Graded for Fame

Posted on by scott

My librarian pal Dawn Rutherford pointed me toward this Time Magazine article about a class in internet fame.

Basically, the students in this Parson’s School of Design course compete to see who has the most Google hits on their name by the end of the term. They post YouTube videos and LOLcats, engage in hoaxes, start petitions, and make friends on social networking sites, whatever it takes to increase their face ranks. (In the class, they call it “famo.”) The winner gets the best grade.

Spookily familiar, isn’t it?

Click here for the syllabus. And here’s the class logo:

famoblingtype_horz.jpg

An internet fame course sounds to me like a great cross between fanciful and smart—part instruction and part academic research. Students at Parson’s are planning to be artists, after all, so they should get experience with self-promotion. (Though we authors never do that. NEVER.*)

Anyway, it was just so Extras that I had to pass it on. Thanks Dawn!

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*New Midnighters covers come out in four days!

700 thoughts on “Graded for Fame”

  4. Omg, Omg, Omg, Omg! AHHHHHHHHH! I hate Bella!!!!!! AHHHHH! U no, engaged people REALLY shouldnt kiss others! Especially not Jacob! OMG I WANT TO KILL BELLA! Edward diserves a better person.

  6. dry? Go swimming. I’f it’s winter, take a shower. Dead? go down a snowy mountain in a van with smashed windows, broken brakes, and no seatbelts with a serial killer shooting at you.

    lol.

  8. No and i think Edward is being to kind. Bella need to PROVE that she loves him. I feel so bad for Edward. I want to comfort him myself.

  10. yo Bran-la! cut it out with the spoilage!!!

    and yes. Edward does deserve a better person. even Jacob deserves a better person. heck, Mike deserves a better person! Bellas just not a very good person. you gotta admit it.

    -Lizzy-wa OUT! 😐

  15. *Spoiler8
    Ok i seriously, and im being serious, i think il gonna threw up. that is nasty. My stomach hurts and it feels all queasy. He ripped her hair off and his arms and ewwww. Ok, i need to sit in front of the tolioy (i dont no hoe to spell it, im sad.) for a second.

  16. Yaaaaa!!!! I am out of the camper and at home!!!! Yaaaa!!! no more locked camper stuff for me!!!! And I survived the strangling!!!! YAAAAA!!!!

    Happy New Year, I’m much much late, aren’t I!!??

    Wow, way too many comments IT’S OVER 600!!!!!

    I am not going to even try to read them all, btw thanks for the toast, It’s quite sad actually, ….poor girl locked in camper being strangled to death……*sighs and shakes her head*….

    Anyways, so hmmmm what to say, what to say…Darn, I got to go, again, 🙁 ….. but before I go good news, I finished my essay, AGAIN! (for all of those who didn’t read the comment, I had written a two day essay, which I accidently…ERASED!!! *tear tear* 🙁 ….
    Although, I’ll say this, it got me out of doing stuff I didn’t want to do…. like chores!!!…. ughhh got to go, darn.

    Oh and by the way my nickname is Amy so here is my now goodbye thingy that goes on bottom (sorry Amy-wa, that is not me)

    ***buh, bye, amy-wa***

  17. hehe. well thats a relief! i toasted to you. several times over the nite. hehe. you shood have seen some of the looks on some peoples faces! like my moms for instance…hehe. and my friends. hehe. she probably woodnt have freaked out so much if she hadnt had her first taste of alchohol. hehe.

    -Lizzy-wa OUT! 😛

  18. Okay, yah I’m on….for a little while,till my family finds me….. Thats really funny Lizzy-wa, Now (referring to earlier posts) why would your mom get duck tape???

    But, did you seriously actually toast to me….

  20. thats a good idea cause you seriously need to read my fan fic u need to read the midnidnighters one again cause i added more.(reminder to lizzy-wa CLICK MY NAME)

  21. BYW I AGRRE I WISHED SHE WOULD DIE To. i was all like
    NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
    OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
    im not sure if i threw the book cuz i ve thrown a lot of books. edward does deserve better i want to write more but its too much spoilage. u no some poor sap will read it too. even if i put up a warning HURRY UP. u need to click my name. it deserves to b read bran- la

  22. jeez Lizzy-wa, seems like yours is the only other school that doesn’t go August-May. wierd.

    seriously, i gravitate towards music because i like it. and i tried very hard, i totally didn’t yell at you Bran-la for your different taste in music. like i always say, if you’re genuinely into something, i don’t care. it’s poseurs that annoy me. i like The Racontuers. i know most of thier songs. i know the names of the members. i know almost all the lyrics. i can actually play a couple of thier songs.
    it’s that rich suburban white girl going on about how she loves Chamillionaire more than any other music in the world, but can’t name a single other one of his songs other than the TRL Top-Fourty hit of the day who bothers me. i calmly turn up my headphones and inform her that she is a poseur with crappy taste. (well, if you knew this girl you’d say that too. she’s really annoying and with-the-crowd.)
    but if she said that, and then could give his whole album, or at least name another song, or just tell me one single coherent thing about that song, i wouldn’t bother her about it.
    music is a BIG DEAL to me. music is my life. and i do my homework about music i like. i do my homework about music i don’t like. i know things. i recognize songs. i memorize lyrics. i learn wierd facts. because that’s what i like.
    and if you’re like that too, i don’t care if it’s over emo music or country music or blues or jazz or pop or whatever. if you’re seriously into it, i’m not gonna just dismiss that.
    (side note. don’t knock the blues. that’s where rock n roll came from. other thing that bothers me. people who don’t KNOW THIER ROOTS. know your influences!)

    ooh, gotta go, Twilight Zone is on. an episode about a place where you get an operation when you turn 18 to turn beautiful…..

    also. WHAT DID I SAY I WOULD DO TO THE NEXT PERSON WHO MENTIONS BELLA SWAN? well, actually i didn’t say anything. but seriously guys. there are fansites galor out there. don’t clog my wester-space.

  23. Sefarina-zane,
    Wow, i totally understand you about what you said about music.
    See i feel that same way about music. Its pretty annoying when you have a person who’s so crazy about a person who’s fave band or singer, and they only know like, 2 songs about them? Yeah, you totally can’t say their your favorite band. The thing with me is, is that yeah i like fall out boy. But i dont just know songs like ‘thnks fr th mmrs’ or ‘this ain’t a scene, its an arms race’. Actually to be quite honest, i dont really enjoy those songs. I like the old fall out boy, more take this to your grave and evening out with your girlfriend. Now im not gonna go on and on about this, because i dont want people to talk about it exactly, but im using it more as an example. See, people can say that they hate fall out boy, and it won’t get me. Its the people that say that they love fall out boy, but yeah like you said only know their hits on the top 40 list.
    I also agree with what you said about what others listen too. My best friends listen to music that i dont exactly have a taste for, but we’re still friends. I’m not going to judge people on what they like or whatever. Because i know that yeah maybe i dress preppy, but i actually listen to the OLD fall out boy. I know when i said to my friends “take this to your grave is my fave album” they have NO idea what im talking about.
    Yeah i totally get that.

  24. Ok, i dont mean to clog you space but i have to get this off my chest: i just finished the book so cut me a break

    *Spoilers on Eclipse* (You dont want to hear about Bella, dont read it) AHHHH. i a so happy. Jacob finally is giving up, bella is getting married, shes telling Charlie, shes happy about it, Edward is happy, im happy! Heheheeh. I only sat in my room for 2 hours im fine.

  26. I’m in love with music. I have it playing practically every second of every day. I think I’d go into withdrawal if I didn’t have my music.
    It keeps me sane!

  28. wow, i was at Barnes and Noble last night and they had the new cover for the 2nd Midnighters book!!! guess they let them out too early, eh? like with Extras? 🙂

  30. I read it. It was really good.

    Ok, heres my stupid mistake of the day.
    So there i am in my room. I just finished Eclipse and i had just got off the phone. Before i put it down i looked at the date, ‘Jan 1’. So i say to myself “Man, monday seems really long. Man, we ave done alot. The time is really slow.” I go down stairs and i am talking to my parents when the phone rings and someone asks my mom if they should come tomorrow or Friday and my mom says tomorrow. So i ask my mom what day it is and she said “Tuesday” and i go “Are you serious” and shes like “Yeah” and i was like “I thought it was Monday, where did the rime go.” I felt really stupid, that i didnt even no what day it was.

  31. Awwwww man! This really sucks, like really really sucks! I have school tomorrow, uckkk!

    My school sucks, they never give us enough time off, we’ve only had 10 days off, I mean like seriously!!!! 10 days!! And assigning essays and projects too! God this SUCKS!!!

    Uckkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  32. i NEVER know what day of the week it is. i’m wierd like that.

    Eclipse was furious-making for everyone, i think. Team Jacob or Team Edward or neither.

    hmmm, so my ramblings aren’t just all crazy.
    but yeah, that’s what i mean. you can actually name thier old albums and EPs. you listen to all their stuff and pick which songs you actually like best. you’re genuinely into it.
    it’s people who aren’t that really get me.

    omg, Silence Kills. silence drives me crazy. i always have music playing or in my head or some noise. and music most definitly keeps me sane. i’m with Melissa way too much on that one.

    wow, that’s the second person who’s seen Touching Darkness in the new cover. is that the only one around?

  33. uggh, i don’t want to go to school 2morrow either.

    dude, i just noticed this and it is bothering me. the midnighters covers are in reverse order! but the uglies trilogy ones aren’t. i mean, Jessica does overlap the most but still. randomly wierd.

    dude, i watched this Twilight Zone tonight, called “Number 12 Looks Just Like You” where you were forced to get an operation when you turned 18 that made you pretty and made you live longer. and you could pick to be number 8 or number 12, and they were the only two faces/appearences you could have. so you had to have your name on your jumpsuit to even tell people apart. and then this girl didn’t want to get it because she wanted to keep her individuality. “if everyone’s beautiful then no one is”. but in the end she got it and looked just like everyone else and was happy and never missed her dead father again.
    hmmmm, anyone see inspiration for Uglies in there? except there the point was that the operation was only bad because it took away your individuality, they didn’t go into lesion-type things. though it was implied, because the one girl who’d already had the operation kept talking about being happy all the time.
    really is a universal theme.

  35. You know, for someone like me who hates to be embarrassed, i sure do embarrass myself, A LOT! Im not gonna explain what i did this time.

  37. i do that a lot too Bran-la, i’m always falling and then my friends all think i’m really and they tease me about it a lot and i’m actually a lot better than i use to be. but no one really sees that. they see who i was, not who i am. i always feel like people don’t really get me. does anyone else feel that way? and i have this one friend who thinks shes so much better than me she’s always like well you wouldn’t get it, when really i get a lot more things than she does. it bugs me. sorry that kinda strayed from the topic of emarressing yourself. lol.

    random topic….people scare me a lot, like last night, well techniquially this morning it was pitch dark in my friends basement and it was just so scary they were jumping out at me and hidding in the shadows. i screamed so much. and then i cried…of laghter.

    i go back thursday. and i have to write a report that i have been putting off and practice my saxophone…bleh.

  38. ha. i forgot the word dittsy! lol. between the really and the and. man…yet embarressing myself again. i think it’s the lack of sleep b/c i still think some things are really funny right now that wouldn’t usually be funny. and when i haven’t had enough sleep i think everything is funny. if that made any sense i couldn’t say.

  39. Hmmm….
    These posts confoozle my brain….
    Glad you finished Eclipse Bran-la, I’m confused about the arm ripping part though, who got their arms ripped out??? I don’t remember anything about that….

  40. hehe. i seriously actally toasted to you Amelia-wa. hehe. several times threwout the nite. and my mom wood get the duct tape because she wood think that i was crazy. why else? hehe.

    -Lizzy-wa OUT! 😛

  41. hehe…..Did you explain why you were toasting to some random person…..?

    Aw crap school its morning and it’s time to get ready for it uckkkk!!!!

  42. Uchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhkkkk! I’m ready for school now 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁

    Well it’s time to go…to school….*sigh*….bye (hehe sigh and bye rhyme….and I’m an idiot!)

  43. Riley got his arms ripped off. Both.

    Ok, i got this book for Christmas and its ‘the Everything Guide to Writing a Novel’ and it is sooooo helpful. It tells you how to get started, guidelines that editors like you to follow, and all that stuff. I was doing A LOT wrong. I better fix it!

  44. Its ok Amelia-wa, at least you get to see your friends, do work,a nd eat in the lunch room! YEAH!

  49. Bran-la,
    Oh, Riley!
    Okay I thought you were talking about Jacob or Edward and I was wondering how I could of missed something so big, but I remember when that happened and I felt bad for him because Victoria had lied to him and here he was getting his body ripped to pieces…

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