From FunnyOrDie to Tila Tequila, celebrities are stepping up their online game. In recognition of these efforts, we present our EconCeleb Econoclast10.
This top 10 list reflects the best of what the celebrities are bringing to us not on camera, but online. Whether they’re blogging, entertaining, investing or, well, updating their MySpace profiles, celebrities are finding new ways to reach their fans in the digital space.
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#10
Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart has made her mark in the digital space with MarthaStewart.com, which not only houses her blog and social net, but also recipes, gardening tips and home decorating advice, to name a few — oh, and did we mention she reads the WSJ on her Amazon Kindle? This year her company bought Emeril and a large stake in wedding planning community site WeddingWire. Late last year, it launched the Martha's Circle network, enabling advertisers to reach targeted audiences via its niche blogs and sites. Additionally, MarthaStewart.com has everything from recipes to entertaining ideas, Stewart's blog and her TV show. The Martha Stewart brand has integrated partnerships online with companies including 1-800 Flowers, Everyday Food and Macy's.
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#9
Tila Tequila
Beginning her career with modeling in Playboy and Import Tuner, Tila Nguyen had begun to find some success as a reality TV star and TV host before her MySpace page catapulted her to fame and A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila debuted. She is now turning to music and with an unconventional tactic; instead of signing with a major record she will release her first songs only online.
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#8
Peter Gabriel
Since his initial fame as the lead vocalist of the rock group Genesis, Peter Gabriel has more recently become a pioneer in the digital distribution of music. Gabriel backed OD2, one of the first digital music companies We7, and more recently The Filter, an entertainment site that filters users' tastes in music, movies and web video.
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#7
Radiohead
At the end of 2007, Radiohead released their newest album, In Rainbows, online in a "pay what you want" form. Some artists are commending the move, most notably, Bono, and others, such as Coldplay, have followed suit by offering their latest single online for free. Radiohead has since re-released their album on-demand on Last.fm and now have their own branded section and new music video available on Google and iGoogle.
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#6
Stephen Colbert
Best known for his popular Comedy Central show, The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert has used the internet to interact with his fans in innovative ways from Google SEO to his presidential campaign with Facebook groups. As winner of the 2008 Webby Awards for "Person of the Year," he also used his fame and success to raise funds for his education charity, DonorsChoose.org.
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#5
50 Cent
In addition to multi-platinum success, Fifty founded the G-Unit Clothing company, and has dabbled in movies and other consumer products. He now uses his two websites 50cent.com and thisis50.com to push the promotion of events and memorabilia arguable more than any urban rap artist to date.
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#4
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah.com has daily coverage of The Oprah Winfrey Show and provides millions of users with extensive expert advice. Oprah Winfrey's Book Club allows members to connect with other readers from their local area or even around the world. Additionally, Winfrey has a webcast, Soul Series, and an online adaptation of Live Your Best Life. For some early online cred, Oprah was a founder of multi-platform Oxygen Media long before most people knew you could have multiple platforms. Now she's partnered with Discovery.
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#3
Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher co-founded the production company, Katalyst. It has since gone digital and signed a deal with AOL to produce five programs to be distributed on AOL.com and AIM. He is also spearheading a marketing campaign and producing viral videos to promote Ooma, a tech start-up for which he serves as creative director.
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#2
Will.i.am
Black Eyed Peas hip-hop star Will.i.am's star-studded "Yes We Can" video, setting one of Barack Obama's speeches with music, has garnered over 17 million views on YouTube and his social net, Dipdive. Moreover, he recently struck a deal with RIM to make Dipdive available on BlackBerries, and has spoken at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
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#1
Will Ferrell, Chris Henchy & Adam McKay
The trio's site, FunnyOrDie.com, has videos featuring celebrities, comedians and you. HBO, which couldn't make its own comedy site work, has taken a small stake in the site. The trio has wrangled a plethora of Hollywood's hipper comedy elite to contribute to FunnyOrDie.
Photos courtesy of Splash News
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