[Slow_Hand]

Nothing against Keanu Reeves, but why is his opinion about NFTs worthwhile news to anyone? The story isn't inconveniencing me in any way, so I should let it go and move with my life, but I can't help but feel that stories of this nature are nothing more than noise; useless, trashy noise that clogs our minds and doesn't add value to anyone other than a magazine editor who needs to cover SOMETHING for engagement's sake, and possibly a PR team for an upcoming movie.

[harry8]

Your question re-framed as "why is any famous person's opinion on a topic outside of their expertise worth anything more than some person in a bar?" Is an entirely fair question with the answer "It isn't!"

Sadly we seem to a very, very long way from that obvious truth. Being famous is vastly more important than knowing something through hard work when it comes to your thoughts being heard. Especially given most famous hollywood people are famous for being attractive to look at and if they have any skill at all other than having luckily failed upwards that skill is to lie, convincingly enough so you believe it even when you know it is pure fantasy, the thing becomes clear. There has been many such people opining on NFTs.

From TFA: Hence, it’s incredibly refreshing to see Reeves react so honestly - most celebrities have embraced the technology with alarming enthusiasm; beloved figures such as Snoop Dogg, William Shatner, Doja Cat, Tony Hawk, Eminem, and Grimes have all endorsed NFTs. Reese Witherspoon even tried putting a pseudo-feminist spin on the fad (because equality means women should be participating in pyramid schemes too!).

I don't know how to counter it. I strongly think that any agreement concerning the content of an interview (no questions about X, if my PR client movie star looks bad you never get another interview from anyone I represent etc.) in the media should be the opening paragraph but there are so many ways around it. Maybe if a few reputable news organisations had a charter they followed saying they will never agree to a no-go area to secure an interview and were willing to fire any employee who does it in disgrace, celebrities might have their luster reduced compared with people who should be interviewed. Also the transcript of any interview should be published in full as there has been a lot of BS from the media where the pretend to do an interview then report "impressions" from it rather than its content which have clearly been very misleading at times.

[Meph504]

Did you look at the context, his opinion was asked about NFTs specifically related to the new matrix project(https://niftys.com/thematrix) that he is associated with, typically one would expect a celebrity endorsement for things being used to promote their up coming projects.

When a celebrity in this situation doesn't it draws the attention of people.

[QuadrupleA]

I think any takedown of crypto and NFTs is a benefit to society at this point, so I welcome whoever is debunking it.

[asddubs]

sure, but you're also kind of setting the precedent that random famous people's opinion on things they have no expertise on matters, which probably isn't good for debunking things in the long run

[Apocryphon]

If you can't trust Johnny Silverhand, who can you trust?

[bellyfullofbac]

I mean, the precedent has been there for a looong time, and grandparent commenter certainly didn't set it...

As to the why, it's probably related to social status. In the old days people paid attention and listened to the people with status (who usually became leaders), nowadays with celebrity culture it's somehow inverted, a good looking person who can act or sing gets put on stage, and they get the attention (for singing, acting, or looking good), and they gain status.

[asddubs]

sure, but you can't really complain if people believe jenny mccarthy that vaccines cause autism if your counterargument is that keanu reeves said they don't. obviously we're not talking about vaccines right now, but I hope you can see my point

[oliwarner]

We encourage celebrities to engage with other PSAs, why not encourage then to stand up against something that is so clearly a fraud?

The more people taking about what "crypto" really is, the better. It's nice to have bit of balance when so many teams and other celebrities have been so quick to cash in here.

A PSA isn't news, but is everything that isn't news just noise?

[Slow_Hand]

There seems to be confusion about what my point is, so I’ll clarify: It’s not “why should we listen to the opinions of public figures talking about subjects they’re not experts in?” and more about “Why have editors decided that this is newsworthy?”

I’m indifferent to what Keanu has to say. Good or bad. He’s welcome to have opinions and share them in a public forum. But the fact that an editor has elevated this opinion as newsworthy feels motivated purely by the need for engagement. It feels gossipy. These types of shallow reporting are less about informing or educating and more of a way for the readership to have an emotional response in a way that benefits the publication.

[dartharva]

Keanu, or literally any famous celebrity's word has more impact solely because they are a celebrity. Much more people will be interested to know what he thinks than what you and I think about NFTs. It sure seems asinine considering he is no expert in the field, but that's just how it is. Fame trumps expertise when it comes to having your voice heard.

[libertine]

Or better yet, everyone is entitled to an opinion, and he has is own opinion since he's being associated with some NFT project - so at bare minimum someone briefed him about it, best case scenario, he actually studied it enough to have an educated opinion.

You don't need to know how to program smart contracts to have an opinion on NFTs, and the guy has been around and knows what fads and trends look like, and probably has dealt with these types of concepts from the whole Matrix culture around it.

Plus we all know NFTs survive on hype, and he knows how hype works.

Does this make him an opinion leader?

I don't think so, but he does have an opinion apparently and thinks people shouldn't take these NFTs seriously.

[b20000]

this happens with celeb developers too

[ryanlol]

This isn’t a news article, it’s a blog post.

[skinnymuch]

This isn’t about his fame only. It’s because he is related to the Matrix. Which is related to the NFTs.

In general famous people opinions aren’t worth more. Though most people especially HN give far too much credence to appealing to authority with experts. Famous people is low hanging fruit

[matthewdgreen]

> In general famous people opinions aren’t worth more.

There is a multi-billion dollar celebrity endorsement industry that would absolutely disagree with you, and I suspect they've done the research to justify it.