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FARK always amusing
Speaking of...Here is an article from Toronto Star
Web Celebs
Jun. 27, 2006. 11:57 AM
"The Internet can make you famous. Ric Romero has more at 11." If you just drew a blank at the mention of KABC-TV consumer reporter Ric Romero, you've never been to Fark.com. Then you would know that Romero, he of the sleek moustache and eerie resemblance to anchor Tim Tucker on The Family Guy, is regularly lampooned on the site for hopelessly out-of-date stories on Web trends, such as a recent one on "the exploding blog community." On Fark, the man is a star. By now, we all know anyone with dial-up can become famous online. As platforms, there's MySpace, YouTube, and as Ric taught us, a whole exploding world of blogs.But, sometimes involuntarily, people already in the public eye morph into a strange hybrid of real-life and online fame. And in doing so, they become bigger stars online than they ever were in their original medium. This creature is called ... The Web Celeb.Along with Ric Romero on Fark, Web celebs include quirky actor Christopher Walken and Wil Wheaton from Stand By Me and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Another prominent Web Celeb is '80s action man Chuck Norris, who has been credited with an impressive list of feats in addition to his black belt — such as speaking Braille and counting to infinity, twice. Norris doesn't even work much as an actor these days — but his celebrity is thriving online. While Tom Cruise and others shut down unauthorized fan sites, explains Jennifer Brayton, an assistant professor of sociology at Ryerson University, celebs in the know can use the Net to secure a fan base. For example, she says Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson has helped ensure that fans of the LOTR franchise are forever loyal by endorsing and appearing on fan sites. But as Romero knows, the Web Celeb meme is not always positive. For the last eight months or so, whenever Romero does a story involving the Web at his Los Angeles ABC affiliate — a piece highlighting "Google search engine shortcuts," for example — Farkers post a link to his story. Then they tear it apart. Romero has become so well-known online that "Ric Romero" has become a euphemism for, "This is completely and totally obvious to anyone who is conscious more than 20 per cent of their lives.""The celebrity he's gotten is kind of infamy," agrees Drew Curtis, Fark.com founder. "Ric Romero (is) the guy nobody would probably know outside of Los Angeles until recently." Romero really didn't want to talk about his not-so-stellar online reputation (see sidebar). Neither did his bosses, or anyone at the station for that matter. And Curtis says he hasn't heard any feedback — good or bad — from Romero, either. But Ric should know he isn't alone: Plenty of others, whether they like it or not, have gotten a nasty 15 minutes of fame on Fark or in the blogosphere. Not even Norris, who can slam revolving doors, by the way, is immune. His official website's chat room was closed down due to "abuse." As one Farker said, "Everyone is put on Earth for a purpose. Unfortunately, for some of us, it's ending up as fodder for Fark." Curtis knows his baby is sometimes evil. "We've had to be really careful. I've had to warn the guys who help me pick the links about being too mean to anybody with any notoriety because it's always getting back to them now," says the First Farker. But Fark, like the Internet itself, also uses its power for good. A favourite is former Star Trekker—turned-blogger/online poker player Wheaton, a man who escaped the shadow of his old Wesley Crusher role by kick-starting his career online."These days when people come up to me they tell me they are fans of my writing," he says. "People still talk to me about the movies and the TV shows I've done, but primarily people talk to me about my blog," says Wheaton of his site at wilwheaton.net.Web Celebs are frequently the not-so-popular celebrity, the ones who appeal to a more selective — and let's admit it, geekier — audience. Just look at Kevin Smith, a.k.a. Silent Bob, who has kept his career growing in part because of his online efforts over at viewaskew.com. "I think the Internet definitely has star-making potential," says Steve Rubel, senior vice-president of public relations firm Edelman. But "Class-A" celebs don't benefit as much, he explains. Fans of more mainstream stars are also frequently mocked mercilessly online — anyone seriously trying to defend Tom Cruise or Paris Hilton on Fark, for instance, would wind up flamed repeatedly. If there's a common denominator among Web Celebs, it's that there's a lot of online cheering for either unlikely heroes or delightfully oddball ones. Case in point: Walken, an eccentric but consistently employed actor, recently got caught in an online hoax that illustrates just how big he is online. Without any involvement, Walken was campaigning for president of the United States with a website full of platform info and his own campaign manager (the website is still up at http://www.walkenforpres.com). Walken didn't even know about it until news of the hoax reached his publicist, who promptly issued a release to put a stop to all of it. It could've been a make-or-break event in a lesser celeb's career, but not for the Online Patron Saint of the Cowbell. His publicist Toni Howard summed up the bid: "It was a non-event for him." Rubel says Web Celebs tend to appeal to a smaller, more specialized audience because the Internet is still a medium that not everyone can access. Think Friday the 13th crew and electro-pop pioneer Thomas Dolby, both happy to be subjects of Fark Photoshop contests. Wheaton is a self-proclaimed geek and a Total Farker himself (Total Fark being an elite status on the site, meaning, yes, it costs money). He says his level of fandom suits him just fine. "I really want the opportunity to do the right kind of acting. What I don't want to have to do is all the celebrity bullshit that seems so important to people."Paid-up Total Farker Tim Shaw says it's all about rolling with the online attention. "Something will get a life on the site and it will become a cliché. And what I found if it's something that's very laudable — like someone like Wil, who appears to be genuinely a very cool guy who doesn't appear to take himself too seriously and was on a very popular show and will participate in stuff like that — then it will go the positive direction."But if it's someone like Ric Romero, then it will go the negative direction."As for Canadian Web Celebs, they're out there: Pam Anderson's numerous online fans aside, Canuck comedian Colin Mochrie has found himself literally the poster boy for a style of animation called animutation. Essentially, a picture of his face is stuck on a cartoon body which then moves around to a soundtrack of pop songs, usually Japanese, usually with incorrect subtitles.A classic is Andrew Kepple's three-part Flash series Colin Mochrie vs. Jesus H. Christ, found through http://tmst.twu.net/sluggy/ which Mochrie says is his favourite. "I thought he would make an unlikely and, therefore, lovable hero," Kepple explains in an email, of why he chose Mochrie. "There was absolutely nothing whatsoever about Colin Mochrie that made it seem like he would want to battle against an evil plastic replica of the son of God, Jesus H. Christ. Which is why I decided that those two would make good enemies." Mochrie still seems a bit baffled by the whole thing. But he says a public figure has to expect some image manipulation. "For me, as long as nobody is making fun of my family ... I'm fine with that." says Mochrie, who has his own site at colinmochrie.com. "It's free publicity," says the former regular on Whose Line is it Anyway? "I started to get a new audience, young people who had never heard of Whose Line wondering who this fellow is in these animutations," Mochrie explains. The Web Celeb does have detractors. "Offline media still kicks butt," writes full-time P.R. guy and part-time blogger Rubel, because TV and radio are more accessible and respected by people of all ages. "As (the) generation that grew up with the Web their whole lives hits the 18-34 demo I bet this will change," he writes on micropersuasion.com. It's true many Web Celebs are usually only popular in a relatively tiny corner of the universe. Much of their appeal comes from in-jokes. "It's often restricted to people using the Internet," says Fritz Holznagel, editor of Who2.com, an online encyclopedia of celebrities. "It's possible to be very famous among millions of people ... but Joe Microbrew on the street just won't get it," he says. Wheaton says he likes it that way. The Internet in general, and Fark in particular, have been good to him. "It kind of lets me make my own rules, I guess," he says. "Before the acceptance of my blog I would have never been able to go to a literary agent and say, `I've had this really great career as an actor but I'm really interested in writing now,'" says Wheaton, who has penned his memoir, Just a Geek, and other titles. As for Romero, though, Farkers can only guess what he has to say about their handiwork. Chances are it involves another F-word.
ID@thestar.ca
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