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michaelpa... michaelpa...
 
M$1 February 10, 2009 11:34 PM

Why are we as a society so obsessed with celebrities and celebrity gossip? (Feature Request)

Lately, it seems like 90% of the questions asked are about celebrities. This caused me to wonder: What is the fascination with them and why do we (as non-celebs) care about the intricate details of their lives? We eat this stuff up like puppy chow, spending precious time talking about who started a fight or who's going bald, or how fat so-and-so has become. Why?

On a related note, I have a feature request: Please let us mute the categories of our choice upon login, like Digg allows its users to do. It would help everyone by creating a Mahalo that is unique to each user's tastes, instead of one Mahalo fits all. :-)
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cee-jay cee-jay
 
 February 10, 2009 11:49 PM
Everything these days is consumer driven. Everything is also commercialized, I find it distasteful and over exaggerated most things these days.. Like who cares whos dating who, or how much j-lo made last year... what about asking or talking about a family who's dad/husband is in Iraq. Now thats a topic.
People are just bored and entertainment business thrives from it.
Source(s):
blllahhh

Asker's Rating:
• That pretty much sums it up. I was hoping for a link or two as reference material, which is why I didn't give you 5 stars.


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michaelpau... michaelpau...
 
February 10, 2009 11:54 PM
So perhaps following celebrities and their activities is a means of escape? I can see what that makes a whole lot of sense... that's kind of what the movies and TV are like for me: escape from reality. I guess that's why I mostly like documentaries or learning programs: I'd like to at least learn while I escape.

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nativenerd nativenerd
 
February 10, 2009 11:42 PM
Actually, that's a rather clever idea. You would of course still get some from email users since they have their own category, but it's then bearable.

With all the new features, they will probably have to redo the profile editing section before too much longer...=(
Source(s):
My $0.02


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jasoncalac... jasoncalac...
 
February 10, 2009 11:44 PM
We are going to allow the blocking of certain categories soon. it's an essential features.

Also, if people can start voting on interesting question yes/no more often we will start sorting the pages including that factor. This means the "default sort" will be time, # of answers and interesting votes--combined!

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michaelpau... michaelpau...
 
February 10, 2009 11:47 PM
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you.

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easyeboy easyeboy
 
February 11, 2009 01:17 AM
Hopefully this block feature comes soon, as I'm tired of hearing about celebrities! If I wanted that, I'd go to a celebrity blog or something.

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philipy philipy
 
February 10, 2009 11:47 PM
I'm not interested in celebrities, so I would love the feature to remove that category from my sight.

I haven't answered your question about why people are obsessed with them, as I don't really know. Not sure that being obsessed with celebrities is a lot different than being obsessed with other things, such as following a sport avidly.

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michaelpau... michaelpau...
 
February 10, 2009 11:51 PM
Disclaimer: I'm a casual sports viewer, not a fan.

Sports are similar, but very different. I can understand why I might follow a sports team because, for example, I played basketball and I appreciate the skill that comes with swishing a 3 point shot. Furthermore, that team might be from my hometown, and so I've got some emotion invested into the team and want to see them win so my city can have something to brag about. Or the team could be the college that you went to. (Go Bears?) So I get that. I just don't get celebrity.

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philipy philipy
 
February 11, 2009 12:01 AM
I also follow some sports, but in some ways it's a male version of celebrities and soaps. Who's in, who's out, who did what to whom, who is the bad guy, where someone went wrong, and how they should have played if differently...

Equally incomprehensible to people that aren't hooked.

However, there is definitely non-soap aspect to sports, especially if you play them yourself. But I suspect many of the emotional drivers why people obsess about them are the same.

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psynopsis psynopsis
 
February 11, 2009 01:36 AM
I agree i don't really know the answers to those questions anyway! I think a few a week should be allowed! just to keep everyone happy! or if they seriously have to know the answer to!

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robbrown robbrown
 
February 11, 2009 01:53 AM
It would be an interesting traffic strategy to post questions on up-to-the-minuite events.

Not only would the question itself bring people in, but the answers given would likely provide links, keyword rich comments, etc.

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fjpoblam fjpoblam
 
February 11, 2009 01:56 AM
We are bored with ourselves and want a ready-to-hand topic with which we can share random communication with strangers who may become potential friends.

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