The people the internet made viral

The internet has give rise to celebrities whose fame and achievements may have otherwise gone unknown in a previous age. Here is a look at some of those who have been made famous with the help of the web.

Edward Snowden: The former National Security Agency contractor turned whistleblower shook the world by leaking secret documents in July 2013.

Snowden worked with journalist Glenn Greenwald to reveal the extent of mass surveillance programmes such as the NSA-run Prism and the GCHQ-operated Tempora.

The leaks were published around the world and have sparked debate about the role and oversight of intelligence services.

Justin Bieber: The Canadian pop star’s talents were first discovered on YouTube, where he amassed a following of millions after his mother began posting videos of him singing cover versions of R&B songs.

Justin eventually signed to Usher’s Raymond Braun Media Group. and his first full-length studio album, My World 2.0, made Bieber the youngest solo male artist to top the US Billboard 200 since Stevie Wonder.

Julian Assange: Assange first established the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks in 2006, but only came to prominence in 2010 when the site published thousands of US military and diplomatic cables in partnership with a number of media agencies.

The leaks came from US army intelligence private Bradley Manning. In April 2013, WikiLeaks published more than 1.7m US records covering diplomatic or intelligence reports on every country in the world.

Arctic Monkeys: The Sheffield-born rock stars were the first artists to ‘go viral’ before the term itself was known. The indie rockers built up a virtual fanbase by gigging locally and then giving away their songs on Myspace.com.

Psy: The creator of the ‘Gangnam Style’ dance craze had the first video to reach a billion views on YouTube in 2012. The K-Pop artist’s signature moves have bought him international fame. Psy has had an audience with US President Barack Obama and was even hailed by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon as a “force for world peace”.

The Kardashians: Reality TV stars the Kardashians have been labelled the “most famous family in TV” by Forbes magazine, and much of the American clan’s ubiquity derives from their presence on social media. The moves and fashion choices of sisters Kourtney, Kim, and Khloé, and mother Kris are documented daily on their Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook accounts.