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After I finish the new (unannounced) book that I’m feverishly writing, I plan to finally pursue “Internet Famous – The rise of micro celebrity and the end of privacy.”

Alexia Tsotsis (disclosure, she’s a dear friend) recently wrote an intriguing article at the LA Weekly entitled, “Is All of Hollywood the Bitch in Twitter’s Sex Tape or Just P. Diddy?”

She links to a recent article written by A.J. Keen, author of the controversial book, Cult of the Amateur, in which he defends TechCrunch and Michael Arrington. In his articke he also observes that technology start-ups have become the “hottest celebrities in America… receiving the same kind of obsessionally intimate coverage from the media that was once reserved for kings of pop like Michael Jackson or Elvis.”

He is a brilliant thinker and writer. If you read his book today, I promise it will practically resonate now that we’re much more humbled by Web 2.0 than when we were initially enthralled by it. However, his quote, if for a moment, opened up the mental floodgates that have held back so many psychological reflections and emotional introspection. I could have started my next, next book, right now. Instead I simply commented on Alexia’s post, and I elected to also share the unabridged version with you here.

“To further expound on Andrew Keen’s perspective, I believe that Twitter is a media darling simply because we, the bitches, decide to tweet about our lives relentlessly. If Twitter is popularized and actively discussed in the media, then it somehow justifies our obsession with sharing everything about who we are, what we love, and what we’re doing. It’s not necessarily technology companies that are becoming the “hottest celebrities in America” because of their shiny new features, it’s us psychologically channeling our subliminal desire for recognition and micro celebrity through these social networks, thus transforming them into the celebrities in which we can live through vicariously. It’s a Freudian form of quietly, but surely provoking varying forms and levels of desired Web-based fame that transcends online and offline through a series of passive-attention seeking behavior”

#internetfamous

Please also read, “Significant” and “The End of the Innocence.”

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Now available! (click to purchase):

by Brian Solis

I <3 Los Angeles and the people who are defining the social economy and expanding the mainstream pervasiveness of the new Web.

This consequential, yet humble group of digital influencers is investing in not only their own ideas, but actively collaborating around the vision of others – literally putting the “social” in the Social Web. It’s an incredible movement that is growing in LA as well as other cities around the world, creating a network of connected beacons that unite to create a global community while defining the next tech economy.

The TechSet convened in Los Angeles at the ultra-stylish Luxe Hotel last night as part of a “mini” Internet Week that is storming Southern California and hosting the digerati every night this week.

The TechSet represented a new era of celebrity, bringing together emerging, successful and popular personalities, artists, entrepreneurs, bloggers, and connectors. The night was beautiful, warm, and more importantly, the perfect place to meet those rich in intellect and forge new relationships that serve as catalysts to future projects and engagements.

It was unpretentious and inviting and we look forward to hosting the next TechSet in Los Angeles very soon. Thank you for being part of it and for making it such a special, productive, and memorable evening.

I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story:

Becky Ryan and Heather Meeker

Sean Percival

Melodi Cowan and Dave Mathews

Julian Brass

Oren Michels of Mashery

TechZulu

Jennifer Fader

Jullianna Raye

Harry Gantz and Tim Street

Dave Mathews and Stephanie Agresta

Valerie Cunningham and Aaron Strout of Mzinga

Becky Ryan, Brian Solis, Heather Meeker

Todd Cohen and Ian Kilpatrick

Greg Narain and Jackie Peters

Heather Lipner

Liz Federowicz

Wm. Marc Salsbury, Melodi Cowan, Michael Pilla, Alicia Lin

Damon Alexander Young

?, Kurt Dardics, Yvonne Randolph

Michael Terpin

Seth Shapiro

Brooks Bayne and Alicia Lin

Andrew Justin, Greg Narain, Jackie Peters, and Brian Solis

THE AFTER PARTY

The view

Brian Solis

Sean Percival

For more pictures from the TechSet @Luxe party, visit my album on flickr.

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