Word of mouth Part II: A brief history of Internet celebrities and other web fads
by Damian Burke
As much as the inevitability of many ‘mainstream’ celebrities bothers me, I can’t help but Google the Vox populi. Willing or unwitting, the Internet has made some household names out of utter rot – with just the power of word of mouth. Here’s a few that you may have missed:
Dubbed the Star Wars Kid, this dynamo from Quebec became the target of infinite Internet parodies after his self-produced Darth Maul ‘tribute’ video was discovered by his school mates.
Another victim of video parodies was American, Gary Brolsma, who pretty much brought it on himself by doing the Numa Numa dance (another Internet phenomenon) and then posting the video on the Internet.
Arguably the inspiration for the popular Borat character, Mahir Çağrı the Turkish web stallion gained 320 000 hits on July 21, 2005. His website featured nothing more than pictures of himself surrounded by pick up lines in broken English. His ‘career’ is still thriving on YouTube almost two years later. Interviews, mock ups and Mahir fan videos seem to be keeping him going.
Brooke Brodack, the 21 year old videoblogger, obviously had enough pizzazz to keep her fan base increasing and receive an offer from NBC’s Carson Daly. A story which seems to echo that of Andy Milonakis, ‘Brookers’ has the number 9 spot for the most subscribed YouTube user of all time.
2006 saw the rise and fall of Lonelygirl15, a running collection of videos featuring Jessica Rose, the actress masquerading as a teenage videoblogger. The series, which featured fictional characters, was originally marketed as a reality by a handful of people trying to create a break in the film industry. I think they might have cracked it - shrewdly.
Who could be the next big Internet household name? Mashup, a social media networking news site, is holding an “Internet celebrity” contest, and claims “is looking to provide a launching pad for the world’s talent”.
Here are a few more names to search for, if you really have that much time on your hands: Randy Constant, The Most Annoying Thing, Krzysztof Kononowicz, Ellen Feiss and JibJab.
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