Kah Wai@spherebox

I SHOOK HANDS WITH KENNY SIA!!! ZOMG…

Heh. Should have taken a pic? Most ppl will say ‘SS or it didn’t happen’. (SS = screenshot, but in this case it just means a picture.)

The statements above was what hit me after I met him face to face. Then I catch myself, “Hmm, he’s a blogger. A famous one, one of my favourites, but still a blogger. Since when have bloggers gained celebrity status?”

Disclaimer: If anyone who knows Kenny, or if Kenny himself reads this, PLEASE DON’T TAKE THIS POST THE WRONG WAY. I respect those who blog, have no grudge against them, and am just writing this on an emotion / chord that struck me in an odd way.

I was walking out of the MCA 9-Point Party Platform after the last session I intended to attend, when I bumped into Kenny. Before that, I passed an area which was roped off for a ‘blog meeting’ (or something along that line). I was asking what was going on in that area, kinda guessing it was a bloggers meeting (I saw Nicole there), and was asked back if I was a blogger. I told her I blog, but only once in a blue moon, and she asked me again if I was a member of N-something (no, I can’t remember the name). No, I told her, and I was regretfully told that it was a bloggers only thing for those who joined that society. Huh? What? Wow… Bloggers now have celebrity status and have this kinda meetings? Wow… I wanna be a pro-blogger too…

Then the ‘I bumped into Kenny’ happened, and in the midst of that, I actually catch myself in thinking of them with a celebrity tag. Hey, another disclaimer here, I love Kenny (not in a homosexual way), his blogs are extremely entertaining and his travelogues have given me insight on what I should do if I do decide to take a trip to some-remote-area-backpacking-with-chicks-wanting-to-hop-along :) . But to put him on a celebrity status… kinda… wrong… in quite a number of levels (SORRY KENNY, DON’T EAT ME PLS).

What I feel, tagging a ‘celebrity tag’ to them will most unfortunately, bloat some egos. And for those who say ‘nay’, I’m sorry, but look at history. Man repeats history unless it becomes fatal. Then he (or she)’s not alive to repeat it. Putting on such a tag might destroy the core of a blogging society. We feel nice reading others’ blogs because we can ‘click’ with the topic, with views from the blogger coming from someone who is human, who isn’t scripted. Someone who’s in touch and in tune with the community will always interest us compared to those ‘up there’.

Blogging has been an interesting way to advertise something, with some big brands cashing into something that is made ‘by the people, for the people’. Those who reads blogs expect the blogger to give honest opinions on a product, as viewed by the blogger, not some trumped up marketing scheme to boost sales. In saying this, can bloggers keep to being impartial and be truthful on something? With sponsorship and advertisement time, bloggers might then take the route of THE advertisement space to be, and bloggers will the be put into a limelight which were formerly reserved for models, actors/actresses, etc (aka, celebs) 10 years from now, 20 years from now, when a new celeb class has emerged (the bloggerz… oooOOOoooo), can we look into the mirror and tell ourselves it’s us who gave them such a status? And can the regular bloggers actually look upon themselves and say “I blog for myself, with no editting and no scripting” and not “I blog for my fans / sponsors”? Think about it.

Maybe I felt left out, being a ‘once-in-a-blue-moon’ blogger and not in the loop. Maybe I felt jealous of the people there. Maybe, just maybe, I can see a bigger picture and feel that the road that fate twists will lead to pain and frustration in the future. Maybe?

A step further.
KW

January 24th, 2008 Posted by Kah Wai at 04:14pm | Musings | 3 comments