How long does fame last on the web before the neterati sickens? About a week if you’re Charlie Sheen.
The actor, who has just been fired from alleged comedy Two and a Half Men has been a web sensation over the past week, trending on Twitter and growing inexplicably pervasive.
For those sick of Sheen, there is an answer.
A browser plugin for Chrome and Firefox – Tinted Sheen – claims to block all references to the star so you need never see his face or name again as you browse the web.
Forum posters are lining up to suggest other big names for the censorship treatment, with Sarah Palin topping the request list.
When we downloaded the plugin, Sheen’s name was blacked out after a slight delay on websites visited, which consequently looked like redacted government papers. [Editor’s note: The plugin works so well it stripped out all mentions of the actor from this story, leaving us with asterisks in place of *****’s name. We considered leaving it that way.]
The plugin also censors Google searches, so that a search for “Charlie Sheen machete” delivers results for “machete” only. Pictures featuring Sheen were also blocked out completely.
Pervasive character
If the social internet is any reflection of importance, Sheen is also more worthwhile than President Barack Obama or Lady Gaga.
In research put together by The Global Language Monitor, as of 8 March Sheen topped all internet and social media discussions – even, remarkably, pushing the iPad into second place.
“If it seems as if Charlie Sheen is everywhere you look or listen, that is because it is true. He is everywhere and apparently everywhen,” said Paul Payack, president and chief word analyst for the Global Language Monitor. “The growing pervasiveness of social media only enhances this global echo chamber.”
However, thanks to the plugin, the star, who was reportedly seen wielding a machete on a Los Angeles rooftop hours after being sacked from the show this week, is set to experience how the internet can chop celebrities to size as quickly as it builds them up.
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