There are many ways people can become celebrities; their profession, after appearances in the media or purely by chance. The term "instant celebrity" describes someone who becomes a celebrity in no time. Anyone who gains a small, fleeting notoriety (e.g. through hype or mass media) can become a "B-celebrity". Often times, the generalization extends to someone who does not achieve the predominant or enduring fame, but tries to expand or exploit it.

Celebrities often have a reputation that is comparable to royalty. As a result, there is a strong public curiosity about their private affairs. The 2003 release of Kim Kardashian's sextape with rapper Ray J brought her to new fame that led to magazine covers, book stores, and reality TV series.

Celebrities can be felt for their awards and the public can have a love-hate relationship with celebrities. Due to the high visibility of celebrities' personal lives, their successes and failures are often made very public. Celebrities are alternately presented as shining examples of perfection when they win prizes, or as decadent or immoral when associated with scandals. Viewed in a positive light, celebrities are often described as possessing above-average abilities and skills; For example, famous actors are regularly celebrated for developing new skills necessary to film a role in the shortest amount of time and at a level that the professionals who train them.

Likewise, some celebrities with very little formal education can sometimes be referred to as experts on complex subjects. Some celebrities have expressed their political views very clearly.

Most high profile celebrities participate in social media services and photo or video hosting platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. Social media services allow celebrities to communicate directly with their fans, eliminating the middleman known as traditional media. Social media humanizes celebrities in a way that creates fascination with the public, as evidenced by the success of magazines like Us Weekly and People Weekly. Celebrity blogging has also spawned stars like Perez Hilton, who is known not only for blogging but also dating celebrities.