Can You Say... "WHAT THE HECK!?"

Along with earning the honour of being the youngest male to grace the cover of Vanity Fair (February), overnight Canadian pop sensation Justin Beiber has been offered (and accepted) the title of guest-editor for the magazine's Facebook page.

The announcement caused a stir of mixed emotions – long time readers wondered just what kind of stunt they're trying to pull:

“Really Vanity Fair? I guess everybody needs to court gen Y in order to stay relevant. Last month Jackie O, next month Mylie Cyrus, just signed up for a subscription and I am already questioning if this was the right idea...when it comes I will let you know.”

While his legion of fans left barely legible, grammatically incorrect missives swooning about how much they love and adore and can't live without how perfect he is.

Admittedly, I was taken aback and frustrated when I found out he was going to guest edit. Et tu, Vanity Fair? Beiber is only 16 after all, and while he may have been through a lot in his short time on earth, he's literally just out of the womb and hasn't accomplished much other than being in the right place at the right time. (Okay, so his nail polish line sold out America-wide in less than a month, but can you consider that a personal achievement? Or  is it a testament to how frighteningly obsessive tweenage girls can be...)

Bitter? Not hardly. It's just there are more interesting, accomplished people I'd rather read about/see on the cover of a prestigious and well-respected magazine such as Vanity Fair. What I need to know about Beiber I can find out from his tell-all (already. I know), any one of the rag mags at the grocery store, a Tiger Beat, or the internet.

Are they running out of things to talk about? My initial response was the same as the post above -  they're trying to reach a new demographic. The December issue with Johnny Depp on the cover was a little (lot) thin, perhaps this is a ploy to grab advertisers and move magazines? Sell outs.

I respect the hard economic times have struck everyone but, at what point does reputation take a back seat to the bottom line?

Then again, it is Facebook after all, and who has more of a handle over the advancement of social media than people younger than us? They take to it like fish to water for some reason. At least it ISN'T the magazine – I rescind my hasty boycott in that respect. But the second they place a tween in charge of the glossy, our relationship is dunzo faster than you can say, “Justin Beiber rocks!”

Has Vanity Fair gone too far by feeding into Beiber Fever? Tell us what you think.

Hilary Lauren Fox
		About the author:
		Sometimes she's a redhead, sometimes she's a blonde. Some days it's H&M, and on other days, it's Chanel. What ever the mood, she is a woman who is passionate about the arts, fashion and social media. Born in Toronto, Hilary Lauren Fox is an only child to artist parents - mom was an illustrator and pattern maker, dad was a painter.  Rather then studying the arts as her parents hoped for, Hilary opted for a degree in psychology with dreams of working in a clinical setting. But after graduating she realized that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and that the arts was in her blood, applying her education within the art and fashion world.
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