The old adage says that “all press is good press,” but with the omnipresence of social networks, this theory may change.  It can be relatively easy to achieve celebrity in a socially networked world, but it seems to be just as easy to achieve notoriety and infamy.  People might forget the negative press.  YouTube never forgets.  Facebook never forgets.  Twitter never forgets.  Google won’t forget.

During last night’s Video Music Awards on MTV, the bastion of youth and all things pop culture, Kanye West got a lot of press.  An awful lot of press.  More specifically, an awful lot of negative press.  He stole the spotlight from current America’s sweetheart Taylor Swift when she won the award for Best Female Video.  He rushed onstage, stole the microphone and proclaimed that Beyoncé actually deserved the award (despite Beyoncé’s somewhat embarrassed, sheepish, and shocked look).  He was promptly booed offstage and then the SocNet firestorm began.  Facebook was abuzz with angry fans burning him in internet effigy.  Celebrities took to their Twitter accounts and began name-calling.  YouTube was filled with clips from the VMA’s – not of the performances or awards, but just of Kanye’s outburst.  Google’s Hot Trends the next afternoon showed  related keywords at # 11, 14, 18, 20, 23, and 37 – just within the top 50.  Suddenly all this negative press sent the mainstream media into a frenzy, digging up each and every embarrassing, negative, and controversial thing Kanye West has ever said or done, like the surprising Hurricane Katrina telethon outburst from several years ago.

Being a buzzword or trend might get you talked about, but the negative stigma is not one that can go away; everything on the internet is there forever in some capacity.  The firestorm around him will be short-lived (social networks have even shorter memories than goldfish), but the infamy from that one evening will change the course of his career.  Now, when fans search for his name, they will always be reminded of this series of events.  This kind of SocNet press is definitely not good press.