In Digital Fame and Fortune in the Age of Social Media, Gomez discusses the differences between celebrities, and the different types of celebrities. Gomez goes into depth about the new world of influencers and how influencers are defining their own type of fame.

From his study, he finds that social media is the catalyst of the rise of influencers in our society. Influencers are using social media platforms to create their own name for themselves and make a brand for themselves. Similarly, influencers provide value to brands, but the value added is the influencer’s brand, that is self-made. However, Gomez argues that influencers still must follow the path of celebrities in which they “still need the capacity to attract, mobilize attention and build an audience overtime.”

I really enjoyed this article because it’s very relevant to our society today. Influencers like Emma Chamberlain and Addison Rae are controlling the feeds of thousands of social media users daily and influence the way they live. Specifically, social media users look up to influencers for inspiration regarding the way they wash their face, the products they use, the clothes they buy, the food they eat, and the music they listen to. Our society has always been obsessed with celebrities where people dream of being one or meeting one. But at the end of the day, they’re just regular people. However, I think people take comfort in knowing influencers were most recently “just regular people”, so they find joy in following and copying them.