Internet Famous ...

Is it in the human ego to want to be known wide and far?
Is the apparent desire for internet fame an off-shoot of the cult of celebrity that we see in every day lives, just expanding in to the virtual and infinite medium of the internet?

We all have hobbies, and to each person another's hobbies might seem odd or strange. As a hobby that seems to have come across from Japan, Cosplay has been gaining momentum and popularity over the last few years and is often seen 'geek' events like Dragon-Con in the US, and the MCM and LFCC Expos in London.

For those not in the know, the word Cosplay is a portmanteau of Costume and Play. The hobby itself in it's simplest description consists of dressing up as yoru favourite character(s) and exploring your fandom through the medium of costume, while hanging out with like-minded people

Costumes and fans come from all corners of fandom; Anime & Manga (Japanese animation & comics), Super Heroes, TV Shows and Movies, even Computer Games.

The communities around cosplay seem to be freequent and, for the most part, helpful and collaborative, with facebook groups and dedicated forums.

Possibly the best known group of cosplayers, although they may distance themselves from the term, it is very much what they do, is 'The 501st' - an international group of Star Wars costumers who don Imperial / Dark SIde related costumes (their Rebel / Light Side counterparts being 'The Rebel Legion') and attend events, parades, and rallys for charity. What these guys do with their hobby is tremendous and is to be commended, so much so  that other groups have sprung up doing similar things.

For the time and money that these people spend on their costumes and props, to then go and give their time to raise money for charity is a wonderful thing to see hear and read about. These guys use their internet fame to try and make a difference to people, they try to be a force for good.
http://501stlegioncharity.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0GtiE3kAWQ

However, there's another side to the hobby; one that I'm less happy to see, and the one that this post is most about - the people who seem to be looking to gain fame, and to some extent fortune, from their hobby.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tabitha-Lyons-Cos-Play-signed-Posters-/111106322393?pt=UK_Collectables_AnimationCharacters_Anime_SM&var&hash=item5f810d4d70
http://jessicanigri.storenvy.com/
http://cottoncandycosplay.storenvy.com/

It may be that I'm too old to understand, but when I was younger the people I wanted signed posters of were rock stars, the emphasis for the purposes of this post being 'stars', but here we have people who are selling signed posters of themselves dressed as someone (or something) else.
I can understand why cosplayers would set up Facebook 'fan' pages for their hobby, some may be in day jobs where they wouldn't necassarily want bosses or clients they connect with on Facebook to see their slightly unusual hobby, or some may use the page to connect with the myriad of people they connect with at conventions without having to use their personal page, all of this I understand, and is reasonable, but I have noticed some people hawking their fan page trying to hook in more 'Likes' for their page simply because they have less 'Likes' than their peers, other have (as in the links above) used their fan pages to promote their online-stores where people can buy signed photos and prints of themselves.

It's at this stage that I can't help feeling that the cosplayers involved have stepped out of being a cool part of the community and in to profiteering, self promotion, and internet fame. This in turn, to my humble way of seeing things, poisons the well of the hobby giving people outside the hobby a skewed view of what the people in the hobby are like.

People like this, from what I can see do it all for themselves; for profit, to be 'cosplay famous' or 'internet famous', whatever the reason, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth and it wouldn't surprise me if it puts others off the hobby.

That said, and self promotion drama aside, I'll admit it's a lot of fun to rock up to a con in costume, if nothing else a great costume can help you feel like a real badass! I also won't deny that it's an ego boost when people identify who you're dressed as and ask for pic - it makes all the hassle in getting the kit together totally worth while.