I read an interesting post last week about why Paris Hilton is such a successful celebrity (here). The reasoning being is that she’s one big walking hyperlink. Meaning, all she does is constantly point the reader/viewing/listener to something else. She endorses, name-drops, evangelizes, and critiques other things. Look at the example of her recent DUI arrest:
“I had one margarita (and) was starving because I had not eaten all day,” she said. “Maybe I was speeding a little bit and I got pulled over. I was just really hungry and I wanted to have an In-N-Out Burger.”
On record, in the press, she’s aligning herself with the (awesome) burger chain In-N-Out. Sure, as a celebrity she doesn’t carry any weight alone, but because she attaches herself to other items and things, she’s becomes interesting and (perhaps) relevant.
What made this perspective intriguing is that this is to what’s happening in the blogosphere. Many blogs in and of themselves aren’t that interesting, but it’s what they point to and reference that provide the value. Look at this post by the sports blog Deadspin – it’s just a list of links to other posts. You track through enough blogs and eventually you get to something with substance.
Another good post which addressed this was Malcolm
Gladwell’s which talked about the derivative nature of blogs and media at large. He argues that:
We need derivative media sources (blogs) to help us make sense of what we learn from primary sources.
There’s plenty of interesting and original material out there and blogs by their nature will reflect, expand, and enhance that. Paris Hilton, in my mind, is then a necessary piece of our world. Of course, she doesn’t’ do it well, but the definitely are some celebrities and blogs that do it well and are just as enjoyable as any primary content.
