Maybe the fact that the 2.0 world allows everyone to "be their own publicist" and "control their own image" isn't such a good idea, after all. We love, love, love the obligatory blog-posting post-profile/article teeth-gnashing that such luminaries such as heiressblogger Emily Brill, Wired cover girl Julia Allison, and writer Emily Gould put themselves through. People used to crafting every facet of their public face themselves don't tend to like what they look like when someone other than themselves is taking the picture. Details profiled techboys and fameballs Charles Forman and Tumblr founder David Karp as part of a story on the "Playboys of Tech." It's not Forman gnashing his teeth about the resulting article (he ain't dumb)—it's his attention-requiring ex-girlfriend doing it for him."If a blog post is like an essay and a tweet is like a haiku, then a tumblelog is like stream-of-consciousness poetry," the article begins. That's right—and boy, is it a scary idea for literacy. (But it's also such a great embarrassing content-creator for our purposes. So, don't shit where ya eat.)

"Sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, [Iminlikewithyou's] Forman produces a steady stream of non sequiturs. "I like people in cute T-shirts who look really angry," he says. Just as he's launching into a description of founder fetishism—that is, when a woman goes only for men who have started high-tech companies, his phone rings. His girlfriend, Julia Allison, is on the line. "She has it," he mouths. Then he says into the phone, "Of course I miss you. I always miss you."

...Exhausted and slower than the night before, Forman is at the crux of the Web 2.0 star's dilemma. Sustaining fame by making sure accounts of your exploits with industry players and Internet starlets circulate in the right places is a full-time job. But so is getting a company off the ground. Karp and Forman consider the two pursuits inextricable. As fameballers, they stay busy fine-tuning and maintaining their personae. But a persona is not a person. A persona doesn't get work done. And a persona can't engage in a meaningful relationship. About a week later, Forman announces that he and Allison have split. He also says the tinnitus is gone. "I mean, it could just be a coincidence," he says.

Hee. Oh, wait, here comes Forman's ex, dating columnist Julia Allison! (Note: this convo is not with me.)


It's so cute how people think they can, like, control the outcome of a profile. That's like assuming that other people aren't going to be smart enough to cut through your carefully crafted bullshit. Playboys of Tech [Details]