Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Summits
Business Video
The Freeland File
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Issues 2012
Candidates 2012
Tales from the Trail
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Mohamed El-Erian
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Geraldine Fabrikant
Jack & Suzy Welch
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (0)
New York Fashion Week
Backstage at NY Fashion Week
Behind the scenes at New York Fashion Week. Slideshow
Pictures: Runway highlights from NYFW
Celebrities in the front rows
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Mystery fossil turns out to be giant fungus
24 Apr 2007
Dutch prince buried in avalanche, condition critical
|
4:16pm EST
Italian police seize $6 trillion of fake U.S. bonds
|
3:37pm EST
German president resigns in setback for Merkel
|
12:29pm EST
John and Ken's Racist Radio and Whitney Houston
12:49pm EST
Discussed
256
Obama proposes $800 million in aid for ”Arab Spring”
242
It’s bailout or chaos, PM Papademos tells Greece
162
REFILE-Al Gore takes aim at ”unsustainable” capitalism
Watched
Huge baby shocks parents
Tue, Feb 7 2012
Humanoid robot makes storefront debut in Valentine's experiment
Fri, Feb 10 2012
Ships trapped in frozen Azov Sea
Wed, Feb 15 2012
Got white girl problems? Babe Walker does, too
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Whitney Houston was found underwater, unconscious: police
Mon, Feb 13 2012
UPDATE 8-Whitney Houston found dead in Calif. hotel, age 48
Sun, Feb 12 2012
Analysis & Opinion
My tweets refuse to be subpoenaed
Falak saga latest in India’s battle for its missing girls
Related Topics
Entertainment »
Fashion »
Tech »
People »
Arts »
Media »
By Piya Sinha-Roy
LOS ANGELES |
Fri Feb 17, 2012 4:07pm EST
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Have a "white girl problem" and don't know where to turn? Babe Walker, Twitter's snarky, self-obsessed socialite has produced the definitive guide on how to deal with life's trivial issues in a new novel out this month.
A lot of work has gone into producing the "White Girl Problems" brand. What started as a phrase coined during an alcohol-fueled conversation one night in 2010 between friends, quickly became a business plan as brothers Tanner and David Oliver Cohen and friend Lara Schoenhals realized they had a viral trend at their fingertips.
The next day, they registered the Twitter handle @WhiteGirlProblems, then began tweeting quips such as "It's 5:16. How much weight can I lose by 8:00?" and "Judging me will only make you fat," with the hashtag '#whitegirlproblems.'
"We all realized Twitter's amazing and we thought this was incredible and a real opportunity to get out there," said Cohen, who also registered the website domain WhiteGirlProblems.com.
When "Valentine's Day" actress Emma Roberts quoted White Girl Problems on her own twitter account, the team saw their trend come to life as thousands of new followers flocked to them with their own "white girl problems."
The three writers developed a universal voice for their Twitter account and accompanying blog, creating Babe Walker, a self-obsessed 24-year-old profanity-spewing college graduate and spawn of wealthy Beverly Hills parents who is annoyed by many of life's mundane tasks.
"She's an amalgam of everything that is going on right now in pop culture, all the socialites and real housewives and these women that we kind of aspire to be, but we also think their lives are ridiculous. She is an accumulation of all of that in one explosive package," said Schoenhals of Babe.
Unlike Babe, her three creators don't hail from Beverly Hills or the incredibly wealthy upbringing of their creation.
Oklahoma City native Schoenhals, 27, serves as the "post-college white girl" of the creative team, while the Cohen brothers David, 31, and Tanner, 25, are natives of Washington D.C. and both actors supplementing Babe's acid wit.
TWITTER TO BOOK TO TV
With celebrity fans like Roberts, Jessica Alba, Nicole Richie and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, the "White Girl Problems" creators worked hard to sustain the popularity and growth of the trend they created.
"Everytime I see something that just explodes (online), it just dies because I don't think the people who are in control of it know what to do. We really took a slow path to the success. We've never had more than 6000 new followers a day," said Cohen.
The novel "White Girl Problems," currently on book shelves and online, serves an a mock-autobiography of Babe Walker as she documents her rise from pampered kid to Beverly Hills princess, from her ostentatious birthday parties, to her scandalous dating life and constant pursuit for physical perfection.
"We made a caricature based on the relationship we all have with reality shows, it was a big inspiration for us in the way that a Kim Kardashian or Paris Hilton is created," said Cohen.
"White Girl Problems" is not the first Twitter trend to be developed into a brand. In 2010, CBS's sitcom "$#*! My Dad Says" starring William Shatner was derived from Justin Halpern's popular twitter feed and best-selling novel of roughly the same name. Almost 3 million Twitter followers embraced his posts about amusing comments made by his 74-year-old father.
The "White Girl Problems" team said they were working on ideas for a television show, mainly focusing on the reality genre made popular by shows such as "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" and the "Real Housewives" franchise.
"We've prided ourselves on making content that's very subversive and pokes fun at a lot of the women we see on TV and what's going on in pop culture, so a show would make sense to be in that reality format," said Schoenhals.
Twitter trends are in nature short-lived, and unfortunately for Halpern, the "$#*! My Dad Says" sitcom starring Shatner was cancelled mid-season by CBS, a fate not gone unnoticed by the "White Girl Problems" creators.
"It's definitely something new and that's hard in TV, because TV is a genre that gets stuck sometimes. But we need somebody who's going to get on board with us, and it's not a rush," said Cohen.
"White Girl Problems" is currently at No. 28 on the New York Times Paperback Trade Fiction list.
(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
Entertainment
Fashion
Tech
People
Arts
Media
Related Quotes and News
Company
Price
Related News
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Advertise With Us
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.