What makes a celebrity a true celebrity? Is it news coverage? The search for the tabloid press? Perhaps sheer popularity is what prompts us to call movie stars, musicians, and politicians celebrities. If that’s the case, are non-traditional stars celebrities too?
To find a satisfactory answer to this dilemma, you have to search a celebrity index. CelebrityContest.net has developed an algorithm to assign a value to a celebrity, in the same way that stocks are assigned a monetary value so that visitors or members of the site create a portfolio of celebrities. The algorithm takes into consideration the amount and timing of celebrity-related news, as well as the celebrity’s popularity as part of online wallets. But does this adequately measure the amount of celebrity status an individual has achieved?
Celebrity
To determine this, we must consider what celebrity actually means. The American Heritage Dictionary defines celebrity as “a famous person” or “renown, fame.” In fact, that definition is very broad. To be known is simply to be known. Osama Bin Laden is well known, but he doesn’t necessarily have the same following as Jessica Alba. However, by this definition, they are both celebrities.
Therefore, to be a celebrity, one must be famous or infamous, and the distinction is not relevant. In the same way, people who have developed a following in unconventional ways, such as the Internet or reality programming, are also celebrities, although some have more global coverage than others. So, to measure the amount of celebrity a person has obtained, you would simply need to measure their popularity.
Popularity measurement
Before the information age, measuring popularity involved countless searches in newspapers and magazines. Print resources, as well as television and radio, contained each and every celebrity news and gossip. With the advent of the Internet, this changed, of course. Today, the Internet has not only opened countless doors for those who aspire to stardom, it has also developed a multitude of news and gossip media.
Most mainstream media (magazines, newspapers, radio and television) have developed an online presence. Often times, these websites contain more information about celebrities than the original medium. Those interested in entertainment news now have almost myriad methods of finding the information they are looking for.
However, the fastest way to find information online is through search engines. The major search engines index all web pages and online news as they are developed, offering users the opportunity to focus on the desired material. The celebrity search will return thousands, if not millions, of relevant results. It follows that simply by counting the number of searches and articles for each celebrity, the popularity of that individual could be understood.
Celebrity contest
It appears that the algorithm developed by CelebrityContest.net is true. The algorithm assigns value to a celebrity based on the number and age of news and searches, which is the best indicator of popularity. Of course, the algorithm also includes results from CelebrityContest.net, which are also a valid indicator.
If a celebrity is popular, it will be included in many portfolios. If you are becoming indifferent, you will be removed from the portfolios in favor of more popular people. If a celebrity is looking for an indicator of their own worth, they can perform a complicated web analysis or simply track price changes on CelebrityContest.net to understand how their fan base is feeling. Of course, fans can seek out the value of their favorite celebrity, and even profit from the details that only devoted fans have access to insider information, if you will.
celebrity. (North Dakota). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved October 29, 2006, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/celebrity