
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


When Ghyslain Raza – aka the "Star Wars Kid" – became the internet's first viral sensation, it nearly destroyed him. More than twenty years later, many young people today are desperate for that kind of fame – even if it means making their most embarrassing moments available for public consumption.
According to one recent poll, more than half of all Gen Zs want to be influencers – online creators who turn their lives into content. To try and understand this phenomenon, Ava tracks down Sophie Fergi, an 18-year old influencer with millions of followers, and journalist Taylor Lorenz, who tracked the rise of content creators like Sophie in her book Extremely Online.
Is the influencer boom a sign of narcissism run amok? Or has social media finally democratized fame and given young people a voice? Maybe it's both.
By Toronto Star4.4
4545 ratings
When Ghyslain Raza – aka the "Star Wars Kid" – became the internet's first viral sensation, it nearly destroyed him. More than twenty years later, many young people today are desperate for that kind of fame – even if it means making their most embarrassing moments available for public consumption.
According to one recent poll, more than half of all Gen Zs want to be influencers – online creators who turn their lives into content. To try and understand this phenomenon, Ava tracks down Sophie Fergi, an 18-year old influencer with millions of followers, and journalist Taylor Lorenz, who tracked the rise of content creators like Sophie in her book Extremely Online.
Is the influencer boom a sign of narcissism run amok? Or has social media finally democratized fame and given young people a voice? Maybe it's both.

23 Listeners

4,218 Listeners

553 Listeners

60 Listeners

1,695 Listeners

1 Listeners

1,695 Listeners

3 Listeners

7,395 Listeners

327 Listeners

2,146 Listeners

25 Listeners

0 Listeners

0 Listeners

0 Listeners

4 Listeners

0 Listeners

0 Listeners

73 Listeners

2 Listeners

390 Listeners

1,158 Listeners

183 Listeners