People with highly visible online personas are dubbed "internet famous" (Ben Brown, founder of the short-lived geek dating site Consummating, christened himself the "internet rockstar" in 2000, and defined it as "all the fun with none of the pesky pressure to produce another top selling CD or make anybody rich or famous. Except you, Mr. Number One."). Wired magazine put Julia Allison on the cover with the headline "Get Internet famous! Even if you're nobody." Like Kevin Rose, many are swamped with attention at conferences: At South by Southwest, I witnessed "mommy blogger" Dooce, a.k.a. Heather Armstrong, backed against a wall by fans. Micro-celebrities are name-dropped on Facebook and Twitter ("At the Rev3 Holiday party with @veronica lamenting that @ryanblock & @kevinrose are nerdily playing chess"). People brag about meeting, hanging out with, and attending parties with the micro-famous; their technologies or accomplishments are followed closely; and their content is read, re-tweeted, and discussed. To many, the distinction between those famous for doing something and those famous for simply being famous is unimportant. What matters is the fame.

Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, loc. 275