What is fame?

The term "fame is a tricky one to use. Much like we discussed in class, it's a difficult word to define, as the definition changes with each individual, situational context. Dictionary.com defines it as "widespread reputation, especially of a favorable character." The problem with this definition is that it is really, really vague: "widespread," "favorable," and "character" in particular can all mean very different things in different contexts. Like other classmates have mentioned, basically anyone can become "youtube famous" by having a video that garners a lot of hits. But what's "a lot?" What amount of views makes a video famous, therefore giving the subjects fame? Similarly, several bloggers have been described as "tumblr famous" on the blogging site Tumblr; after a certain amount of people are following their blog, they are apparently "tumblr famous." There is no way to be sure what number that is, however. Beyond the internet, a lead character on a TV show might get recognized when he/she is at a celebrity hot spot in Hollywood, but what about when they're in jeans and a t-shirt in a small town in Iowa? If they're not recognized somewhere other than Hollywood, NYC, etc, does that mean they aren't famous? I think we are part of a generation of people who are self-made and self-declared celebrities. Social media and blogging allows people to make themselves, and other think, that their lives are interesting and even important to follow. When we begin to examine and interrogate terms like "fame," we're now stuck with examining other connected words as well, like celebrity, famous, A-list, and infamous. All these terms are ambiguous and I should probably think a bit more before I use them.