Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence and Power on the Internet

Influencers, now a slowly fading cliché in the Internet’s tableau vivant, found success articulating the cult of personality, and marketing themselves as direct-to-consumer-goods. The shift away from this algorithmic surrender can be traced to the macro and micro “creator economies” spawned by the likes of Patreon, Substack, OnlyFans and even Cameo... See more

Social media’s combination of global reach,

performance metrics, platform design, content

format, and algorithmic interference have changed

how creators make for others, and how others

perceive and interact with creators' work.

The results are an eternal presence, persistent

feedback, an unrealistic expectation of virality,

harmful social comparison, crea

... See more

The Internet empowered consumers to find their tribes. They choose which content to interact with, they tailor their media based on their real friends, aspirational friends, values, aesthetics, etc., they share their opinions on global platforms and they seek out the products, people and brands that align with their view of themselves.

The rise of “microcelebrities” and the proliferation of online content means that connections become deeper. We feel new levels of affinity for digitally-native stars—we feel that we grew up with them and that we’re privy to the most intimate parts of their lives.