Direct Contact

Social Media and 15 Minutes of Fame

“In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.”

Most people cite Marshall McLuhan as a visionary (me too) in the evolution of the Internet, but let’s take a closer look at Andy Warhol. I mean, have you ever tried to read McLuhan? Really? It’s pretty dense, very academic. In Warhol, here is someone who was very interested in using different media, a variety of image sources, and was much more “user friendly” – so to speak.

While Warhol was famous for many reasons, the quote above is probably the most repeated. And he was right…

Consider social media sites like YouTube. It is 100% user driven content – and it promotes, if not helps to manufacture, the 15 minute celebrity (Obama girl comes to mind). I would think that Warhol would definitely consider 2008 as the future and his prediction is completely true.  The same goes for Facebook, Linkedin… and Twitter (where everyone is famous for 15 seconds at a time). If you are not famous in 2008, it’s simply because you choose not to – the tools are right here at hand, literally. And they are free.

Of course, the goal of social medial is not make everyone famous (but we are getting there). Social media allows engagement and connectivity, what we do with it is another story.

What is your story?