Hello again!
I’m back with another installment of Fangirling for Beginners with even more information and hopefully a little less controversy (looking at you Mumsnet)!
This time around I shall be looking at the origins of fandoms. Do new celebrities just pop up overnight or is there a super sinister corporate machine that is telling us who and what to like? (A bit creepy I know, but bear with).
Obviously there will always be a massive corporate machine behind the constant churning out of bands, books, films and TV shows, but recently there seems to be a new type of subject to obsess over… the civilian.
Yep, people just like you and me are getting thousands of hits on their blogs, worldwide recognition and in some cases, making it their full time job. Of course with all of that inevitably comes the fans.
One example of a normal person becoming famous just for well, being them is 20 year old student Peter Bevan. On a daily basis he is inundated with messages, gifts, fan art and even the odd creep! As of January 28th 2015 Peter had 36,715 Tumblr followers. Why? Because he’s good looking! But casual blogging has made quite an impact on his life.
This photo of Peter now has over 2000 notes
According to Peter, “I get a lot of really nice messages on Tumblr and a lot about how people like my blog/like photos of me that are going around on Tumblr. But I also get quite a few creeps who make fake accounts with photos of me that I don’t even know how they find, but I love having my blog and I mainly get the followers from photos I put of myself on Tumblr I don’t even know how to be fair, and I get recognised every now and then!”
Despite the obvious downsides to his internet fame, Peter is hoping to utilise his followers in order to pursue fashion. Hopefully he can “transfer some of [his] followers and actually make something of it”.
As Peter is looking to take his career further with his blog, some people have now made it their full time occupation. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 12 months you would have definitely heard the names Zoella and Alfie Deyes countless times. They are both hot young things who are taking the world by storm and single-handedly changing what it means to be famous, all of this from the comfort of their own homes!
Zoella at Vidcon
Alfie’s channel PointlessBlog has now spawned the PointlessBook
For those of you who don’t know, these two are now considered to be youtube royalty, but they both came from humble beginnings. Since 2009, Zoella’s (real name Zoe Sugg) hair and make up tutorials, along with personal stories about her battle with anxiety captured the hearts of teens across the country and now has a beauty range at Superdrug and her debut book (although ghostwritten) sold nearly 800,000 copies in one week! In fact, when news of her book signings were released, the Waterstone’s website crashed and the venues were only released a day prior to the event. Her boyfriend Alfie has had a similar experience, whose daily vlogs have now attracted over 3 million subscribers and has also lead to to a book deal.
But what about others, can they make it big on youtube now? According to Hank Green, the godfather of youtube and one half of the vlog brothers, no. The youtube industry is now a very tough nut to crack with people being drawn to big names and pretty faces. But if you do have something interesting to say or a talent to show off, then by all means go for it!
Obviously I can not state that the traditional record company/tv network/actual hard work and dedication structure is completely defunct, but what I am saying is more and more people are turning to individuals for their entertainment. Maybe we’re sick of being told what to like by Simon Cowell and Rupert Murdoch? The new generation of home grown celebrities are real people, with real lives and interests. I suspect that the rawness and personal touch of their content creates a bond that the big corporations can only dream of.
Once again thanks for reading, don’t forget to like, comment and share (fun fact, just reading doesn’t count, I need you to fuel my ego). If you have any comments or questions feel free to put them in the comments section below, the link is at the top of the page. I’d be most interested to know what you think of normal people being turned into idols, creepy or creative? What about youtubers? If you have a genuine passion, does it matter if you don’t have a company behind you? And would you now be inspired to seek out internet fame for yourself?
Follow me on Twitter @Portia_Fahey and on Tumblr at porshizzle.tumblr.com for more updates and whatever weirdo crap is on my dashboard that night!
Not Like The Car 
The post is interesting and fairly informative, however I find that there are a couple of key issues: you say “unless you have been living under a rock…” I haven’t been living under a rock and have no idea who any of the people whom you have mentioned in this post are. As a first time reader I feel as though I’m being told what I should be going/what I should enjoy. Assuming that all of your readers will be into the same things as you can cause a pitfall in your writing, and for readers like me, it’s almost insulting to think that I’ve supposedly been “living under a rock” because I don’t follow these people and their lives. The other key point, is that these blogs are supposed to be critical and analytical (for the work ex module), and this doesn’t seem to be. It appears as more of a gossip-fuelled discussion over ‘pretty’ people. It may be a good idea to clarify with Nadine that what your writing won’t lose you marks. I’m not trying to cause offence here but these are two key issues that I think, if addressed, would make your blog much more successful; both in the module, and outside of it.
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Thanks for the constructive feedback I really appreciate it and I’ll take it on board. I was worried about the critical aspect of it too, but I do feel like I have created a discussion in this post about what it takes to be ‘famous’. As for the “living under a rock” quote, I didn’t mean to offend or tell people what they should be interested in, but the people I have spoken about in this article have had substantial coverage in every national newspaper so I do feel like that comment is exaggerated (to fit the style of my writing), but justified. Once again, thanks for the constructive criticism, I’m learning something new with every blog post!
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I’m aware that my comment may have come off as harsh, but please understand, I didn’t mean it as such. I’m more concerned about how Nadine may mark it. The problem I found when reading this, is that there is a certain ambiguity with the purpose of the post, as I mentioned previously, it reads more like gossip – something you would find in a fashionable magazine. However, my advice may not be the best; Nadine is giving us feedback soon. Her advice would be much better than mine.
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