‘People of Celebrity’ as a New Social Stratum and Elite

Abstract

The changes in the information-oriented society, which have led to the fact that during the last decades the importance of the elite stratum named by the author 'people of celebrity' has sharply increased, are analyzed in the article. This elite includes the top workers of mass media; art, theatre, literature, cinema workers; representatives of show business and fashion; sportsmen, etc. The common feature of this heterogeneous public is that they exploit their popularity, converting it into huge monetary incomes, posts, connections and different benefits, sometimes even descending it. It is also shown in the article that the personal popularity became one of the most important and more and more desired resources in the modern world, which along with the power and wealth creates the major lines of inequality in a society. We can see as well, why in the information-oriented society the level of art falls and the borders between it, show and advertising are being washed away. Actually, it is possible to speak about the paradox of the modern information society: adver-tising turns to 'art', and popularity – into the goods which can be bought and sold.

Keywords: celebrity, social strata, information society