I have a not so secret obsession with Rebecca Black’s Friday. It’s so bad, it’s hilarious to me. What’s even more hilarious are the hundreds of amazing and creative parodies and variations that people put together.
So, while I was looking around for more random crap related to the Friday video, I found Benni Cinkle.
Benni is the girl in pink who dances awkwardly in the Friday video. She’s become something of a viral meme herself because the shot in the video is so bad and weird. However, instead of hiding away and hoping that she can pass into anonymity, she has embraced her awkwardness, and has built a better personal brand than you.
Benni has more Twitter followers than you. She also has more Facebook Fans, more YouTube subscribers, and more Tumblr followers. Her Klout score is even better than yours and all she did was dance in a video for a total of 5 seconds.
You can work as hard as you want to become an influencer and thought leader. You can put yourself out there daily, and tweet, comment, and blog all the damn time. But there is a certain level of serendipity and luck that goes into becoming an online celebrity that is outside of your control. You can’t force people to make you go viral. You can’t make people find you entertaining or insightful. The most you can do is keep working hard and hope your efforts pay off.
Or maybe start dancing badly in other people’s videos and hope it goes viral. Both have pretty much the same shot at internet celebrity at this point anyways.
The “Benni has more Twitter followers than you” paragraf is one the best you´ve Write so far Jay, makes me laugh so badly.
I’m just here to bring a smile.
Well, this post was fucking depressing. Thanks. Also, if I start dancing I may hurt someone.
The more you know.
At least it was fucking depressing. It could have been just plain depressing.
never do anything halfway. Why make it plain when it can rock the fuck out? Also, I may be trying to see how many times I can swear on your site and get away with it. This amount of mischief is directly related to my venti iced latte.
You got that one right. Well put.
It’s my blog. I’m always right on here.
But Jay, you didn’t mention my free ebook for kids on cyber-bullying, or that I used my awkward dance to raise money for Japan, and how I’ve helped raised thousands of dollars for Cystic Fibrosis, and donated my paintings to charity…. And the best part: that “That Girl in Pink” is now a non-profit organization! http://www.thatgirlinpink.org. I mean, what’s point of all this fame, if you don’t use it to help others?
Benni! Thanks for comenting!
Honestly, I’d just use all that fame for my own self-promotion and advancement. I’m glad you’re using it for something better than i would.
Please Benni, post a link to the original video! It got removed at youtube
Great article Jay, you keep me amused at work, and kudos to Benni for using accidental online fame for good and for responding here!
Yeah, kudos to her indeed. I would just use my online fame to sell more crap.
And if she did it all with just 5 seconds of video, imagine what she could do with her other 14:55 of fame!
Now you’ve got me worried Janet.
People get famous for the stupidest things.
Yeah, fame is weird.
So do the same rules apply if you are trying to use the internet to rule the world? Should I start coming up with my “rule the world shuffle” or keep plugging away at social media to reach that end?
Why not do both?
So you’re saying I should have been dancing awkwardly in other people’s videos instead of doing lame, boring stuff like getting a college degree, job, etc?
I’ll be curled up in fetal position crying over the corner, thanks.
Yeah. Who needs to try anymore to succeed?
And yet, ironically Rebecca Black took down her Friday video from youtube claiming copyright infringement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2LRROpph0
Curious what you think about that.
Copyright is a complex and emotional issue and I hope the video comes back soon so I can dance my butt off tomorrow.