Can local socialites flaunt the cash?

That some people actually mine success and fame from reality shows is a fact that baffles, fascinates and elicits the occasional side-eye. But for the most popular socialite in the world turned business mogul, Kim Kardashian West, it is just another day in her life in front of the cameras.

Last week, in a photo shoot that made the cover of Paper Magazine, Kim Kardashian “broke the Internet” as she bared her famous derriere in what at first left many speechless.

What followed was a barrage of mixed emotions ranging from outrage to admiration when she decided to put everything on display and give the world an eye full of her full nude frontal shots.

Although she did not break the Internet entirely, she generated an absurd amount of traffic to the magazine’s site: 6.6 million page views. That was an undeniable huge spike to the site’s traffic.

BEST MISTAKE

She was Google’s No. 1 trending search (last Tuesday), Twitter’s trending topic and made headlines on Facebook. But here’s the kicker, she did not get paid to pose nude for the magazine. She did it for free.

People might never get over the fact that Kim Kardashian got famous and super rich off a mediocre sex tape with Ray J. Why would they? She did not find the cure for cancer, invent a flying car or plant a flag somewhere.

She however has moved on and made the best of what was an extremely embarrassing situation, so the rest of the world might just as well fall in line. But despite the method with which she gained her celebrity, she is more famous than some presidents around the world. That sex tape was the best mistake of her life.

So, with Kim’s every move documented on social media, why are Kenyan socialites still stuck on twerking instead of borrowing a leaf from her book and successfully branching out to business ventures?

One Huddah Monroe has however raised her socialite status and broken away from the pack, she is now in a partnership deal with Kenyan clothing line, Vazzi, where she will be involved in the designing process of “Huddah by Vazzi”.

With socialites popping up every other day in Nairobi, none is closer to becoming the phenomenon Kim has. Not even Vera Sidika who almost had the potential of becoming the most successful socialite in Kenya, if there ever was one. Unfortunately things went downhill for her after she bleached herself and has somewhat been missing in action on social media.

REGULAR JOBS

For people breaking their backs with regular 9-5 jobs, showing up to parties in fancy and ridiculously high-priced clothes is not considered real work.

But that is exactly what puts food on the table in Kim’s reality show based empire.

With 25.5 million followers on Twitter and 21,790,853 on Instagram, Kim has been labelled the “Olympics of oversharing” because almost every day of her life is documented on social media.

Although there were rumours that she gets paid $10,000 per tweet, she denied, saying if it were true she would be tweeting every second. From starring in her own reality show, a mobile app video game to endorsing products ranging from clothing to candy, Kim is a force to reckon with and no other socialite (woman or man) on our continent comes close.

It has been seven years since the release of her sex tape, and because of her momager (mother and manager) Kris Jenner who took the reins and spun it to their advantage, the whole Kardashian clan is raking in millions.

According to Forbes Magazine, as of June, this year, Kim Kardashian listed at number 80 in the celebrity 100 list. She made 28 million dollars.

She is certainly the queen of famous-for being- famous and has unquestionably succeeded in the business of being her-self. No longer just a socialite, some of Kim’s credits read entrepreneur, model, actor, businessperson, fashion designer and television producer. Kim Kardashian is a self-made industry.