I want to be the internet’s most known person, a bit like the usenet gods of the early nineties. How?
Become a pornstar or a convicted spam king.
A guy I know has been recognized on the street in foreign countries for making silly faces on a web page (http://www.emotioneric.com/), so the answer is… you can do just about anything, as long as somebody thinks it’s awesome.
Film yourself doing something stupid/painful or both.
Go somewhere else and do it again. Repeat.
Upload to YouTube. Post links on blogs & messageboards.
Bada bing, you’re the “Something stupid/painful or both guy”.
If Fame is all you want, and you don’t much care how you get it, here’s a thought:
Get a remote camcorder that can send its signal to a separate recording device. It has to be separate so the actual recording device will be safe and will hold the signal from the camcorder. Put the camcorder in a helmet or some other container so that the camera has as close to your own point of view as possible.
Get a friend (soon to be ex-friend) to operate a separate camera that is focused on you from a distance. Have both cameras feed into the “safe device” so a split screen effect can be generated later by the survivors.
Take a picture of you running and jumping into a vat of molten steel. The website that gets to show this picture of you running and jumping as well as the view from the camera that will become obliterated by the metal, will become the fad of the week, maybe a month, and your name (oh yeah, be sure to wear a T-shirt with your name on it) will be the talk of the web for days.
ChessPieceFace! Only a day and a half after your legendary* “Dan the Liar” opening post and you’re up to a count of 8 already! We’re glad to have sucked you in, stick around!
*You budding internet legend, you!
Sometimes, just stepping away from the computer for a bit is enough.
The best way these days seems to be YouTube. You must:
Learn to play an instrument really, really well. Bonus points for unexpected instruments. Purple Haze on an oboe, or Flight of tthe Bumblebee on the saw.
Have really big tits and no shame, and wash a car.
Be a handsome juggler.
Become a mega-celebrity in real life and then start a blog. Then launch your own website community. Post frequently and gradually add content. Fame will be yours!
Well, it’s almost worked for Wil Wheaton. (He definitely ain’t a mega-celebrity.)
He’s got a good blog, though.
Post a poser like:
14 k of g in a f p d
Even better if you have a pretend light saber fight on a walkway and then fall into the vat from there. Be sure to be a bit over weight and very geeky looking.
You know Emotion Eric?!?!? [/moment of random]
My answer would be to chop off a wig and fake an emotional meltdown. An actress put this up on YouTube and was given kudos everywhere–by director Norman Jewison, even–and appeared on late-night talk shows.