Vloglishing?

A few weeks ago I was intrigued by a hefty old queue snaking from the entrance to our city centre Waterstones all the way down the side of the shop and into the next street where it curved around the front of several other shops. In fact there were so many people in this queue that it had actually been split into two with the second part starting in the middle of the pedestrianised walkway a short distance away. All of the queuees were young and mostly female so I assumed that the latest pop sensations were in town. As I wandered to the head of the queue to find out what megastar was in attendance I spotted the book that was the cause of this lunchtime commotion. Turned out it was the new title from vlogger Tanya Burr entitled `Tanya Bakes` in which she does just that. So a book about baking written by a vlogger attracted a crowd this big? Not even Dame Mary Berry would surely command such an army of admirers? Not for the first time it alerted me to the way both media and celebrity have changed. Increasingly where once pop, tv and sports stars were the pin ups of the young, nowadays it is just as likely to be an online star. However these online stars are now migrating like birds seeking warmer climes into traditional media. 

Vlogging your life away...?

If proof were needed as to how quickly sub cultures become absorbed into the mainstream it was August’s Summer in the City event in which thousands of people and dozens of vloggers turned up for what looked for all the world like a tv show convention. Held over two days on 9/10 August at Alexandra Palace the event promised workshops, live performances and of course that peculiarly indistinct behaviour networking. There were on stage appearances accompanied by the screaming of adoring fans, there were awards ceremonies and there were lots of theories expounded by journalists as to what this phenomena was.