4: Didn’t I see you on YouTube? YOU MUST BE FAMOUS

Burgess and Green argue that: ordinary people who become celebrities through their own creative efforts “remain within the system of celebrity native to, and controlled by, the mass media” (Reader, page 269).

We’ve all heard someone utter the line, “back in my day” as they reflect longingly on their past, the way things used to be and how much things have changed. In few areas of society can these societal changes be more readily realised that in the mercurial notion of ‘celebrity’.

To be a celebrated individual, it used to be that one began their journey in the mainstream media, for example through appearing in films, and then simply grew to greater prominence within the media form in which they began. The advent of YouTube culture however has seen this journey to celebrity change significantly. To be a celebrity now what you need is ‘views’.

According to Burgess & Green (2009: 21-25), YouTube acts as a vehicle capable of propelling the most ‘ordinary’ of people into great popularity. All you require is a video camera, a computer and an internet connection, then toss in a dash of ‘wierd’ or ‘unique’ and you’ve got yourself a YouTube DIY Celebrity hit.

Yet simply having a few thousand (or million) views does not in itself make you a celebrity. ‘YouTube Sensation’ would be a more appropriate term for someone in this situation, according to Burgess & Green (B&G). In their article, YouTube & the Mainstream Media (2009), B&G recognise and engage with the line of separation which distinguishes a celebrity from a ‘hit’. To breach this line, they suggest, what you require is consistency, skill and dedication to your particular art. According to Burgess & Green, those who constitute youtube sensations are those who are “famous for doing something in particular very well, even if that something is unlikely to accrue prestige in the traditional media or arts industries (Burgess & Green, 2009: 24). Just because one is able to attract an online following, does not make them a celebrity.

Consider the utterly unexplainable Brandon Hardesty, a prominent YouTube poster whose videos of him making funny noises in front of his laptop have accrued in excess of 10 million hits. Keep in mind that for an album to be considered a platinum record, it must sell only one tenth of the number of hits Brandon has achieved:

 

Video Credit: “Strange Faces and Noises I Can Make IV“. Uploaded to YouTube by ArtieTSMITW

Video Credit: “Extreme Toothbrushing“. Uploaded to YouTube by ArtieTSMITW

 

Brandon has his own Youtube Channel,

 

He has his own Twitter [not pictured], and his own Website (with advertisments to boot – indicating that he is able to make money from his *ahem* talents)

*Click on the image for a link to the site*

Yet despite the large following he has been able to achieve, we would not generally consider him to be a celebrity in the way that we understand ‘Sting’ to be one (I dont know why I chose Sting as an example), because Brandon’s act has not been able to permeate the mainstream media bubble. It remains in the hazy grey area of celebrity that is YouTube.

As suggested by Burgess & Green, without breaking into the mainstream media in some way such as through featuring in a popular film, on chat shows like Oprah or even on the Radio, we cannot consider Brandon to have “passed through the gate-keeping mechanisms of the old media” (Burgess & Green, 2009: 24) which operate almost as an initiation ritual into the halls of ‘celebrity’.

 

He must follow in the path of other internet hits like OK GO, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and maybe even the talentless Jessica Black. Youtube is more of a launchpad for prospective celebrities, a way to literally “broadcast yourself into fame and fortune” (Burgess & Green, 2009: 22). 

 

White YouTube may be a part of the New Media world, but it seems in the eyes of Burgess & Green, the idea of celebrity is very much defined by Old Media standards.

 

 

References:

Burgess, Jean, and Green, Joshua. (2009) ‘YouTube and the Mainstream Media’, in YouTube: Online and Participatory Culture. Cambridge: Polity Press.