Edited by author 03-20-2002 12:11 PM
I'm not a big fan of any of them, but AFAIK Linkin Park, Alien Ant Farm, and Drowning Pool all got their break because of their immense online popularity.

TV/Movie celebrities tend to be born of a culture that is very unlike the web culture a lot of us have grown to know. That is to say, in a passive medium like tv, we are force fed our celebrities. In an interactive, many to many medium like the web, we choose those who represent and interest us.


With the web, you can afford to be specific. You don't have to be the everyman. But, being the everyman, while offering new and exciting (read: exclusive) things on the web will get you noticed in the mainstream.

Mahir: Everyone identified with his vulnerability and desire to be loved. His accidental celebrity was too good a press story too miss.

Danni Ashe: Very simply one of the first online porn folks to personally identify with her audience. Very exclusive at the time, and well, porn is universal. The combination of the two made for a b-level, underground celeb

Knowles: Loud mouthed and brash, Knowles really hit on one of the web's best uses: Trading insider information and trashing famous people. Also, this amount of inside information scared traditional media, thus ensuring coverage.

Drudge: Well, when you have exclusive information on the celebrities/politicians people love/hate, you're going to garner a small amount of fame. I wouldn't say he's more famous than a syndicated gossip columnist though.

That's my two cents. josh