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Who Is Your Favorite Social Media Star?
By CAROLINE CROSSON GILPIN NOV. 29, 2017
Fiona the hippo at the Cincinnati Zoo. CreditAndrew Spear for The New York Times
Have you heard about Fiona, the baby hippo born prematurely at the Cincinnati Zoo?
Watch the short video below, of Fiona and her mom playing together. How and why do you think she has become a beloved media star?
Baby Hippo Fiona and Mom Bibi Playing - Cincinnati Zoo Video by The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
In “Hooray for Fiona the Hippo, Our Bundle of Social-Media Joy,” Rachel Syme writes:
Fionamania has swept the country. Videos of her twirling around in the water, Rubenesque and graceful, rack up millions of views online. She photo-bombed a local couple’s engagement photo, and it wound up on “The Tonight Show.” The popular Cincinnati ice cream purveyor Greater’s made a “Chunky Chunky Hippo” flavor over the summer — a toffee base with salted peanuts and caramel truffles — that sold out at the zoo every day it was available. A local T-shirt company, Cincy Shirts, screen-printed a small batch of tees with the words “Feeling Hip” along with a cartoon rendering of Fiona in February, and has since shipped 30,000 Fiona-branded products (including tees, stickers, magnets and now Christmas sweaters featuring Fiona in a Santa hat) all over the world.
Fiona starred in her own 7-episode reality show sponsored by Facebook. The zoo’s director, Thane Maynard, sold a children’s book called “Saving Fiona: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Baby Hippo” to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, scheduled for the spring of 2018, with proceeds benefiting the animal’s care. The Cincinnati Reds are planning to have an official “Fiona Day” at the ballpark next summer, complete with commemorative hippopotamus bobbleheads. Twitter fans have become obsessed with Fiona’s flatulence. She has become America’s Large Adult Daughter, its triumphant baby queen, its reigning diva with the skin texture of a wet avocado.
Being at the center of a 24/7 hype machine for a 500-pound (and growing) starlet can be exhausting, and Ms. Curley got her tattoo as a way to commemorate the intensity of the past year. “I didn’t think any experience would ever top this experience,” she said. “I’m never going to regret getting it.”
“We think this is just Michelle’s way of one-upping her groupie status,” said Chad Yelton, the zoo’s vice president of marketing. “She has all the merch, the tumblers, the calendar. If there’s something with Fiona’s face on it, she has to have it first.”
When Fiona was born, no one expected her to survive. Bibi, her lumbering, obstinate mother (“Fiona gets all of her diva tendencies from her mom,” said Christina Gorsuch, the curator for African mammals) gave birth six weeks early, and the baby weighed only 29 pounds. Most viable hippos weigh between 55 and 120 pounds at birth; premature infants rarely pull through. “In the first six weeks, there was at least once a week when we were sure she was going to die,” said Ms. Gorsuch, who was wearing a pair of hippo-shaped stud earrings in her office next to the antelope pen. “I kept telling the keepers to call me in the middle of the night when the inevitable happens.”
She was kept in the bestial equivalent of a newborn I.C.U., with round-the-clock care that included visits from local nurses from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital who located her tiny veins for an IV during a nasty bout of dehydration. Scientists at the zoo milked a hippo for the first time — “we had no idea what was in hippo milk before now,” Ms. Gorsuch said — so that they could recreate the formula for Fiona’s bottles. Every day, between January and May 15, when Fiona finally was able to promenade around the hippo tank for the public, seemed to bring a new health crisis. All of this was documented on social media for the world to see.
Overnight, Fiona became a symbol of resilience and positivity. Buzzfeed ran listicles of her bravest moments, calling her a “sassy, unbothered, unproblematic queen.” NPR ran a national report on her swelling celebrity status. One website called her “The Only Good Thing Left in This World.”
Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:
— Who is your favorite social media star, and why?
— Have you seen any Fionamania memorabilia or news? If so, what did you see, and where?
— Now that you know more about Fiona, can you understand why she is a celebrity media darling? Why or why not?
— What other examples can you think of where someone — or something — drew fame and followers? Why did they become famous?
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ReplyDeleteI do not have a social media star. If NBA Youngboy counts then yea i do but otherwise i dont. I say this because im not intruiged with social media like that. Stupid youtube channels are dumb . making dumb videos and people laugh because of their stupidity. Makes zero sense how they like it. The only way i watch stuff like that is basketball videos or inspirational videos. Like eric thomas thats a big inspirational person .
ReplyDeleteIve seen hippos at a safari and stuff like that ive never really seen any news or anything like that. Only time i payed attention to hippos is in madagascar . hippos arent really interesting enough to me . no i dont understand because shes just a hippo. So if i make a media page about my dog they will be famous just cause it rolls around or something. How do you get rich for making youtube videos . homeless people should just make a documentary and they will become rich . stop making dumb videos about stupid nonsense and start making videos about stuff that matters because theres a lot of stuff in the world thats more important .
I agree with you that social media stars is a stupid trend. Most of the people who make them are pointless. Also they usually have nothing better to do. I also agree social media star trends are very stupid
DeleteI don't have a favorite social media star because i think it's a new stupid fad. Nowadays people get famous for stupid things, and i don't really understand why. Usually there some losers who have nothing better to do with there life and they are trying to make quick buck getting sponsored. You do one thing thats somewhat funny and you gain a million followers in a blink of an eye.I personally think if your gonna be social Media famous you need at least some talent I have never really heard of that hippo named Fiona but I can see why she is a famous growing star, She was a premature born hippo who is grow up and healthy. I can think of many times where people get fame drawn to them by something. I think of the Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Juju Smith-Schuster. A pro football player with no licenses and he got a lot of attention one day because someone stole his bike , he blew up greatly after that incident. Hence why many people who are social media famous are famous for stupid things. But it gets a lot of people’s attention cause It is entertaining to the sports fanatics. Even if I had to pick a favorite social media star I would not be able to choose
ReplyDeleteMy favorite social media stars are probably Kelsey Simone, Luhhsetty, or Safiya Nygaard. I usually watch their youtube videos because they’re entertaining. They make videos almost everyday. There are more but those are just some of my favorites. Their videos consist of morning routines, night routines, skincare routines, makeup routines and a lot more. I also follow them on instagram. I’ve never seen any Fionamania memorabilia or news. But after reading the article, I now know what it’s about. All it does is swim around. Its not like it talks or anything. hippo that people thought wasn’t going to live, actually survived and is now internet famous. She even has her own show. In my opinion, I think that’s pretty boring. I think it’s pointless for the hippo to be famous. I can see maybe because it’s cute. Some people really like animals and are happy when there are famous animals, but I find it dumb when an animal is famous. There isn’t any reason for it, I think these celebrities became famous because they had content everyone liked. It wasn’t stupid content where it gets boring after a while. They keep the entertainment going by uploading videos. Sometimes people suggest things on what they want to see. Like Safiya sometimes buys makeup blindfolded and wears the makeup she bought blindfolded the next day. Luhhsetty does skincare routines and makes videos on being healthy and just life hacks. Kelsey Simone does room tours and seasonal outfit of the day videos. Each youtuber vlogs, too. I can’t really think of examples of people that drew fame because I haven’t watched anyone from when they first started their videos. I just watched when they were already “famous.” I don’t really pay attention to that either I just really watch the videos or look at their instagram feed or snapchat stories. I’m not one of those “fangirls” who comments on their posts or videos and stuff, I only watch what they upload or like what they post.
ReplyDeletei think it was cool the hippo was famous. even tho the hippo doesnt know we care, we actually do. How many people can say theyre famous vs how many hippos can say that.
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ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say i had a favorite internet celebrity. I say this because i don't have time to watch or follow the internet celebrities nor do i want to. I think it is stupid how people get paid to film themselves and do pretty much nothing. I think the youtube stars will never realize what a real job is. People are working everyday to make a honest living and some people think doing the stupidest things to make people laugh is work.
I have not heard of her until this blog. I do understand why she is a big hit. She was born premature and she swim around in circles which is cute. That is what got my attention.
This reminds me of the the dolphin who was born with a missing fin. The dolphin was a big hit. There were many movies about the dolphin. Its things like that i understand why they are famous. But there are people famous for literally nothing. They don't understand the struggle of waking up everyday and going to work to make enough for bills and extra activities.
I kind of agree with what you're saying because it does sound stupid when someone gets money for sitting in front of a camera. I also agree with the fact that making videos is a 'job'. It doesn't make sense. But there are some youtubers who actually have jobs and make videos at the same time.
DeleteMy favorite social media star is Lauren Jauregui. She uses her platform to speak out about problems going on with the USA and throughout the world. She is afraid to speak her mind to anyone or about anything. I have not seen any of the merch or news. I understand why she got famous, she was a prematurely born hippo. Many people love animals and it also helped with her photobombing the couples engagement picture that got everywhere. There are many cases where people got famous by doing something. Like Danielle Bregoli also known as the cash me outside girl. She got famous by saying “cash me outside how bout that” on Dr. Phil. There is also Russell Horning known as the backpack kid who got famous from posting his now famous dance on instagram.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite social media star is a Puerto Rican rapper named Bad bunny. He is my favorite rapper because of his songs and how his young life went. He used to work at a supermarket before he became a rapper . His real name is Benito. He is so popular that when I went to his concert in six flags they wouldn't let me in and I had sneak in. He's also my favorite rapper because he helped in Puerto Rico a lot when the hurricane. I like him because of that. Also he's my favorite social media star because he did good stuff when he was young and he helps a lot of people. He became famous because when he was younger he liked to sing so he started practicing and practicing and that's how he became famous. No I have not seen Fionamania and I don't know what's on it. I know is a movie but I haven't seen it. There is a lot of social media star that started Low from the ground and became big singer like Nicky Minaj, Rihanna and so many more I could name. But this people try to explain you and others that things are possible somewhere in your life you gotta struggle to win that.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite social media star is a Puerto Rican rapper named Bad bunny. He is my favorite rapper because of his songs and how his young life went. He used to work at a supermarket before he became a rapper . His real name is Benito. He is so popular that when I went to his concert in six flags they wouldn't let me in and I had sneak in. He's also my favorite rapper because he helped in Puerto Rico a lot when the hurricane. I like him because of that. Also he's my favorite social media star because he did good stuff when he was young and he helps a lot of people. He became famous because when he was younger he liked to sing so he started practicing and practicing and that's how he became famous. No I have not seen Fionamania and I don't know what's on it. I know is a movie but I haven't seen it. There is a lot of social media star that started Low from the ground and became big singer like Nicky Minaj, Rihanna and so many more I could name. But this people try to explain you and others that things are possible somewhere in your life you gotta struggle to win that.
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