Well-loved American artist Andy Warhol once said, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” Nearly 50 years later, Warhol’s “15 minutes of fame” could not be more apt. With the advent of mass social networking apps such as Vine — a short video network — and Tumblr, everyday singers, dancers, and ordinary folk such as Kenzie Nimmo, Nash Grier, and most recently, Alex from Target, have found fame nearly overnight. A single cleverly edited six-second music video by Vine musician Nimmo and her husband went viral in 12 hours, garnering over 54 million views since it was posted a few months ago. The pair found themselves catapulted into the spotlight. But what of it? What makes a person worth going viral for, and how long can these “Internet celebrities” last?

    The speed and breadth of the Internet community is arguably intimidating. Indeed, just moments after a New York City man was tested for Ebola, the news had hit the web. The rumor that Betty White died of natural causes spread like wildfire throughout social media (she was fine). Nowadays, anyone can post a photo, video, or message, and nearly anyone can access it; subsequently, anyone can become an Internet sensation.

    PSY and his breakthrough music video for “Gangnam Style” broke the world record for views on YouTube, and for several months, his music was played at countless parties; people dressed up as him for Halloween; he was able to collaborate with the most influential musicians in the industry. What about Grumpy Cat, the perennially angry-looking cat that took the Internet by storm? Her face was plastered on shirts and backpacks and laptop stickers; celebrities flocked to take a photo with her.

    Just yesterday, a sneaky photo of a young Target store employee wearing a nametag with “Alex” printed on it began circulating on the Internet. Since then, “Alex from Target” has gained hundreds of thousands of followers in mere hours, and merchandise is under consideration for the heart-eyed girls tracking his every tweet on twitter.

    But how long can these bright-eyed stars linger in the limelight? Even Carly Rae Jepsen, with her virally catchy song “Call Me Maybe,” has since faded from the world of fawning fans and obsessed bloggers. Inevitably, the Internet learns to move on if its favorite singers and entertainers run out of tricks to pull. Perhaps the newly famous Vine musicians will sign with a record label, or perhaps they, too, will lose their fame as newer and more interesting things vie for the attention they so desire — younger, bolder stars-to-be — are constantly trying crazier, more wonderful, more impossible things in the name of Internet fame. What then? The belief that each one of us has the potential to find fame is one that can be very tempting indeed.