I RECALL a TV show that selected a number of school kids to ask them if they would rather be smart or famous when they grew up. It was shocking to the show host that almost all of the kids preferred to be famous rather than smart. That was around 10 years ago. It is not a surprise that it was shocking at that time when social media did not rule our lives as it does now.
Today, celebrities are not satisfied with merely dominating our TV screens. They are also seeking to be an essential part of our day-to-day lives with their personal details being the topic of the day. And the word “celebrity” does not necessarily refer to actors and singers anymore, but also news anchors, politicians, activists and even religious preachers who are attempting to find places for themselves on our smartphone screens.
Unsurprisingly, there are also some accounts on social media for famous babies and pets whose owners have themselves failed to be celebrities.
All of this is easy to swallow until we reach a new generation of celebrities, who do not belong to any of these groups. They are not known for anything except for talking to their smartphone screens all day long, and sharing every single moment of their lives with their followers who are counted in the thousands.
I honestly fail to understand this new generation of celebrities. I’m not sure what they do in their lives or for whom they work. However, what I am sure of is that they are blindly followed by Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter users, either for their silliness or their “pretended” sense of humor. And, at a certain stage, business owners start taking advantage of their popularity by posting ads on their accounts and pampering them with their products and services.
Unfortunately, many of these new celebrities do not demonstrate an acceptable level of knowledge or experience to add any real value to their followers. They are solely seeking fame and glory, which is a waste of time for their followers who may be seeking remedies for loneliness, boredom or curiosity.
Dina Abdullah Al-Saaidi
