Journalist Nick Bilton explores the hollow, fraudulent and artificially glossy world of social media superstardom in the HBO documentary 'Fake Famous.'
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Fake Famous explores the meaning of fame and influence in the digital age through an innovative social experiment. Following three Los Angeles-based people with relatively small followings, the film explores the attempts made to turn them into famous influencers by purchasing fake followers and bots to âengageâ with their social media accounts.
First-time director and veteran journalist Nick Bilton and his team kick off the experiment with a casting call in Los Angeles. The young trio he selects â aspiring actress Dominique, fashion designer Chris and real estate assistant Wylie â in return have wildly different experiences as their fake followers grow by the thousands each day. Peeling back the layers to reveal whatâs really happening behind the scenes of influencer fame, the film highlights our obsession with the number of likes, followers, and favorites we get and how most of our online world is more fabricated than we realize.
In HBO s Fake Famous, social media influencers buy their way to glory cnet.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cnet.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
This week sees the premiere of
Fake Famous on HBO and HBO Max, a new documentary by former
New York Times technology writer Nick Bilton. Bilton was one of the earliest writers examining the overlap of fame and the digital world, and he’s using what he learned to stage a modern social experiment: how do you make ordinary people notorious online?
In
Fake Famous, Bilton takes three Los Angeles residents and offers them a boon: he will blow up their social media profiles and transform them into Instagram stars. The trio each has their reasons for wanting fame one is an aspiring actress, another a personal assistant to a real estate agent who dreams of a more exciting life, and the third a musician and fashion designer who fled Tucson for the City of Angels.
Whatâs on TV This Week: â9to5: The Story of a Movementâ and âThe Equalizerâ
A new documentary on PBS looks at the roots of a womenâs rights organization. And Queen Latifah stars in a reboot of âThe Equalizerâ on CBS.
“9to5: The Story of a Movement” revisits an organization that fought for better treatment of women in the workplace.Credit.Richard Bermack
Feb. 1, 2021
Between network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, Feb. 1-7. Details and times are subject to change.