Profession: celebrity? cyberspace as a way for generating income by recognition

Abstract

The article attempts to answer the question whether being a celebrity can be considered as a profession in the world which is nowadays dominated by digital media. In the initial part of the text, the enthemology of the term “celebrity” is presented and the definitions of the celebrity are given in relation to traditional media, such as television or the press, and to the virtual internet space, where celebrities are called influencers. Then, it was presented how popular people can earn on their recognition, and what the amounts are. Rankings of the most valuable, from the advertis-ing campaigns' point of view, celebrities were presented. The most popular profiles of people presently performing in social media in Poland were ana-lyzed, including those with the largest Instagram account ranges or the most profitable YouTube channels. The contents and ranges related to the presented topics were discussed. The most lucra-tive social issues in the media space are listed, which includes topics related to fashion, travel, healthy lifestyle, luxury products or showing private lives of people who are related to broadly understood showbiz (including actors, singers, journalists). Examples of people from celebrity families are given, who have become popular due to the fact that they are associated with an active person in the media (including celebrity children) and earn on the internet by running their profiles on social networks. Also, the dangerous phenomenon of patoinfluencers, who gain publicity by presenting content related to violence, the use of stimu-lants, aggression, profanity, etc. was highlighted. As a summary, it was recognized that being a modern celebrity/influencer can be considered as a type of profession, because earning popularity allows to obtain such remuneration, which is a source of income, and being a celebrity determines the position of the individual in the society.