Hello...hello...hello...

Wow. Five months. Way to be committed.

To the nonexistent audiences who care, I'll try to keep up with this, which means I'll forget eventually.

But as I compare my meager blog to that of semi-famous and even famous bloggers or vloggers, I have come to realize a trend.

With Youtube now a staple in pop culture and places like Blogger sitting here for the common man to speak his mind, it's entirely feasible for a nobody to become an Internet icon. LisaNova, Smosh, sxephil, Fred, Perez Hilton.

And even though they have good intentions, and at the beginning they think of themselves as normal people, their creativity will eventually turn them into a celebrity. Two of my favorite vloggers, vlogbrothers and Davey Wavey, are prime examples.

Vlogbrothers: On January 1st, 2007, these two brothers were nothing on Youtube. They began an incredibly creative project in which they only talked via vlogs, no text allowed for one year. At the beginning, nobody watched (I recall Hank saying that their first watcher was discovered around late January). By December (which is when I started watching), they had gained, organized, and labelled a following dubbed Nerdfighters. So the year is over, no more project? Well, they continued with the vlogging, got a ning site , and soon an entire community formed, with the co-leaders of the Green brothers.

At this point they had visibly created a rift. Soon, among the throng of projects, contacting either brother became almost impossible. John Green soon had an auto-response email when the address at his personal site was contacted. And even though obvious nerdfigther contributions were being made in the form of collab videos, there still existed over 10,000 followers whose voices couldn't possibly be heard. There were simply too many fans for these two men.
(http://www.nerdfighters.com http://www.youtube.com/vlogbrothers)
Davey Wavey: A blog written by a very optimistic gay man who chooses to wear very little clothing. He began just as I am now, writing merely to "document my own journey". Soon his blog turned into a vlog, and all it took was a simple tag on one of his videos for his fame to skyrocket. The word "masturbating" suddenly gave Dave an entirely new, and perverted, audience.

He seems to not have changed at all. He still posts short notes about "creating your own universe", long posts about life, "talky blogs" for him to discuss issues. He also askes viewers to "ask me questions". In the past year, this request has brought more and more responses. It's not uncommon to see 200 comments below, asking the most painful and emotional questions imaginable and others about his "size". But the real face of Mr. Davey is shown in the "contact" tab of his site. He gives the "cannot respond to all emails" disclaimer. His advice vlogs answer only about 15-20 questions apiece. It is obvious that the man has reached his limit, and I would be a fool to ask him for any more.

Now his nature would make someone believe that he would never let this fame get to his head. And at face value, it hasn't. Yet the subtle pictures of a partially nude Dave smiling cheerfully in front of his apartment window, a sarcastic post about his dog that ends up with a picture of a Canadian friend unconcious in his bed, and a montage of him dancing in his skivvies show that he has realized his fame, and there's no turning back.
(http://www.breaktheillusion.com)

So WHAT am I blabbering about?

My point is...

Creative people who use Youtube and Blogger are entirely vulnerable to the unfortunate status of popular icon just by having people like them.

The Cycle:

1) Normal Indie Artist
2) Growing Internet Presence
3) Impersonal Internet Phenomenon
4) Waning Cultural Icon
5) A Memory