Ben Smith in the NYT with a look at how The New Model Media Star Is Famous Only to You. “Cameo is, on its face, a service that allows housebound idiots to blow money on silly shout-outs. Seen another way, however, it’s a new model media company, sitting at the intersection of a set of powerful trends that are accelerating in the present crisis. There’s the rise of simple, digital direct payments, which are replacing advertising as the major source of media revenue. There’s the growing power of talent, trickling down from superstars to half-forgotten former athletes and even working journalists. And there’s the old promise of the earlier internet that you could make a living if you just had ‘1,000 true fans’ — a promise that advertising-based businesses from blogs to YouTube channels failed to deliver. In fact, in this new economy, some people may be able to make a living off just 100 true fans.” (Finally, I can explain to my parents that my revenue model sucks because I’m too famous…) Maybe it’s because I’ve spent the last three months as a housebound idiot that I feel the need to defend Cameo. But a few parents I know have ordered messages for their kids stuck celebrating solo bdays, and they’ve been great.