We already know the common desire to be rich and all that. Under capitalism, you can potentially become a rich business owner who lives off the work of others, rare as it may be. But even though it's still significantly more realistic than what I am going to talk about, it's boring and you would usually just get millions of dollars and live quietly and out of the publuc eye.
But what about the celebrities? If anything, it's even easier to desire to be one. These people often do stuff that are actually interesting: some are business tycoons, sure, but you also see a lot of TV/internet/radio/etc. personalities, actors, artists, musicians, film directors, etc. And many of them gain even more wealth even faster than the example in the first paragraph.
Yet the majority of people who try to follow their path are broke and/or have to work a second job just to survive.
Imagine how many people dream of being able to create amazing works of art such as songs, movies, paintings, etc. and to gain at least some recognition for it, whether it is big or small, but will never (or will barely) get the opportunity. The capitalist class does not find them useful enough to be anything more than a poor wage slave, not a rich one.
It's as if celebrities just exist as pawns of the capitalist class to convince the working class that their dreams can still be achieved under capitalism, when that is simply not a reality.
I don't think celebrities will cease to exist under socialism, and they certainly didn't in past/present socialist societies, but at least it will be far more meritocratic and the overall desire to become a celebrity will go down anyway.
What are your thoughts?
One thing I've wondered about is what role streamers would play in a socialist society. I think that there will still be people who just want to chill and watch someone prattle on while they play video games or draw or whatever, but I the growing prominence of streamers seems inextricably linked to the increasing alienation and isolation caused by capitalism. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that, for the majority of diehard streamer fans, the streamer is less an entertainer and more a surrogate friend (or even romantic partner).
A socialist society wouldn't be a utopia, of course, but integral to its success would be layers of strong communal social structures which are incompatible with the epidemic of isolation we see today. Instead of abandoning people to have nothing but their screens for company, we would do what we can to reintegrate them with their communities and build meaningful relationships.
As for the desire to be a celebrity, I think it would definitely be lower in a socialist society. There are people who do purely want fame, but I think for most celebrity is a means to an end, as you say. One streamer that I follow is an incredible vocalist and pours immense effort into making music, which they are only able to fund and find the time for thanks to their following. In a world where this person had the free time and resources (without IP law or other artificial scarcity) to just make their art with likeminded creative folks to their hearts' content, I really doubt they would have ever gotten into streaming or worried themselves about getting a huge audience. Out of all of the streamers I know, only a few seem like pure entertainers (the Jermas and Northernlions of this world)—the rest just stumbled into something that is a lot more rewarding than toiling away for wages and are riding the wave for as long as they can while funding their true passions.