Following the Stars

    Sam Wells remembers the day David and Liza broke up. The news hit her incredibly hard. “It made me cry,” says Sam, a 17-year-old from Pennsylvania. “I was so sad.”

    Thousands of people were probably crying with her. That’s because the ex-couple weren’t Sam’s friends. They were David Dobrik and Liza Koshy, two of the biggest YouTube stars ever. In June 2018, they posted a video about their breakup. Almost 58 million people have watched it since.

    It may seem strange to cry over people we don’t know. But we care about famous people—beyond the videos they’re in or the music they make. We want to see inside Ariana Grande’s house. We want to know if Shawn Mendes is happy with his girlfriend. We get something out of our obsession with fame. The question is: what?

    Sam Wells remembers when David and Liza broke up. “It made me cry,” says Sam. “I was so sad.” Sam is 17 years old. She lives in Pennsylvania. 

    Thousands of other people cried too. Why? David and Liza are not friends of Sam’s. They are David Dobrik and Liza Koshy. They are huge YouTube stars. In June 2018, they broke up. They posted a video about it. Almost 58 million people watched it.

    Crying over people we don’t know may seem strange. But we care about famous people. We want to do more than watch their videos or listen to their music. We want to see inside Ariana Grande’s house. We want to know if Shawn Mendes is happy with his girlfriend. 

    We have an obsession with fame. And we get something out of it. But what?

    The day David and Liza broke up is etched in Sam Wells’s memory. The news hit her incredibly hard. “It made me cry,” recalls Sam, a 17-year-old from Pennsylvania. “I was so sad.”

    Thousands of others likely cried with her. The ex-couple weren’t Sam’s friends—they were David Dobrik and Liza Koshy, two of the biggest YouTube stars ever. In June 2018, they posted a video detailing their breakup. Since then, nearly 58 million people have watched it.

    It may seem strange to be emotionally invested in people we don’t actually know. But we care about famous people—beyond just wanting to watch their videos or listen to their music. We want to tour Ariana Grande’s house. We want to know if Shawn Mendes is happy with his girlfriend. 

    We get something out of our obsession with fame—but what?

    We may want to be just like the stars we love. But often that’s not a realistic goal, says Ally Kustera, a 16-year-old from New York. Celebs can buy fancy clothes. They use apps to hide wrinkles and scars in every photo. “Seeing them look so perfect can be damaging to self-esteem,” says Ally. 

    Most fans know what to expect from social media. After all, they use it too. Still, it helps when stars point out the gap between the photos and real life. The singer Lorde once posted two pictures of herself side by side. One had been changed to make her skin look perfect. The other showed her face with acne scars. She wrote underneath, “remember flaws are ok.”

    Sam, for one, feels like she knows the celebs she follows. Kylie Jenner is a mom and a successful businesswoman, she says. David Dobrik gives money to good causes. To her, they’re inspiring. 

    And for Sam, that’s enough to justify the time she spends following them. “They help you try your best to become successful and make other people happy.”

    We may want to be like social media stars. But that’s not likely to happen, says Ally Kustera. She’s 16 years old. She lives in New York. Celebs can wear fancy clothes. They use apps to hide wrinkles and scars in photos. “Seeing them look so perfect can be damaging to self-esteem,” says Ally. 

    Most fans know the tricks of social media. Still, seeing the gap between the photos and real life is important. The singer Lorde once posted two pictures of herself. She posted them side by side. One had been changed. Her skin looked perfect. The other had not been changed. It showed her face with acne scars. She wrote, “Flaws are ok.”

    Sam feels like she knows the celebs she follows. Kylie Jenner is a mom and a successful businesswoman, she says. David Dobrik gives money to good causes. To her, they’re inspiring.

    For Sam, that’s enough to justify the time she spends following them. “They help you try your best to become successful and make other people happy,” she says.

    We may want to be just like the stars we love, but often that’s not a realistic goal, says Ally Kustera, a 16-year-old from New York. Celebs can afford expensive clothing. They often use apps to erase wrinkles and scars in every photo. “Seeing them look so perfect can be damaging to self-esteem,” Ally points out. 

    Most fans know what to expect from social media—after all, they use it too. Even so, it can be helpful when stars point out the gap between the photos and real life. The singer Lorde once posted two pictures of herself side by side. One had been altered to make her skin appear flawless. The other showed her face with acne scars. Underneath, she wrote, “remember flaws are ok.”

    Sam, for one, feels like she knows the celebs she follows. Kylie Jenner is a mother and a successful businesswoman, she says. David Dobrik donates money to good causes. To her, they’re inspiring. 

    And for Sam, that’s enough to justify the time she spends following them. “They help you try your best to become successful and make other people happy,” she says.