Everything You Need to Know About Your 15 Minutes of Fame Before It Happens
We’ve all heard about Andy Warhol’s old statement that in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes, except that’s not what Warhol actually said. The late artist has been famous for decades for his work, but this quote also had real staying power, and that’s how these things work: people get famous all the time, and even infamous, as the misattributed prophecy predicted, but often, it’s because for a joke or action that was taken out of context or otherwise not entirely based on the truth.
Viral videos are a great example of this. With an upload on Vine (RIP), Twitter or TikTok, a perfectly ordinary person can rise to the top of the list of popular topics. The public very quickly becomes interested in this person, despite the fact that they actually know information about him in just a few seconds. Naturally, inquisitive minds start looking for more details about the main character of the day, which can seem quite aggressive for the average Joe at the center of the furore.
Here’s what you need to know before the inevitable 15 minutes of fame.
How does viral fame work?
Sometimes viral fame is useful. Yesterday, a young man from Manhattan became a Twitter sensation after calling the police after seeing a mass shooting suspect walking past his workplace. This man, Zach Tahhan, has been swamped by the press and made famous on the internet. However, almost immediately, other calls appeared on the network for people not to spoil the good mood by delving into the past or the character of Tahkhan. We’ve all seen it happen way too many times: someone unknowingly rises to their moment in the spotlight, only to have some subjectively unpleasant fact about themselves come up and “undo” them. There’s even a term for it, which itself comes from an old viral tweet : When this happens to you, you “dodged the milkshake.”
What is useful can quickly become less than useful, all because instant notoriety ensures that Internet sleuths start looking for more information about the subject. Hoping to get in on the action and get those nice, sweet clicks, digital media sites are taking the lead by posting “five things you need to know” about down-to-earth, everyday people who just happen to be trending, gathering LinkedIn job stories and bios. . facts from other social networks, as well as publicly available information from other sources. A person may be asked to appear on the news or give an interview and end up saying the wrong thing, continuing the news cycle in an unfavorable manner.
What’s more, viral fame doesn’t always start off as something useful and then get worse. Take the case of West Elm Caleb, a young man who used dating apps in New York and was criticized online in January for… dating multiple women at the same time. Numerous New York women made videos of their experiences with him, including being sent playlists and learning from other videos that a man who wasn’t their exceptional boyfriend was acting like he wasn’t their exceptional boyfriend. Social media users quickly found his real name and began emailing his superiors. Like Tahhan, he was trending on Twitter.
If you find yourself in a trend, don’t panic. You are not the first person to be in this post. Learn from what others have done here, starting with…
Do not say anything
Don’t start maniacally responding to angry tweets. The first thing you should do is nothing.
“Honestly, it’s best to shut up,” said Mitchell Jackson, head of public relations and media at BCC Communications. “If you’re in one of those situations and don’t want it to define you if you don’t have access to a publicist or media coach, it might be best not to say anything.”
The easiest way to say nothing is to not even see anything that you might want to respond to. Nivin Jay, the social media influencer who went viral last year after posting a video Ben Affleck sent her demanding to know why she didn’t best him on the dating app, told Lifehacker: “You just have to not read any of the comments.” .
This is easier said than done, of course. Jay has been featured in famous gossip, and despite her advice not to read the comments, she has found Reddit threads and other social media posts about herself.
“People would find pictures of me when I was 14 and say, ‘Wow, she got a face transplant. Look how ugly she was. They laughed at my slightly crooked teeth and started talking about how hard I suck,” she recalls. “My inbox is still full of really terrible messages. I just don’t open them anymore.”
Draw up a strategy
After completing the first step, which, again, says nothing, you need to figure out what you want to do next. Do you want to try and exploit this viral fame and get the best out of it, or do you want to sit it out silently and wait for it to stop? Think of people like Octomam Nadia Suleman or even Monica Lewinsky. There are varying degrees of success you can hope for if you decide to turn short-term notoriety into some sort of income stream, but it comes down to more than just hope. You have to work and spend money.
Unfortunately, your financial and social status can play a role. Jackson noted that someone who grew up on money or grew up in a media and public relations environment would have an easier time securing representation or training in the media than the average person who accidentally stepped into the spotlight. Public relations is a referral business, so if you are “in the know” you know someone who knows someone who can help you. If you’re a regular person from Nowhere, USA, it might be harder for you to know where to start; Jackson warned that if you just type in “crisis PR”, you’re bound to find scammers. If possible, hire a publicist. Jackson said: “A big mistake many people make is that they hire someone when it’s too late. If you find yourself going viral, you should hire someone within a second.”
You must also consider your present life. Will your employer be upset that you have become a public figure, even if only for a short time? Do you have something to lose? Not everyone can be like Kim Kardashian, turning one negative publicity into a multi-year career. Many temporarily famous people stick to their anonymous office jobs (and may find relief in doing so). Make sure everything you do doesn’t affect your ability to get back to normal.
If, for some reason, you still want to ride the wave for a while, you will need training in public relations and media. For example, public relations people might invite you to the morning show, but when the cameras roll, you have to be ready. Jay has been able to use some of the unexpected publicity she gained last year in brand deals, but it takes work, even — or especially — if you’re trying to make it on your own.
“Was it worth it? Absolutely ,” she said. “After going viral, I had so many opportunities and made more money than ever before from brands willing to work with me.”
If brands start to approach you with offers, read everything carefully. Getting a free shirt in exchange for a one-time Instagram post is relatively easy, but deals with brands and influencers can be tricky. Consider asking a lawyer to read anything that seems even a little confusing.
Prepare in advance
You may not know when your 15 minutes will come. West Elm Kaleb, for example, did not, and neither did the hero of the day, Tahkhan . Jay has always been active on social media and used it to make money, but even she didn’t expect her Affleck video to explode the way it did. Whether you’re looking for a bit of fame or just being cautious in case it happens to you by accident, you should always be prepared.
Unless you have a real and immediate chance of going viral, perhaps don’t hire a media coach for no reason. (Or do it—it doesn’t hurt to learn the art of answering questions tactfully without revealing too much.) However, right now, you can clean up your social media profiles. Delete your dirty old tweets . Make sure your Facebook is private and only friends can view it (although of course they can take screenshots of your posts and rat you out to get some of their public attention). Do you want all those sloppy party photos on your Instagram? Probably no.
“Before you post things that might go viral, go through your social media profiles and make sure there is nothing old that you don’t want people to see now. The internet is relentless and can be unforgiving,” Jay said. “People will literally dig into your past to find any possible reason to hate you.”
Enjoy your 15 minutes of fame
Warhol said it or not, the idea that short-lived glory will come to all of us is not so far away. As long as the milkshake doesn’t get fired for really nasty things like racism or cheating, you can just sit back and enjoy your queue.