Oxide Design Co.

My fleeting Internet fame

Hi, there. What’s that? I look familiar? Well, you probably recognize me from being Internet-famous!

What’s that like, you say? Well, let me tell you: fame is a two-headed beast, and she will crush your dreams.

Here’s the story of my rise and fall: After posting my LEGO engagement photos on Flickr (and partially due to Oxide’s own LEGO engagement post two weeks ago), the story was picked up in a few small LEGO blogs, namely: Modelbuildingsecrets, Brickbuildr, and Brick Bender.

Then, we hit the mother-load: a mention on the The Brothers Brick — by all measures, the king of LEGO blogs. In the 24 hours that followed, my Flickr account registered 10,000 page-views.

Later that day, some additional blogs picked up the story: BrickSpace.eu, lego.blog.hu, Super Punch, The Awesomer, and UniqueDaily.

In the hours that followed, my future became bright and limitless. (10,000 hits in 1 day… that’s 1,000,000 before the end of the year!) I didn’t know what to expect next, but it was going to be big. Certainly, Internet-fame is permanent.

Right?

Well, um, no. It’s not.

Two weeks later, the Flickr count is just shy of 14,000 — significantly less than 1,000,000. My attempt to drive some of that traffic back to Oxide News was a flop. And absolutely zero of the major broadcast networks called for an interview.

But, Joe, you’re thinking, all of this sounds really self-aggrandizing. Shouldn’t you be proud that your work was recognized at all? Isn’t it nice to know that — even in the vastness of the Internet, in the midst of our dark and scary world — that anyone took time out of their day to leave a thoughtful note of congratulations?

Isn’t that really what you wanted — to have your work understood and appreciated by someone else? Isn’t it nice to have given back to the LEGO community that you love so much?

Yes, my friend, now that you mention it… that’s pretty awesome. As awesome as 1,000,000 hits? Someday, we hope to find out.