And we thought Facebook couldn’t get any better? Celebrity Doppelganger Week was the hit of Facebook for the week of February 1, 2010. Everyone is on Facebook, let’s face it. But I would have to say that I was a bit confused when I logged on last week and saw Megan Fox, Tom Cruise, and Carmen Electra writing on my wall. Come to find out, it was still the same friends that I see everyday, not the celebrities. What a let down. For those of you living under a rock let me clear up what Doppelganger is. It is when Facebook users put up a picture of a celebrity that they seem to believe resembles them, or who other people tell them they resemble. When uploading a picture of yourself there is facial recognition technology that will match it with a celebrity. There is even a Facebook group that as of today has about 7,319 fans in just about a week. Critics are relating this to “David after Dentist” and the New Orleans “Who Dat” movement.
Bob Patel, creator of CDW, said that this all started at his work when some of his co-workers would tease him by calling him Tom Selleck. That is where he got the idea to begin this fad that soon took over Facebook. Myheritage.com says that they created a celebrity look-a-like finder way before Celebrity Doppelganger Week even started (Boo Hoo). I decided to try it out, you know, to “fit in.” My match was completely wrong and looked nothing like me, so I am not quite sure where they came up with my match. When I posted the picture of my celeb look-a-like only a few people had asked me what I was doing and why I had a picture of a celebrity in my profile picture. Everyone else knew what was happening when everyone had a bunch of celebrities in their pictures, which just goes to show that the internet has a major effect on the way that people live their day to day lives.
People are starting to use Facebook more than their cell phones or face to face communication. Social networking is taking over and Doppelganger is proof. There is over 350 million users registered for Doppelganger, because you MUST register to take part in this. However, you better have a lot of time on your hands because with the amount of people participating, the site gets very backed up.
Problems…? There are many copyright issues with Doppelganger because according to Horizons blog, “Celebrity photos posted to the web are most often owned by the media outlet that paid to send a photographer to take them – reposting on your profile could be considered intellectually property theft.” People don’t think about issues like this when participating in the latest trends online and that is where a lot of trouble comes from. Everyone thinks that information on the internet is fair game and there is no need for copyright or citations. So again, internet plays a major role in the 2010 day to day lives of innocent people just trying to make themselves feel good by putting up celebrity photos and hoping someone will give them a comment that says, “Oh yeah, you look just like them!”
Even Facebook’s Terms of Service made it very clear that certain content is allowed to be posted while other content is not. Their Terms of Service says this, “You will not post or take any action on Facebook that infringes or violates someone else’s rights or otherwise violates the law.” Facebook had a very strong and logical comeback… Let’s see if you agree. http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2010/0202/Facebook-Celebrity-Doppelganger-Week-What-you-need-to-know
Oops! I'm guilty of this. I went along with making the Pussy Cat Dolls main singer Nicole Scherzinger as my profile picture on FaceBook last week, but I had no idea I was doing something wrong. Copy writing issues seem to be all over the place with music, arts, and movies but I didn't think much of it with pictures.I guess the copy writing laws have the right to make sure sites like Doppelganger don't mess celebrity photos that indeed are paid for by the media who then have to pay photographers. I wonder how far they'll go to try and stop it because we all know how easy it is to look up a celebrity photo copy and paste it anywhere you want!
ReplyDeleteIn our society, celebrities are this unique group that we are so fascinated with. Celebrities can sell anything and everything, as is true in advertising. This Doppelganger concept was unique to me, but I can't say I was surprised when I found out what it was. (as a side note, when I typed doppelganger, it didn't come up as being spelled wrong, which means its in the dictionary?) I wonder how long this trend has been going on. Facebook makes everything main stream, and it's amazing the impact it has on our society. With all these fan pages surfacing, I would think celebrities would be pleased to have their faces show up on other people's Facebook pages. It's a way to sell themselves, and their products and services (Paris Hilton's Perfume or DJ Paulie D's DJ services.) I must say I was a bit disappointed I couldn't think of a celebrity I looked like so I'll need to check out the site you gave in your post.
ReplyDeleteThis blog was very interesting to ready considering you related every bodies daily social lives of facebook stalking to an advertisement article. I did not partake in DoppleDanger Celeb week however it was very interesting and fun to learn about and see many of my friends changing their photos to who they "though they looked like." It was also kind of amusing to see what celebrities people think they look like when in reality they look nothing like them. A little boost of self esteem never hurt anybody though. However when uploading pictures of celebrities or images off the internet i never think twice about copywriting. You are exactly right, i assume it's on the internet on "goole search images" therefore its fair game for my use. I have uploaded these photos onto a fashion blog of mine and saved them in a specific folder so i can later print them out on photo paper and frame them. Who would think that my innocent photo of a high fashion model hanging over my bed is a form of copywriting? But is it even? I'm not sure if this could even be considered copy writing, would anyone actually go so far to sue me for innocently admiring a photo i found off the internet and posting it on my personal blog or over my bed?
ReplyDeleteI too was a victim of celebrity Doppelganger week, but I did not go through the process of having facebook tell me who I look like. I took it upon myself to upload a picture of Jack Black as my doppelganger. (The resemblance is striking!) What I find funny is that within 24 hrs of a new facebook trend, millions of people catch on to the newest fad, but we never really think it could be illegal to post a picture. I honestly don't think twice about when I post a picture of a celebrity on my facebook wall. I google image everything, every day and use it some way of another. I think the way we all look at is that we could never get caught doing this, because people do it all day, every day, how could they catch all of us? And with all of the doppelganger's going around this week, I am surprised they did not put a locked down on it based on the laws and terms of service.
ReplyDeleteI totally participated in this Doppelganger epidemic as well. I posted a picture of Amanda Bynes from when she was younger. I didn't realize how big this became, I just thought that it was someone who made a facebook group or something. I also found myself poking fun of people who put their Doppelganger as a completely gorgeous celebrity when in my opinion no way do they resemble that person, but hey whatever makes them feel good, right? I didn't even think that posting a picture of someone else could be basically tied into identity theft in a way. I just find facebook and other networking tools to be completely fascinating and diverse, and it just goes to show you how much sway facebook has in the world.
ReplyDeleteI saw the doppleganger that week. Many people did it, I did not particpate but it was interesting who people thought they looked like. I didnt even think of the copyright laws involved... but I feel like its harmless fun so it shouldnt be made into a big thing, no one is really gaining anything out of it. Facebook has a defininite impact on people so its funny that someone can make up something such as doppleganger week and alot of people will go along with it and do it.
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