Writer, Agilist, Elder Geek
A roundup of my exploration of the reasons, issues, and potential for creating Virtual Stars:
(I've noticed talks about the Vocaloid Concerts echoing around the internet, and wanted to address the idea behind virtual stars in more detail. Seriously, when you see a post on it at an econoblog, you know it's time to comment.)
If you pay attention to the news, you'll see occasional discussion about Virtual Stars, completely manufactured media people. The ones I see talked about are mostly in Japan, such as Kyoko Date back in the late 90's, or the prominent Vocaloid phenomena today. These creations ventures often seem to be a cultural curiosity (especially outside of Japan), an oddity, or something out of a bad anime or science fiction film. I think there's something useful in the virtual idol/virtual star concept that I want to explore as worthy of actual consideration as a viable commercial exercise
I recall when I was first called an "Internet Personality." It was at a convention, and that was how I was described in the program booklet. That was quite a few years ago, and it seems that over time in the age of the internet, megamedia, and 24-hour news cycles the world is filled with "personalities."
Personalities are everywhere. News personalities. Internet personalities. Writers are personalities. Colorful local personalities. It seems some of the most successful (or at least famous) people we know are, well . . . personalities.