normal for them to stand out, and this is because there are far more people who are not famous. Yet, if fame is no longer limited to a select few, it will start to lose its meaning.

Valueless

And just as the quality of something can go down when it is massed produced, the same can apply when there is an increase in the amount of people who are famous. If one was famous in the past, there was the chance that they had achieved something significant, but there is less chance of this being the case today.

In many ways, being famous can be seen as something that one experiences because they are alive at this time. Through living in this age, one might have come to believe that they deserve to be famous.

Conclusion

There is then no need for them to make a contribution to the world, and this is because they are entitled to be famous. This shows how people’s values have changed, and while it would be easy to blame social media, there are other factors involved.

What this could also show is that there is lack of guidance in today’s world, and this is why fame is seen as the ‘answer’ to one’s problems. Even though we are more ‘connected’ than we have ever been, it could also be said that we are more disconnected than we have ever been.