10 Viral Sensations On Life After Internet Fame

Living, breathing memes, long after the clicks have subsided.

- Clint Rainey

Internet fame comes on like an earthquake, with little warning. In a matter of hours, a video can go viral and be viewed 50 million times. Then it (usually) recedes into a very long, thin afterlife. On these pages, nine YouTube sensations whose lives were upended briefly in the past decade (plus one from the prehistoric web era, before YouTube made its debut in 2005) speak about this odd, relatively new kind of fame. Most embraced the experience, seeing where it would take them. Some ended up in dark places. A couple have made it their living and found themselves with new careers. Others stepped away, opting out of the flame wars. Pay attention: Someday, the accidental celebrity could be you.

Caite Upton

Year of viral fame: 2007. The video: Upton, a Miss Teen USA Contestant, badly fumbles a pageant questions about American education.

Views: 63 million.

Since then: Moved to Los Angeles; appeared on ‘The Amazing Race’ and MTV’s ‘Ridiculousness,’ on the golf network Back9 and in more than a dozen commercials.