I’d try to describe one of my favorite websites with something appropriately witty if the slogan didn’t already say it all: “Welcome to PerezHilton.com - Hollywood's Most-Hated Web Site!” For those of you unfamiliar with Mario Lavandeira, formally known as Perez Hilton, he is the all-star blogger who has single-handedly constructed a celebrity-taunting empire. Bringing shame to few but laughter to many, Perez blogs daily about fashion faux pas, plastic surgeries gone awry, embarrassing statements, mortifying photographs, and pretty much any other celebrity misstep about which he has something amusing to say. Self-proclaimed “Queen of Mean,” Perez takes pride in his outlandish sarcasm, eccentric anecdotes and amusing tid bits.
Perez certainly does not take himself too seriously. As made evident by his both self-deprecating humor and exuberant arrogance, Perez is simply about making sure his audience has a good laugh. Most recently, he has posted ridiculous pictures of himself dressed in traditional Elvis attire. Describing an incriminating photograph of our favorite pop phenomenon Britney Spears with his own Perez flavor of affection, he noted “We love this mess!” His celebrity look-alike pictures are uncanny and his humor is generally off the wall. For these reasons and many more, I’d suggest everyone giving Perez a chance.
As typical of the blog form, this psychological space is persistent and asynchronous. Because Perez does not work in ‘real time,’ he is able to artfully construct each comment, projecting the online persona he wishes to assume. The Hyperpersonal perspective is most applicable in this situation as we, the audience, have only limited material with which to develop an idea of this man’s personality. Based on his sarcastic comments and edgy judgments, we may stereotype his personality in a variety of ways: sarcastic, obnoxious, judgmental, or generally light-hearted and entertaining.
As a regular reader will come to notice, Big-5 Traits such as Extroversion and Openness become dominant personality markers while Agreeableness/Conscientiousness may matter less to this tough critic. Behavioral confirmation, our acknowledgment of the persona he has created (and expectation that he will maintain it!), ensures that Perez keeps up the commenting we have grown to love. Because he’s earned his fame by doing what he does best, it is only by continuing in the same manner that he will uphold his reputation. The Hyperpersonal model best explains the reality that is Perez Hilton due to the fact that the intensity of our impressions of Perez is much greater than it would be given a CFO perspective.
With that, I bid the Blue Blog adieu. What to do with yourself now that I’ve finished my post? Check out Perez, duh!
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3 comments:
Subtleties on the internet can play into the Hyperpersonal theory. For instance, if you meet someone online for the first time in a chat room and she happens to make a less than intelligent comment, you quickly label her as 'stupid' after only exchanging a few sentences. (I'm not trying to be mean, we learned about it in class!) On a website like Perez's, however, Perez plays up every little impression he makes over the internet in order to create a fantastic, hot-pink, online tabloid that wins the hearts of Americans and the hatred of Hollywood. Perez's scathingly sarcastic commentary is not only understood for its content, but the effects of this are also compounded by Hyperpersonal theory because it is the only impression of Perez that most people will ever get. The millions of people who read his website will never know him in real life.
I've heard about PerezHilton.com on VH1, but visited it for the first time after reading this blog. His exposure of the darker side of movie stars, like the following on Lindsay Lohan, gives an example of why one might not think Perez is the most gentle individual:
This speaks volumes about how far she’s fallen!
Commercials for the DVD release of Lindsay Lohan’s movie Georgia Rule have been airing and she’s not in them!
They have cut Lindsay out of the commercial.
That burns!
I think that it was very interesting and creative of you to write about your impression of Perez Hilton based on his blog, and I’d further agree that your impression of him is a hyperpersonal one, but I think in your discussion you’ve ignored a very relevant hyperpersonal process. Considering that his website is one of your favorites and that you’ve presumably been visiting it regularly for some extended period of time, the development aspect of the hyperpersonal model has probably been a substantial factor in your impression formation. Your notion of Perez has no doubt grown stronger over time as a result of your visiting his website frequently and reading more and more of his posts. You certainly seem very well acquainted with his personality and motives, and I would argue that your impression is so strong primarily because you have been able to modify and confirm it over time.
Hey Lauren!
I only recently got acquainted with PerezHilton (about the same time I was forced to make my peace with Us Weekly) but I know people who check his blog religiously--it's on their things-you-do-when-you-sit-down-at-a-computer list along with e-mail and facebook. (Thanks to Perez's journalism this weekend, I might never be able to watch High School Musical again.)
Where this gets interesting is that Perez must know that--entertaining people is how he makes his living, so I'm sure he's acutely aware of how he's perceived. Along the lines of what you and Kristina said, I agree that Perez plays off the hyperpersonal model to add a shock factor to the site and himself and continue to pique the interest of his fans.
It makes me wonder: do you think he realize that's what's happening? I'd bet he's never heard of the hyperpersonal model, and views the whole thing as shameless yellow journalism at its best... I guess you don't always need to understand the system to manipulate it successfully :)
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