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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?
My favorite social media star is bdotadot5. He does impressions of the way people act and the moves and stuff that they do. He also is a basketball player is is pretty good at it. Unfortunately I have not seen any fionamania memorabilia lately. Just doesn't seem like the type of thing to pop up on my feed maybe that's why but ya know who knows maybe it will somehow. I can’t really understand why she's a celebrity media darling. After all maybe she's just happy to be a hippo or something like that. When i think of people drawn to fame I think of Odell Beckham Jr. making a one hand catch into the endzone which started an era of one handed catches in football.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite social media star is Shawn Mendes because he cares about his fans, does charities, and is an amazing artist. Shawn has joined the dosomething.org to give back to the community, he made a benefit ‘’Take a bite out of hunger’’, and has recently partnered with Red Cross to help with the Mexico earthquake. His music relates to situations teenagers go through and they just speak to you because you can relate to it. Other than this article I haven't seen anything of Fiona and usually i'm up to date with all social media animals. I can tell why Fiona is a social media star becauses shes a cute hippo and she's also a miracle from them not knowing if she was gonna live or not. There are many social media stars that have lasted for a week til years. One of the recent social media stars is the women who raised money for a homeless man that helped her with no gas. That went all over the world in a matter of two days I believe and it drew attention and more and more people donated money to help him out.
ReplyDeleteAidan Wittevrongel
ReplyDeleteMy favorite social media star is supreme patty. Supreme patty is my favorite social media star because he is very funny and always makes me laugh. He also getting his name out there by doing insane things. You can always see news about him. One time he got arrested for being at a riot. But he is out now and making everyone laugh. I have never seen any Fionamania memorabilia nor have I heard about her until reading this article. I can understand why she is famous because she did her own thing, and went and got it. Most people i know about get famous because they are funny and post videos and get their videos reposted by people with big names to get them popular.
I liked your response. I picked supreme patty too. ive never heard of fionamania either.
Delete— Who is your favorite social media star, and why?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite social media star would have to be ricegum, i pick ricegum because before he got big i used to watch him all the time and like all his tweets like a little kid would, but now i don't really follow him or watch him as much. But as a little kid u would stay up just to watch ricegum.
— Have you seen any Fionamania memorabilia or news? If so, what did you see, and where?
No i have not seen and fionamia news, unless you count this article other than that none.
— Now that you know more about Fiona, can you understand why she is a celebrity media darling? Why or why not?
Yes i see how fiona is a media darling because who doesn't love a cute animal doing funny or cool tricks and even photo bombing photos, She even got her own ice cream and the cincinnati red want to give her a “Fiona day” thats how much they love her.
— What other examples can you think of where someone — or something — drew fame and followers? Why did they become famous?
The catch me outside girl she did something funny/ stupid on tv and it blew up, this girl is now famous over something anyone else could have said any other day. People get famous over the dumbest things now a days just do something dumb on national television and wa bam it can happen.
Aj I really like who your favorite social media star since he is on my top 5. Like with me we haven't seen amy fiona news. I also agree that people can get famous just by doing to stupidest things that anyone can do in the world
DeleteI agree with both of you. People can get famous by being just themselves. People should not copy other people just to become popular or noticeable.
DeleteMy favorite social media star is probably supreme patty. He does crazy stuff like jump off his roof into a green pool and funny stuff. This is the first time that i have heard of fionamania. I have not seen anything on the news or anything online. I don’t really understand why the hippo is such a celebrity. Its cool that the hippo didn’t die and stuff but i don’t see the need to get a tattoo of it and make the hippo have its own day. Hippos are cool and all but i think that that is just unnecessary.
ReplyDeleteThat gorrilla harambe got super famous after he got shot because some kid fell into his enclosure. He got famous because he got turned into a meme.
i mess with supreme patty, his videos are fireee!!
DeleteI so love supreme patty too. His videos are so cool. They are hilarious.
DeleteMy favorite social media star is my boy grumpy cat. Most of the media world knows who he is and they love him. There has been books, shirts, shows about him. Who knew a picture of a act can turn him into a social media icon. Also his real name is tardar sauce. Personally I haven’t even heard about fiona. Maybe I saw a picture of her but I didn’t know her name at the time until now. It is weird of how I didn’t know about her until now. Since I am on social media. Since now that i know more about fiona i can understand why she is a social media star. She has survived the worst because she was born early and she had to fight for her life when she was only just a baby. Of course she had around the clock care but surviving was all up to her. Also she had a great person named Ms. Gorsuch by her side all the time. When something big was happening for Fiona she was always there and told the zookeepers to call her if fiona gave out even if it was in the middle of the night. She has been through enough of her life even though she was just a baby. But later in life she has been every active and been very nice to the people that have been coming to see her. And when she had photo bombed an engagement photo the world took notice of her. Now I had seen many people or things get famous overnight because they did something noticeable.My favorite one is also my favorite social media star is my boy grumpy cat or tardar sauce. One photo of him and with the caption of the world’s grumpiest cat made him an overnight star than everyone knew who he was in an instant. There are also many other things to become overnight sensations in the social media world but there are too many to be listed.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteMy favourite social media star is Beyonce. I chose her because I think she’s a leader and she helps people to build their confidence. She has saved a lot of lives because of her beautiful voice and the words she has to say. She’s my motivator because watching her talk about the kids and saying the children are the future makes me believe in myself more. I have never seen Fionamania on the news. Fiona is a celebrity media darling because when she was born she weighed 29 pound and most hippos weigh between 55 and 120 pounds at birth. They never thought Fiona was going to live. Fiona starred in her own reality show sponsored by facebook. Someone drew fame or followers became famous. I think of Rihanna. She formed a music trio with two of her classmates and was discovered by American record producer Evan Rogers. From there her career took off and she traveled to the United States to start singing and making music videos.
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DeleteOh wow, Beyoncé is also one of my favorite social media stars. I also have never seen or heard of Fionamania.
Deletesame. I love her because I think she have saved many lives and she travel the world not only to sing but to show that she has a good heart and give supplies to the poor.
DeleteMy favorite social media star is probably going to have to be XXXTentacion with his crazy looks and exotic fashion X is a very well hearted, and meaningful dude. He doesn't pay any mind to the hate that he gets he wears whatever he is happy with... I have never heard of fiona memorabilia i think that is wack and i dont know how a whale can get so much hype?! Nah truthfully i dont get the hype behind her doesnt really sound that crazy seems quite boring.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite social media star is famouslos32 because of the skits and impersonations he does. I have not seen any Fionamania memorobilia anywhere. Upon seeing and learning more about Fiona, i do not quite understand why she has accumulated so much fame. Plenty of other human and other animal babies end up being born prematurley and recieved no media attention.
ReplyDeleteyes i agree. his skits are so funny. its hard to believe they don't try and make them up and it just comes out normally.
DeleteWell I do not have one.No I never heard about Fionamania memorablia or news.She I do. She is baby hippo that by some twirling around the water and someone video it many people saw it now she is famous. It went from ice cream into a reality show sponsored by facebook. Aslo there were books writing about her who people give to children so they can learn about the hippos. Also they will having a fionaa day how interesting is that. She is one lucky animal. Who survive when she came into this world.I do not know just by doing something kind or surpriseful it might get you famous. Many people so singing and if they doing really good they might be considered the greatest singer. There are many talent in this world that people will spread the word and those people or anything will become famous.
ReplyDeleteWho is your favorite social media star, and why? My favorite social media star is fat boy sse. because he is a very funny man i like his type of humor also he is from new jersey and is a man who likes to give back to the less fortunate.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen any Fionamania memorabilia or news? If so, what did you see, and where? I have never seen any memorabilia or news of the hippo.
Now that you know more about Fiona, can you understand why she is a celebrity media darling? Why or why not? Yes because every one doubted she was gonna die because she was born six weeks eariler and only weighted 29 pounds and most hippos weight 55 to 120 pounds at birth. And she just brings joy to people because she is just living life.
What other examples can you think of where someone — or something drew fame and followers? Why did they become famous? Sommer ray is a instagram model and has 17.3 million followers and has all these followers because she postes pictures of her self and attracts alot of people.
My favorite social media star is Demi lovato.She's my favorite star because she helps people build their confidence. No, I have never heard or seen of Fionamania memorabilia. Now that I have read more about Fiona, I can now understand why she is a celebrity media darling. She's a media star because everyone thought she was going to die since she was born six weeks earlier. People love her because she is still living and loving her life. Other examples that i can think of where someone or something drew fame and followers is people on instagram. Many people get famous over social media especially instagram by posting pictures of themselves for being so “pretty” or for posting videos of them doing makeup or even singing. People also get famous by making musicallys.
ReplyDeletei completely agree with you, shes always so positive and has a good attitude towards everything. she came a long way.
DeleteMy favorite social media star is Michael Cera. For people who don't know him he starred in "Superbad". He played Scott Pilgrim and was hilarious. It is one of my all time favorite movies. No, I have never heard of Fionamania until now. I can understand why she became famous and people know about her. She lived when everyone thought she was going to die. She has beat the odds when everything was going against her. Other examples of social media fame is when people posts stuff on you tube by doing daring stunts or singing. Look Justin Beiber became famous off of the internet and so did many other stars you here of today. It is becoming the new trend for people to posts all types of things on the internet sites like facebook, you tube , and instagram. Who knows who will be famous next.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of Fiona the hippo at the Cincinnati Zoo.My favorite social media star is Harambe. My favorite social media star is Harambe because he saved a little child from getting drowned when the little boy fell. Harambe was shot by the zookeeper. Harambe was shot because they fear that he might kill the little boy. I have never seen any Fiona mania memorabilia or news but I just read an article about it. She is a celebrity media darling because she is cute and she survived a near death. An example of a person that drew fame or followers is a basketball player name Kyrie Irving. People started to follow Kyrie Irving more because of his game winning shot against the Golden State Warriors in game 7 of the Finals.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite instagram star would have to be Kim Kardashian because she always posts stuff of her kids, and her family. No matter how famous and popular she is she still finds so much time for her kids and her family. Her and her sisters always try to help out people in need. She has 13,483,656 facebook fans followed by 17,878,739 twitter followers. The kardashian family created a whole community of “kardashianness” that makes kim even more influental. Perks of this level of influence include being paid $10,000 per tweet. The best part, is she uses most of that money towards her kids, and her family.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen fionamania memorabilia or online. After reading the article about fionamania i can now see why she is famous. She fought her way through her heath crisis and was able to swim around for people after all of it. It inspired kids who are having health problems to push harder to make theyre way through it and be able to over come it.
Austin MacClemmy
ReplyDeleteIn the 21st century Social Media plays a huge role in the daily life. A big social media page on youtube is Lance Stewart, a famous youtube blogger. I personally like lance because he is a famous blogger but he also is a humble person about being wealthy. Watching his videos are very funny and entertaining to watch. It's always something new that he is doing, it's never the same thing. The videos that me make are usually pranks on his very pretty girl's friend or on his mom that gets very mad at him when he pranks her.
I've never really been into watching the news or watching the weather channel. If i learn about the news are anything that happens in the world its by word of mouth and discussing it with my friends and teachers. The last time i watched the news it was about the bad hurricane that hit NJ called Sandy. It was a bad storm that i watched before it hit. I tried to keep up on how the state was trying to keep steady and prepared for this storm.
Reading about the hippo tells me that she was a sensation because she was the first hippo to show that they have milk and that she was very intelligent.