Anon Guy
2004-05-09 11:07:44 UTC
Edmonton Journal (Canada)
Saturday, May 08, 2004
Fake celebs like ants on a blog
'Rance' site prompts guesses about author
Misty Harris
CanWest News Service
If you didn't know George Clooney keeps a secret
online diary, don't feel bad. Until last week, neither did he.
An Internet journal said to belong to a famous actor has
spawned a feeding frenzy of wannabe
detectives determined to "out" him. The mysterious diarist --
rumoured to be anyone from Clooney to Owen Wilson -- claims
to value his anonymity, but takes every opportunity to fuel the
guessing game about his identity.
Rance, as he calls himself, is just one of a growing number of
covert bloggers (short for web-loggers) in cyberspace. Some are
ordinary people pretending to be celebrities, some are celebrities
pretending to be ordinary people.
The fun is in deciphering who's who.
"I am personally aware of a couple of minor celebrities who have
blogs," says Dr. Robert Runte, a University of Lethbridge
sociologist. "But because they wanted to do it without their fans
drooling over their every word, they picked (pseudonyms) to
write under."
shock jock said he writes "as another character" and that only a
handful of people know he's writing it.
Stern's comment sparked an immediate reaction on the Net that
included numerous comparisons to Rance
(http://captainhoof.tripod.com/blog/).
"(Celebrities) can project a character through their blog which
seems immensely personal and intimate but is, of course, still a
projection," Runte says. "It's not that much different than having
a fan club, except the fans feel they're more personally connected
to the celebrity."
If, that is, they can determine exactly whose blog they've been
reading and whether or not it's part of a scheme.
"There's an inherent contradiction in keeping a secret blog in that
it's a public presence that can be read by anybody," says Runte.
"If someone says 'I'm a celebrity but I'm not going to tell you
who I am,' I'm inclined to suspect the information is not credible
and it's part of a (marketing) campaign."
Publicists for Clooney and Wilson recently denied their clients are
behind the infamous Rance blog. And Melanie Nash, a noted
expert on celebrity fandom, believes Rance isn't an actor at all.
But the fact so many people are attracted to reading and
discussing secret blogs has her intrigued.
"The thrill of the chase, collecting clues, attempting to 'really
know for sure' seems key," Nash says. "Yes, many would
probably suspect they're being had, but at the same time, there is
the thrill of 'what if?' or even of detecting the fraud."
The case for the existence of secret celebrity blogs is bolstered,
however, by the fact so many stars maintain a web presence.
Since everyone from Avril Lavigne to Anna Kournikova has a
personal blog, the subversive -- and undoubtedly hip -- move is to
operate in the shadows.
By giving people the impression they're on the inside track, Nash
says the blog's effect on people is multiplied. This is similar to
what happened during last year's invasion of Iraq, when an
anonymous Baghdad blogger became so influential a news source
that The Times of London dubbed the conflict the world's first
hyperlink war.
"Blogging seems to be the Internet fashion du jour," says Paul
Budra, an associate professor and pop culture expert at Simon
Fraser University. "Everyone's going to jump on the bandwagon
for the next year or two, then it'll fall by the wayside."
While people's collective desire to masquerade as someone else --
be it a celebrity or an ordinary person -- is of some academic
interest, he thinks covert blogging represents something else
entirely.
"It's a publicity stunt," Budra says. "If you really wanted the
anonymity, you wouldn't announce that you have a blog."
http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=d1eac65c-d23f-422d-85e5-64172460e586
Saturday, May 08, 2004
Fake celebs like ants on a blog
'Rance' site prompts guesses about author
Misty Harris
CanWest News Service
If you didn't know George Clooney keeps a secret
online diary, don't feel bad. Until last week, neither did he.
An Internet journal said to belong to a famous actor has
spawned a feeding frenzy of wannabe
detectives determined to "out" him. The mysterious diarist --
rumoured to be anyone from Clooney to Owen Wilson -- claims
to value his anonymity, but takes every opportunity to fuel the
guessing game about his identity.
Rance, as he calls himself, is just one of a growing number of
covert bloggers (short for web-loggers) in cyberspace. Some are
ordinary people pretending to be celebrities, some are celebrities
pretending to be ordinary people.
The fun is in deciphering who's who.
"I am personally aware of a couple of minor celebrities who have
blogs," says Dr. Robert Runte, a University of Lethbridge
sociologist. "But because they wanted to do it without their fans
drooling over their every word, they picked (pseudonyms) to
write under."
Last week, Howard Stern got in on the action when he made an
offhand remark about keeping a secret blog. The American radioshock jock said he writes "as another character" and that only a
handful of people know he's writing it.
Stern's comment sparked an immediate reaction on the Net that
included numerous comparisons to Rance
(http://captainhoof.tripod.com/blog/).
"(Celebrities) can project a character through their blog which
seems immensely personal and intimate but is, of course, still a
projection," Runte says. "It's not that much different than having
a fan club, except the fans feel they're more personally connected
to the celebrity."
If, that is, they can determine exactly whose blog they've been
reading and whether or not it's part of a scheme.
"There's an inherent contradiction in keeping a secret blog in that
it's a public presence that can be read by anybody," says Runte.
"If someone says 'I'm a celebrity but I'm not going to tell you
who I am,' I'm inclined to suspect the information is not credible
and it's part of a (marketing) campaign."
Publicists for Clooney and Wilson recently denied their clients are
behind the infamous Rance blog. And Melanie Nash, a noted
expert on celebrity fandom, believes Rance isn't an actor at all.
But the fact so many people are attracted to reading and
discussing secret blogs has her intrigued.
"The thrill of the chase, collecting clues, attempting to 'really
know for sure' seems key," Nash says. "Yes, many would
probably suspect they're being had, but at the same time, there is
the thrill of 'what if?' or even of detecting the fraud."
The case for the existence of secret celebrity blogs is bolstered,
however, by the fact so many stars maintain a web presence.
Since everyone from Avril Lavigne to Anna Kournikova has a
personal blog, the subversive -- and undoubtedly hip -- move is to
operate in the shadows.
By giving people the impression they're on the inside track, Nash
says the blog's effect on people is multiplied. This is similar to
what happened during last year's invasion of Iraq, when an
anonymous Baghdad blogger became so influential a news source
that The Times of London dubbed the conflict the world's first
hyperlink war.
"Blogging seems to be the Internet fashion du jour," says Paul
Budra, an associate professor and pop culture expert at Simon
Fraser University. "Everyone's going to jump on the bandwagon
for the next year or two, then it'll fall by the wayside."
While people's collective desire to masquerade as someone else --
be it a celebrity or an ordinary person -- is of some academic
interest, he thinks covert blogging represents something else
entirely.
"It's a publicity stunt," Budra says. "If you really wanted the
anonymity, you wouldn't announce that you have a blog."
http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=d1eac65c-d23f-422d-85e5-64172460e586