Introduction: celebrity in the digital era: a new public intimacy

This chapter traces the development of the study of celebrity over the last 15 years since the original publication of the book Celebrity and Power. Through a study of the way that celebrity has been studied in a variety of disciplines from literature and politics to gender studies and history, the chapter brings up to date the scholarship and thinking about public personalities. It builds an argument that a new approach has to now be taken to study the pervasive presence and exhibition of the public self through online culture and social media. The study of persona and Persona Studies identifies this new direction in the general public and branded self that is emerging as a strategic presentation in the contemporary moment that has emerged from celebrity culture.