THE redhead stirs in her sleep and around the world a thousand fans are watching her. Three months ago Jody Gnant was a little-known singer. Now, as she walks around town, she is a rising star of a new social phenomenon called “lifecasting”.

Encouraged by the latest internet technology, 10,000 Americans have chosen to display almost every aspect of their lives to the world with cameras fixed to hats, laptops and bedroom doors.

Privacy has become a distant memory for Gnant of Phoenix, Arizona, who has not switched off her webcam since July, turning it away only when she is in the bathroom or muting it when talking business. “These days you can be watched all the time anyway, so why not do it on your terms? It started off as a way of promoting my first record, but now it’s all about sharing my life with friends around the world,” the 29-year-old singer said.

Gnant said it was probably fortunate that she did not have a boyfriend and was too busy to arrange a first date with any man brave enough to have his chat- up lines instantly mocked by observers from Macau to Manchester.

However, she admits she loves the attention, even when she sleeps. “I might feel different if I snored. Occasionally I mutter things only friends understand, which can be a little embarrassing,” she said.

For many, life in the camera’s eye would be akin to the 1998 film The Truman Show, in which Jim Carrey played the unknowing subject of an interminable television programme. The film was followed by reality TV shows such as Survivor and Big Brother, which demonstrated that ordinary people were willing to trade privacy and dignity for fame. Early pioneers of lifecasting included the “conceptual artist” Jennifer Ringley, who posted live highlights of her day as “Jennicam” on the internet from the late 1990s until 2003.

John Ham, 29, co-founder of Ustream, which provides video streaming for Gnant and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, said lifecasting was happening because the technology made it easy and young people raised on reality television were ready for it.

He undertook a 45-day lifecast this year to demonstrate its potential but was glad when it was over: “It’s hard to keep lifecasting interesting – and I was in LA interviewing stars like Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Love.

“The day after I came off air I just sat down, let my breath out and finally stopped performing.”

Click here to view Jody Gnant's lifecasting website

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