In the last few days I've talked to a several people that are what I'd consider famous- they're well known in their fields and inspire others accordingly. For the purposes of clarity, I'd consider anyone that has the potential for "fans" as being famous. This means authors, musicians, sportsmen - anyone that considers their fan-base, regardless of size.

It's pretty crazy to think that I've been able to actually communicate with these people considering they're on the other side of the world.

10 years ago I'd have photocopied a form from a magazine and joined a fan club. I'd receive a newsletter every 3 months, maybe an autographed photo on my birthday and that'd be it. I couldn't ask any questions or wonder about their day-to-day thoughts. The information flowed one way and you either took it or left it.

Nowadays there's blogging and social networking, and celebrities understand just as well as anyone the benefits that these collaboration tools can provide. Every celebrity has a blog,  MySpace or Facebook account and understand that it's the best way to stay in touch with their fans. That means that it's not only two-way communication but it's recent, relevant and much more personal... presuming that it's not their publicist on the other end.