On the internet, anyone has the potential to become a celebrity. Some actively seek internet fame by carefully cultivating their online identity; while others may become unwitting internet celebrities when a stray, unflattering image of themselves is used as the subject of a meme.

In this episode, David is joined by digital anthropologist Dr Crystal Abidin, to discuss the rise and fall of both ‘deliberate’ and ‘accidental’ online celebrities.

• Why influencers are more than just product-pushing advertisers (2.17)
• How the law affects social media influencers differently to traditional advertisers (9.23)
• How a social media platform changing, or closing down entirely, affects both influencers and their fans (14.05)
• The rise of people being memed and accidentally becoming celebrities (17.24)
• Why we’re shifting away from picture-perfect, professional social media influencers and valuing those who are more authentic (23.44)
• On the rise of virtual influencers and other trends (28.28)

Learn more

• ABC News: Students are fighting climate change, one TikTok video at a time
• BBC: How turning ‘likes’ invisible is changing Instagram
• BBC: Life beyond the meme: what happens after you go viral
• Drinktank: Seven wonders of the social media influencer

Got any questions, or suggestions for future topics?

Email [email protected].

Curtin University supports academic freedom of speech. The views expressed in The Future Of podcast may not reflect those of the university.

Music: OKAY by 13ounce Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 Music promoted by Audio Library

You can read the full transcript for the episode here.