Julia Allison Is More Famous Than You

Julia Allison is famous, although her only discernible talent is self-promotion. Wired traces just how the online celebrity—nominally a journalist, but known mainly for documenting her every waking moment—climbed her way to the top of the buzz heap: by making an impression, keeping her fans interested, then branching out with her Internet empire. Why, she even has bloggers who blog about her blog.

Two years after arriving in Manhattan to “become a cult figure,” Allison found herself on the wrong end of a Gawker attack, but she used it to her advantage and began sending ironic personal updates to the site’s writers. Now, she’s a thriving online brand unto herself, a high-tech manifestation of Warhol's 15-minute dictum on fame. "She's crossed every line already," says a former Gawker editor. "Nothing bad can happen to her."  (More Julia Allison stories.)