Net idol

A Net Idol is a Japanese term that is someone who achieves celebrity status through the internet. Unlike an Internet celebrity, a net idol is more focused on Japanese pop culture.

History
Net Idols emerged as an off-shoot of Japanese Idols in the late 1990s. The first "cyber idol" or "virtual idol" was Kyoko Date in 1997. She has a fabricated history, statistics, and her own songs. Meanwhile, gurabia aidoru (グラビアアイドル, i.e. "[photo]gravure idols") such as Yoko Matsugane, Rio Natsume and Eiko Koike, net idols themselves, have largely appeared skimpily clad in "cheesecake" photographs.

Alternative & Fetish Models
Most mainstream talents found their start on the Internet. Models like Dita Von Teese, Tila Tequila, and Masuimi Max found their fame especially on alternatmive and fetish talents. Dita herself is attributed with having the first model site on the Net in 1992. Tila can largely owe her fame to sites like Friendster and Myspace. Masuimi is currently transitioning from the Net to mainstream consciousness through projects like David Lynch's Inland Empire, and hit reality TV shows like Fear Factor.

Net Idols By Country
Philippines - Catherine Guittierez a.k.a. Alicia Mayer formerly known as Alicia Bonifacio is a Filipina celebrity. She first gained fame through her personal website containing her sexy photos that eventually led to her acting career and is now a mother-to-be. She was crowned as Miss Internet Philippines and in 2007 Alicia posed for PETA wearing only a bikini made from lettuce as advocacy of veganism and vegetarianism, as well as against animal cruelty. Alicia was voted as sexiest vegetarian in the world on a PETA poll in conjunction with the ad; other stars who were on the same campaign were Pamela Anderson and Maggie Q.

Net Idols in Fiction

 * In the anime and manga, Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei. Kotonon, one of the net idols in the show, in real life is obese and unattractive. Her website of heavily photoshopped images is extremely popular. She's using a software named Photoshocker, a parody of Adobe Photoshop. A real-life net idol is also mentioned on the show but she was given a pseudonym.
 * In the anime and manga, Death Note. Kira (killer) or Light Yagami's killings made an uproar on the Internet. People praised him that a new God has come.
 * The anime and manga Mahou Sensei Negima had Chisame Hasegawa as the net idol among her class.
 * In the anime and manga Kaichou wa Maid-sama, a young boy named Aoi Hyoudou cross-dresses and becomes well-known net idol, much to the dismay of his father.
 * In the game The iDOLM@STER: Dearly Stars, the hikkikomori character Mizutani Eri begins her career as a net idol.