Everybody's Famous

By Sean Goolsby

Maddox attending an interview, donning his
signature robe and crown.

There exists a writer online named George Ouzounian; or perhaps you've heard of him by his screen name “Maddox.” In 1997, Ouzounian launched a small website, The Best Page in the Universe, to post absurdly satirical ramblings on pop culture and masculinity. His unique, controversial style of humor allowed him to snowball – by word of mouth alone – into being among the most recognized writers online. By 2004, Ouzounian's popularity allowed him to generate a self-sustaining income not by selling ad space, but by selling Maddox merchandise. And in 2006, his popularity ensured the success of his first, official publication, The Alphabet of Manliness, a New York Times best seller. He continues to publish free articles on his website and, as of November 2011, has published a second book, I Am Better than Your Kids.

Ouzounian's story is certainly impressive – a true testament to the power of word of mouth. But he is not alone. Online writers like Tucker Max, author of I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, Justin Halpern, author of S*** My Dad Says, and Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw have enjoyed similar successes. So what is common between these people? They all started with a simple, small-time blog and snowballed to fame. Of course, these stories aren't unique to writers. Amateur director Freddie Wong and comedian Ray William Johnson have both stumbled across tremendous fame as two of YouTube's most subscribed users after starting channels “just for fun.”

Success stories like the aforementioned have become somewhat more common as we, as a culture, have moved forward in the information age. Now this isn't to imply that inherent talent had nothing to do with such successes. But what we find is that undiscovered talent is becoming a thing of the past. Today, the average citizen has access to tools that will allow their voice to be heard, for better or worse. Free tools. User-friendly tools. Tools like YouTube, Blogger, and Twitter. Users don't have to buy web space; they don't even have to know how to operate a website. Today, anybody can let the world know what their day was like, what's on their mind, or what their pet just barfed up. And today, there is always someone interested in hearing about it. Of course, the vast majority of these users don't set out to get famous; they just want to share their experiences. If their experiences garner mass attention, then more power to them.

Justin Halpern's first book, inspired by
his wildly popular Twitter feed.

For a long time, written blog services tended to be the most popular. For most people, Twitter is now the way to go. Why? Because Twitter is designed to maximize your recognition while minimizing the amount of effort you have to put into your publications. It encourages posts no longer than a sentence or two and suggests that readers “follow” its users. The brilliancy about Twitter is that you don't have to write anything formal to gather a Twitter following; you don't really have to know how to write at all. You only need something that you would rather share with the world than your Facebook wall. Despite the fact that Twitter essentially promotes an absolutely minimal level of literacy, the service is quite brilliant. There is no doubt that critical thinking is all but absent with such a service. Users are under no obligation to justify anything they say, meaning readers have to take all tweets at face value. Thus, no real argument can be made over Twitter. But the purpose of Twitter is precisely that – to present a reader with a concise, informational, unjustified message. For those that can take this concept and turn it into something wildly entertaining, more power to them. It worked for Justin Halpern, right? After all, nobody wants to be obligated to write an elaborate post about the amazing sandwich they had for lunch if they don't feel up to the task.

Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw

Contrary to Twitter, proper blog services Wordpress and Blogger are the go-to services for users that want to share something more elaborate than a tweet. Launched way back in 1999, Blogger is easily the most user-friendly of the two giants. New users can publish a new post literally in one click. As a service truly suited for spontaneous discovery, Blogger features a “next blog” button at the top of everyone's page that allows readers to jump to a random blog. Of course, among the sea of blogs, there is no guarantee that someone will stumble onto yours to leave a comment. Blogger is very much an informal, communal system. Like Twitter, its simplicity encourages – but is absolutely not limited to – largely shallow content from users that have no interest in carrying out a thorough argument on a subject, nor do they need to. Indeed, Blogger ultimately caters more to users who just want to have fun with their writings, and it can thus be the home to many immensely entertaining articles. Of course, this is not always the case. Now magazine writer and video game developer, Ben “Yahtzee” Crowshaw began on Blogger. His website, Fully Ramblomatic, is still hosted on Blogger.

Wordpress, on the other hand, is notably more flexible with regard to usage of screen space, and is thus much more complicated than Blogger – nor do associated blogs have any relationship with other Wordpress blogs. Regardless, Wordpress has been responsible for an astonishing 22% of all new websites as of August, 2011. Its complexity lends itself to a generally more formal userbase. As opposed to Blogger, Wordpress promotes articles from very literate users. You will never stumble across another user's blog here. Instead, search engines are the primary mode of discovery. The case with both of these tools is that your content being known is dependent on both and your content being written well enough to warrant the return of anyone who happened to stumble across it. Though your work might gather a small following if you're witty enough, an inherent problem with using free services like Wordpress is the association they have with... Wordpress. Or rather, your work is, by default, associated with every other blog that uses the same service, making it almost impossible for your writing to really stand out.

If mass recognition is truly something someone hopes to achieve in the distant future – there was an eight year gap between Maddox's first book and the origin of his website – going independent is probably the most practical path for writing. Many celebrities are noted for having begun with a free service, from which they were able to snowball into fame. But these stories are so exceptional because of the sheer unlikelihood of them. On the other hand, maintaining an independent website will instantly distinguish your writing, even if only at face value. Of course you don't have to be any more literate than the average Blogger user to maintain an independent website, but your writing will inherently appear more official than a free service and will be more prone to visitors remembering your entries. You can speak with an independent, authoritative voice, and your popularity will be judged solely on how well you present your material. By running your own website, you also have the added benefit of service providers ensuring that your website is a top search engine result, making finding your writing that much easier. It's important to keep in mind that well-written, interesting articles are still essential for the success of any personal journal. Website owners who are also bad writers won't even get comically bad press. They are just dismissed.

Soundcloud, a popular service for hosting
podcasts.

It isn't uncommon today to have a podcast associated with with a blog. These lengthy audio clips are commonly used by blogs of two or more collaborators that wish to share a discussion. They also combine the benefits of clever writing with public speaking. While it takes a high level of literacy to prepare a solid podcast, just as it does to write a decent article, the audience requires a significantly lower level of literacy to comprehend it. Actual reading is totally exempt from podcasts, allowing listeners to multitask. Podcasts can be tricky because they do encourage speaking without thinking, and like Twitter, they might rely on a lack of critical thinking from the listener. On the other hand, a well-constructed podcast is arguably quicker and easier to take in than a written article and is equally as informative, with the added benefit of catering to the auditory sense. That makes them almost as easy to follow as Twitter while requiring the level of literacy associated with independent website owners. However, podcasts are undeniably more reliant on word of mouth than spontaneous discovery because of the lack of actual text. Articles featuring podcasts can often include a short, written foreword to counter this.

 Lastly, above podcasts, above elaborate written blogs, above Twitter, is YouTube. YouTube is truly the breeding ground of fame and simultaneously a literary roller coaster. It combines the multisensory experience of a podcast, the ease of use of tools like Blogger, and the incentive to think before you publish. If mass recognition happens here, it is because the user is either an idiot or a genius. Uniquely, YouTube is the only popular service that doesn't rely almost exclusively on word of mouth. Thanks to the sidebar of related videos, your own content is very likely to be discovered. And if the populus deems your content worthy of fame, it will snowball faster than any other blog service available today, allowing upcoming professionals and amateurs alike to succeed. YouTube's partner program also ensures a speedy profit from successful channels, as users can incorporate ad space into their videos. Because of this, YouTube is now easily the most ensured method of popular blog content.

To reiterate, the tools available to the average Joe are just tools. It isn't that these tools make people famous by themselves, but rather that they more easily enable rightfully deserving, skillful writers to gain the recognition they deserve (or in some cases, 15 minutes of fame that they don't deserve). How creative are you? Share your feelings on a topic that you are passionate about, and see who lends an ear. You might not end up writing a book, but you'll probably make someone's day.