Primarily, gossip blogs have redefined the notion of parasocial interaction. Cashmore defines this type of interaction as “intimacy at a distance,” where even the ostensibly uninterested are aware of celebrities’ personal information despite the improbability of personal interaction (2006: 80). She questions this sense of “knowing” celebrities by asking “what do we really know about them?” (Cashmore, 2006: 80). Gossip blogs are an exemplary rebuttal with the definite extension of what blog readers “know” about celebrities. Sites like “Gawker Stalker”, for instance, map the last seen location of celebrities.
Others like “Go Fug Yourself” detail every bad wardrobe decision.
The more scathing such as “A Socialite’s Life” detail sightings, drunken nights, weight gains and more at hourly updates.
This extension is facilitated by the very platform of blogging. Blog sites benefit from the emerging power of “web communities” which are “defined through voluntary, temporary and tactical affiliations” (Jenkins, 2004: 35). Therefore although blogs are often run by a solitary blogger, bulletin boards and comment boxes are often established to allow readers to send in their own pictures of celebrities and the latest from the rumor mill. Perez Hilton, for instance, regularly posts videos of concerts taken by readers/contributors as well as celebrity sightings. Gossip blogs hence illustrate the power of Pierre Levy’s notion of ‘collective intelligence’ that is the capabilities of large-scale information gathering and processing activities of web communities (Jenkins, 2004: 35). Given the popularity of celebrity culture, the web community of gossip blogs is also significantly large with 7 gossip blogs occupying Technorati’s “Top 100” (Technorati).
Furthermore, advances of technologies such as the “ability to publish words and pictures even via cell phones” have enabled blogs to “report more immediately than traditional media” (Bruns and Jacobs, 2006: 3). While the benchmark for political reporting might be “accuracy, not speed,” accuracy is rarely an integral part of entertainment news (Regan, 1998: 1). The immediacy of gossip blogs hence also contributes to the extension of “knowing.” If entertainment news is hence defined by “seeing is knowing,” with gossip blogs readers “know” more and also “know” faster.
Others like “Go Fug Yourself” detail every bad wardrobe decision.
The more scathing such as “A Socialite’s Life” detail sightings, drunken nights, weight gains and more at hourly updates.
This extension is facilitated by the very platform of blogging. Blog sites benefit from the emerging power of “web communities” which are “defined through voluntary, temporary and tactical affiliations” (Jenkins, 2004: 35). Therefore although blogs are often run by a solitary blogger, bulletin boards and comment boxes are often established to allow readers to send in their own pictures of celebrities and the latest from the rumor mill. Perez Hilton, for instance, regularly posts videos of concerts taken by readers/contributors as well as celebrity sightings. Gossip blogs hence illustrate the power of Pierre Levy’s notion of ‘collective intelligence’ that is the capabilities of large-scale information gathering and processing activities of web communities (Jenkins, 2004: 35). Given the popularity of celebrity culture, the web community of gossip blogs is also significantly large with 7 gossip blogs occupying Technorati’s “Top 100” (Technorati).
Furthermore, advances of technologies such as the “ability to publish words and pictures even via cell phones” have enabled blogs to “report more immediately than traditional media” (Bruns and Jacobs, 2006: 3). While the benchmark for political reporting might be “accuracy, not speed,” accuracy is rarely an integral part of entertainment news (Regan, 1998: 1). The immediacy of gossip blogs hence also contributes to the extension of “knowing.” If entertainment news is hence defined by “seeing is knowing,” with gossip blogs readers “know” more and also “know” faster.
