Back in the 1990s, becoming famous laid mainly in what you were good in. Whether it is singing, dancing, acting, sports or politics, fame was gained because of your talent. Now, thanks to sites like Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram, fame has never been easier to obtain.
With an interesting photo or video, catchy phrase and a cell phone you can easily get yourself out there. Sometimes you don't even know you are becoming social media famous until you are overnight. And sometimes your fame doesn't necessarily start on social media but is spread on social media.
These sites have become platforms for users to show what they want everyone to see. From the people around you to the people half a world away, social media is a guaranteed way to get recognition.
Danielle Bregoli is a perfect example of her fame starting somewhere else, but spreading on social media. You may not know her by just her name alone, but when you hear, "cash me ousside, how bow dah," then you probably know who she is right away. In 2017, this troubled teen appeared on the Dr. Phil show because of her behavior. She was stealing her mother's car, credit card, fighting, running away, being violent, not going to school and just making the mother's life a living hell.
She got fame after she told the audience — who laughed at the way she was acting — "cash me ousside, how bow dah!" and the internet exploded. Her Twitter and Instagram followers quickly grew and everyone couldn't get enough of the phrase. The thing that put her on the map wasn't necessarily the words or how she acted — it was the fact that she said she gained her accent from "the streets"
Currently, she has more than 200 thousand followers on Twitter and more than 9 million followers on Instagram. Shirts have been made with her face and the catchphrase. She even has her own app of emojis called BhadMoji.
Alex LaBeouf — better known as Alex Lee online — rose to social media fame without even knowing it was happening. In November 2014 Lee went into work at Target one morning and took his place at the registers. Everything was just as it always was; Alex bagged items and went about his day. His fame started when a girl from Britain took his picture — without him knowing — and posted it to her twitter account with the comment "YOOOOOOOOO" and the tweet quickly went viral.
The photo of the attractive 17-year-old made its way with the hashtag #alexfromtarget becoming a trending topic. His twitter followers went from a mere 100 or so to more than 100,000. Now it is at more than 600 thousand and his Instagram has more than one million followers. Of course, there is a dark side to this new found fame. Lee has received death threats and people have denigrated his looks. Personal family information such as Social Security numbers have been leaked and crazed fans flock to Alex, making him afraid to walk outside.
Lee does want to use his recent fame for something positive. He hopes to travel to different places around the world and talk about bullying with kids. He used to be bullied before this popularity, so this is a topic he holds close to him.
India Love Westbrook started her rise to fame in 2012 on Tumblr. She posted flirty and sexy selfies, which quickly gained her some followers. As her followers grew, she transitioned to Instagram, where the number of followers really took off. Her looks and the fact she was dating rapper The Game made her fame grow. Westbrook's popularity caught the attention of BET and they offered her and her family their own reality television show called "The Westbrooks" and she has been offered paid, modeling gigs and paid appearances.
With sites like Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and Twitter, fame has become something anyone can obtain. Even celebrities are
