Internet famous

Class:
M/W at 7-8:30 PM ET
in-person.

Office hours by apt.
T, Th, F
On Zoom

Write to sign up
fraade@gmail.com

In-Class Links
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Readings Links
Coursepack URL given in class. Please request if you miss it.

Internet Famous

Week 1	1B (L1A)- 9/6/23	Intro to celebrity as performance Read for next Monday (due 9/11/22) and write a response: Listening and Longing - Music Lovers in the Age of Barnum (see reading list url given in class, reach out if you missed it) Teen Titan: The Man Who Made Justin Bieber Be sure to send in where you will be posting your reading responses (blog, tumblr, tiktok, medium...smoke signals...)
Week 2	2A (L1B) - 9/11/23 2B (L2A) -9/13/23	Celebrity - what is it anyway? R Being fanlike! H HW due this* Weds (due 9/13/22):* Create and annotate an autobiographical celebrity fandom timeline. [Example] [Details] HW due next Weds (due 9/20/22) In groups, perform and document one of the Fanlike activities, for a celebrity you are unfamiliar with. IRL. [Details] Read for next Monday (due 9/18/22) and write a response: Celebrity Culture and the American Dream, Chapter 2 (see reading list url given in class, reach out if you missed it)
Week 3	3A (L5B) - 9/18/23 3B (L2B) - 9/20/23	H&R Public Relations, Freudian psychoanalysis, and you / H Read for next Monday and write a response: Degas: A superfan at the opera Listen for next Monday and write a response: Famous on the Internet, Broke IRL Watch this Video for Monday and write a response: Hiring 50 bodyguards
Week 4	4A (L3B) - 9/25/23 4B(L3A) - 9/27/23	Celebrity Branding! *GUEST:The Whalens* HW due next Monday: Using character archetypes and the four styles of capital, create and document a celebrity brand in 9 photos. [Details] Read for next Monday and write a response: The Logic of Stupid Poor People Carrie Bradshaw's Purse Evolution
Week 5	5A(L4A) - 10/2/23 5B(L4B) -10/4/23	History and H & R - GUEST -Managing Celebs (Christian) / "The Fool"/ R Reading due next Mon and write a response: Celebrity Inc. (see reading list url given in class, reach out if you missed it) Optional just for fun, ungraded: Do the "personal value proposition" exercise No Shame in a Selfie - you can stop when it turns into therapy Here Comes the Hillbilly, Again: What Honey Boo Boo really says about American culture
Week 6	6A (L5A) - 10/10/22 - note, this is tuesday 6B - 10/11/23	Celebrity and Class theory part 1. Down with the Man! - Celebrity and Class theory part 2. Actually the Man is pretty great! Reading due next Monday (10/16) and write a response: From Smart Fan to Backyard Wrestler: Performance, Context and Aesthetic Violence Fame Junkies: The Hidden Truths Behind America's Favorite Addiction Optional just for fun, ungraded: The 9.9 Percent Is the New American Aristocracy The La Mancha ScrewJob (Just the WWE portion)
Week 7	7A (L6A) -10/16/23 7B - 10/18/23	Wrestling!/ R Comercialization! GUEST - Nick HW due next Wednesday: Make some money with celebrity fandom. [Details] Reading due next Monday and write a response: Trust Me, I'm Lying Optional just for fun: Listen Reply All Podcast: #155 Friendship Village Growing an audience through conflict
Week 8	8A (7C) - 10/23/23 8B (L8A) - 10/25/23	Commercialization! More Commercialization! HR HW due next Monday: Continue your Influencer brief Reading due next Monday and write a response Folklore, Horror Stories, and the Slender Man: The Development of an Internet Mythology
Week 9	9A(L9B/10A) - 10/30/23 9B (L9A)- 10/1/23	H&R that's spoooky Even More Commercialization! Watch for next Monday and write a response: The Art of Asking Read for next Monday and write a response: Why Virality is more about Emotional Connection than Luck HW Due next Monday: FInalize your Influencer brief
Week 10	10A (L10B)- 11/6/23 10B(-L8B)- 11/8/23	GUEST: Influencer marketing the right way, with Eduardo! Creating virality with memes and beyond
Week 11	11A & 8B- 11/13/23 11B - 11/15/23	Cats! Exploitation, and Final Intro GUEST: Influencing! HW due this coming Weds, the 15th: The meme assignment [Details] HW due next Monday: Begin the final, come in with your celebrity and your plan [Details]
Week 12 - Thanksgiving	12A - 11/20/23	Go over final ideas, also Celebrity shipping. Listen for next Monday and write a response: Straight Outa Chevy Chase Optional Reading: Parents Who ‘Pranked’ Their Kids On YouTube Sentenced Also Banned
Week 13	13A(L12B)-11/27/23 13B(L13A)-11/29/23	Fanfiction Interlude: Content, fanfic, and Awkwordness. Social proof, R/H HW due next Monday: The fan fic Imagine assignment (might move to following week if needed) Continue building out your celebrity brand, prepping your media spike(s), and plan your promotion. Reading due Monday and write a response: Why do our brains love celebrity conspiracy theories? (They're bad!) Shipping and the Enduring appeal of rooting for love (Actually, they're great!) McDreamy, McSteamy, and McConnell (I don't know what they are, but they're really important!)
Week 14	14A - 12/4/23 14B - 12/6/23	Negative effects of Celebrity Critique round-table HW due next Weds: The Final! Finalize and prep your final presentation Optional Reading: Weaponized Celebrity The Dubius Ethics of Real Person Fiction
Week 15	15A - 12/11/23 15B - 12/13/23	What makes a good celebrity FINAL Projects

COURSE OBJECTIVES
At the completion of this course, the student will be able to:

Explain how the practice of Celebrity has changed over the past 30 years due to the rise of social media platforms and decentralized content distribution on the internet.
Demonstrate an understanding of the entrepreneurial implications of internet celebrity, both as a money-making process and a marketing tool.
Utilize emerging digital and non-digital platforms to engage in celebrity-creation activities, including audience building, personal branding, and fan recruitment and management

COURSE TEXTBOOK
No texts are required, but there will be a number of required readings from various sources. In addition, further readings and source material will be found in the following highly recommended books:

Abidin, C, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online. 2018

Marwick AE. Status Update, Celebrity, Publicity, and Branding in the Social Media Age. Yale University Press; 2013.

Brodie R. Virus of the Mind, The New Science of the Meme. Hay House Incorporated; 2011.

Tashiro T. Awkward, The Science of Why We're Socially Awkward and Why That's Awesome. William Morrow; 2017.

Cavicchi D. Listening and Longing, Music Lovers in the Age of Barnum. Wesleyan University Press; 2011.

Blackmore S. The Meme Machine. Oxford Paperbacks; 2000.

Jenkins H, Ford S, Green J. Spreadable Media, Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture. NYU Press; 2013.

Fussell P. Class, A Guide Through the American Status System. Simon and Schuster; 1992.

Aunger R. The Electric Meme, A New Theory of How We Think. Free Press; 2010.

Carlin P. How to Make Your Cat an Internet Celebrity, A Guide to Financial Freedom. Quirk Books; 2014.

Sternheimer K. Celebrity Culture and the American Dream, Stardom and Social Mobility. Routledge; 2014.

Pringle H. Celebrity Sells. Wiley; 2004.

Cashmore E, Cashmore E. Celebrity Culture. 2014.

Rojek C. Fame Attack, The Inflation of Celebrity and Its Consequences. A&C Black; 2012.

Phillips W. This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Mapping the Relationship Between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture. Mit Press; 2016.

Solove DJ. The Future of Reputation, Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet. 2008.

Rojek C. Celebrity. Reaktion Books; 2001.

Piazza J. Celebrity, Inc., How Famous People Make Money. Open Road Media E-riginal; 2011.

Lynch A. Thought Contagion, How Belief Spreads Through Society. Basic Books (AZ); 1998.

Shifman L. Memes in Digital Culture. MIT Press; 2013.

Chess S, Newsom E. Folklore, Horror Stories, and the Slender Man, The Development of an Internet Mythology. Palgrave Pivot; 2014.

Halpern J. Fame Junkies, The Hidden Truths Behind America's Favorite Addiction. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2008.

Fraade-Blanar Z, Glazer AM. Superfandom, How Our Obsessions Are Changing How We Buy and Who We Are. 2017.

GRADING AND ATTENDANCE
Grades will be determined by the following breakdown:

30% Participation
20% Assignments
20% Reading responses and other written work
30% Final project

Any more than four (4) unexcused absences will result a lowering of your final grade by 1/3rd of a grade for each unexcused absence (A to A-, B+ to B, etc). For example, five (5) unexcused absences will result in your highest possible grade being an A- instead of an A. Two (2) late arrivals will count for one (1) absence.

This class is a blended in-person/remote class. It can be experienced fully remote without difficulty.

PARTICIPATION:
This class will be highly participatory. You are expected to contribute to discussions, engage in group work, give feedback to your peers, and otherwise fully participate in class.

PHONE, TABLET, LAPTOP, AND OTHER ELECTRONICS USE
Recreational use of phones, music players, video game systems and other devices are forbidden. I now we're on Zoom, but still. Laptops and tablets are allowed for note taking, in class work, as well as relevant research only. Activities not related to the class, such as recreational use of the internet, including all social media websites, email and instant messaging, game playing, and work for other classes, will not be permitted.

TEACHING STYLE
Classes will be a mixture of lecture, reading discussion, group and individual presentations, and homework critique.

COURSE SCHEDULE
The course will be two (2) times per week for one hour and thirty minutes (1:30) for a total of 14 weeks.

ASSIGNMENTS
As a class engaged in the exploration of an ongoing phenomenon and the theory underpinning it, there will be regular readings, podcasts, and videos. Students should arrive in class ready to discuss their reactions and criticism of each piece, and participation is mandatory.

Responses to reading and other written assignments are also due by email or in personal blogs within one day of the class discussion. Written assignments are expected to be 200 to 500 words in length unless otherwise specified. Responses that are on time and meeting the criteria specified will be marked as complete. Late (up to 1 week) or partially completed work will be given half credit. Work that is more than a week late, not turned in, or fails to meet the criteria specified will be given no credit.

In addition, students are expected to contribute to the class email thread of breaking news related to celebrity use of digital platforms and media.

There will be regular assignments that are relevant to the class material. These assignments must be documented (written description, photos, screenshots, or video all qualify based on the assignment) on at least one group member’s blog or emailed to the teacher. Each assignment is due by class time one week after they are assigned unless stated otherwise.

It is expected that you will spend 6 to 8 hours a week on the class outside of class itself. This will include reading, watching video, completing assignments and so on. Please budget your time accordingly.

Each assignment will be marked as complete (full credit), partially complete (half credit), or incomplete (no credit). To be complete an assignment should meet the criteria specified in the syllabus including documentation. If significant portions are not attempted or the assignment is turned in late (up to 1 week) then it may be marked partially complete. If it is more than a week late, not turned in, or an attempt isn’t made to meet the criteria specified it will be marked incomplete.

STATEMENT OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work as though it were your own. More specifically, plagiarism is to present as your own: A sequence of words quoted without quotation marks from another writer or a paraphrased passage from another writer’s work or facts, ideas or images composed by someone else. More information can be found on Tisch’s page regarding Academic Integrity (http://tisch.nyu.edu/faculty/academic-integ).

ACCESSIBILITY
Academic accommodations are available for students with documented disabilities. Please contact the Moses Center for Students with Disabilities at 212 998-4980 for further information.

WELLNESS
Your health and safety are a priority at NYU. If you experience any health or mental health issues during this course, we encourage you to utilize the support services of the 24/7 NYUWellness Exchange 212-443-9999, or access other materials on the Wellness Exchange website.

Autobiographical celebrity timeline

Create a 'Celebrity Autobiography' that shows what celebrities you were fans of over time. Pay special attention to periods of upheaval and personal development - what were the para-social relationships you relied on to get you through them? How did those enthusiasms change once the periods were over? Use whatever medium you want - you can be creative - but be sure that the final product can all be viewed at once, either on a screen or in the physical world, without further explanation (no slideshows or performance art.) What can an observer understand about your life from just by looking at the icons you cared about?

Perform a Fanlike Activity

In a group of of at least 3 and no more than 4, perform a Fanlike activity. It must be for a celebrity fandom that no one in the group is already overly familiar with (remember, celeactors are celebrities too). Pick Evangelization, socialization, impersonation, tradition-making, content making, pilgrimages, or some combination thereof, and give it your best shot, unironically. That means try it for real.

Remember, to be fandom, using our definition, it has to be in some way social. So do what you're doing in public (preferably meat-space public, but digital public might be alright in some situations), preferably in the company of other fans. See if you can trigger some of those fanlike feelings of belonging, utopia, and social acceptance. Do you see examples of your fellow fans using the celebrity for identity work? Ice-breaking? Is there evidence of people using the celebrity to fight loneliness? Awkwardness?

Document what you did and how it made you feel. Stuck for ideas? Try Meetup.com - there are dozens of fan groups listed there of various types. Timeout.com also has some great suggestions of fan events taking place around the city. Stay away from Fan Fiction for now.

Create a Celebrity Persona for yourself

Acting as your own manager, create for yourself a celebrity brand. Choose a mythological archetype from the list below or find your own. Pick an archetype that expresses a single aspect of who you are, a simplified, easily digestible version of yourself. If you already have a celebrity persona, try picking an archetype that's completely novel and new.

Now, pick what type of celebrity status this character has: Exclusivity (lots of money and economic capital), Exoticism (lot of cultural capital), Exceptionalism (lots of skills and social capital) or Everydayness (the appearance of no capital)

Using instagram, pinterest, or another socially-enabled collaging software, build a mood board expressing this new celebrity persona. It should contain exactly 9 photos.

At least three pictures should be of you inhabiting and impersonating the character you have created. Really get into the role with some posed shots, some action shots, whatever it takes to portray this character.
At least 3 pictures should show details about this character’s life, or any other imagery expressing the lifestyle with which you want your brand associated. Objects, props, scenery, maybe relationships (they can be fictitious if you want. Collect these pictures from wherever you want, no need to take them from yourself.
At least one photo should express something to create intimacy - a (preferably fictitious) piece of personal information or fan access to your (preferably fictitious) inner life to help create feelings of closeness and access with your audience.
At least one photo should encourage your audience to partake in a fan like activity, probably through mimicry, or a how to.
One photo is a wildcard.

Archetypes: The Love Goddess/God, The Innocent Child, The Trickster, The Party Animal, The Caretaker/Mother, The Fool, The Warrior, The Dark Lord, The Hero, The Free Spirit, The Keen Teen, The Mentor, The Wizard, The Witch, The Rebel, The Explorer, The Cheif/boss, The Creator (The Artist), The Everyman, The Lost Soul, The Spunky Kid

The Infiltrate a Mall Store assignment

Document every time you see a business co-opting the symbols of a subculture and using them to help the mainstream feel edgy. Fashion, Industry, any other sphere of influence - find the places a business has appropriated style or symbolism to help them sell their stuff.

It's alright to find some examples online, but take at least some from life. Consider other outlets besides the obvious ones such as Urban Outfitters or Spencers. Try grocery stores.

Document what you see in a collage of commercial rebelliousness. Don't get arrested.

Make some money with Fandom

Get into groups. Lets prove to ourselves that fandom is inherently commercial - that it makes monetary situations significantly easier because each interaction already assumes a given level of loyalty and buy-in. Using what we know about celebrity influence, take the $20 seed money given in class and use it to make some money using celebrity fandom.

Do not get arrested. Using the $20 to buy ads to send traffic to a page of celebrity fan art with a digital tip jar, or to buy supplies for a movie viewing party with an entry fee is acceptable, using it to print bootleg Yankees shirts to sell during the game is not.

Success means making at least one dollar from a stranger, or someone else that no one in your group is already friends with. Document your process.

Create the ultimate meme

Create three memes – stick with picture memes, not video for now. But don't just find an existing image macro and put some text on it. Use What we know about the psychology of virality to create the three most viral memes you can. Pick at least two different genres, and two different approaches to sharability. The tols you have at your disposal:

The various different genres of memes: photoshops, stock characters with captions, photo fads, lip dubs and parodies, fan vids (although that’s more of a video thing)
High arousal positive and negative imagery
Remix vs Mimacry
The Elements of sharability (visual incongruity, Simplicity, Non-traditional masculinity, Quirky humor, Repetition)

Make these memes so sharable that they’re copied just by looking at them. If you get stuck, remember the relatability trifecta: Coffee, Complaining, seasonality. Post them to your blog or bring them in on Monday. .

Celebrity: The Final. Make someone famous.

Pick one person in your group of 3 who is willing to become a celebrity. Establish who they are as a larger than life character. Their personality does not have to be realistic. You can pick a new name, look, mannarisms, or whatever else you think will appeal to your audiene. Specifically, make sure to address:

What’s their name?
What type of Celeb are they (Ascribed, Achieved, Attributed)?
What’s their archetype (Love goddess, Mentor, Wizard, Keen Teen…)?
What’s their style (Exclusivity, Exoticism, Exceptionalism)?
Do they have connotations of Frontierism?
Do they have connotations of Affluence?
What are their commercial affiliations? Licenses? sponsorships? Event appearances?

Pick a platform. You will need at least 12 to 18 photos at a minimum - enough internet presence that this person feels plausible.

Create your Celebrity development strategy. What are you going to do to make this person famous online? You need at least one, and possibly more than one media spike. How are you going to attract attention and what will it be for? Here are some forms of media spikes we've discussed:

Fabricate some beef or love with a more popular celebrity
Stage an IRL pseudo-event. Document the celeb engaging in some type of brand-consistent public behavior.
Create high-arousal content that builds community, intimacy, awe, aw, humor, or other forms of positive or negative affect.

What’s your promotion strategy? How will you make sure that people notice your spike? HOw will you get the word out about what they're doing and who they are? Consider some of these:

Convince or pay other celebrities to endorse you. Use your existing social channels or bargain for new ones froem friends or aquaintances.
Get media and other PR placements to generate buzz
Encourage sharing using memes and virality
Encourage a fanlike activity in an existing fanbase, including socialization, rituals, evangelization, impersonation, pilgrimages, and content creation

Arrive in class ready to share the profile of your celebrity. Introduce us to them and show us how you’ve established their visual brand on your platform of choice. Then walk us through your promotion strategy. What type of media spike are you going to attempt? And how are you going to tell the internet about it? Make this person internet famous.

Fandom: The Final

In groups of 2 or 3, pick a fangroup. One you’re already embedded in, or one you don’t know very well, either is fine. Using everything we’ve learned this semester, affect that fangroup in some way.

Use what you know about why fans join or leave groups to grow or shrink the group.
Use what you know about status and motivation within a fangroup to change its social norms in some measurable way.
Change the rituals and traditions and other fanlike activities that are associated with a fangroup. Perhaps there’s a fanlike activity that isn’t traditionally associated with it you want to create.
Change how a brand treats its fan group, or remind it that it has one to begin with
Coopt someone else's fangroup and see if you can get fans of this thing to also be fans of that thing.
Use what you know about prosumption to use a fangroup in a way it hasn’t been used before. Perhaps there is untapped potential there.

Pick your group and brainstorm up what method of change you plan to use. Research up the fan group. What makes them tick. Find out on forums and social media and in real life what these fans are like. Arrive on the 30th with a quickreport on your fangroup, the current situation, your project plan for what effect you’re going to try to have, and how you will measure your success.