R. Eric Thomas’ life changed after he went viral on Facebook.
He wrote a post comparing a photo of President Barack Obama, then Mexican-President Enrique Peña Nieto, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Marvel’s Avengers. Soon after, he became a columnist for Elle.com.
Now, Thomas has released a collection of personal essays entitled “Here For It” in which he ponders celebrity in the age of the internet, influencer culture and more.
He talked to The Washington Post about getting famous on the internet.
I don’t know that it is possible to be famous online. At some point, it has to transfer into the real world where fame actually lives. Which is really disappointing for somebody like me, who’s like, “Oh, I’ve got like 35,000 followers, I should run for president!” No, I should not run for president. The idea of Twitter not being real life is, I think, really hard for some people to deal with.
Why does he avoid writing for websites with comments sections? Does he feel safer in the city or the suburbs? We ask him for answers.
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