Since his message appeared online Cagri has been on a media tour in the US and other countries, made e-pals with Hollywood actors, starred in an ad campaign and appeared on talk shows. Forbes Magazine also has him on its top 100 celebrities list. He has also reportedly struck a record deal, hoping to make one of his site's famous lines, 'I kiss you', into a song.

Numerous fan sites have sprung up. There is an official 'Mahir Web ring' and you can also play Mahir games.

As one site puts it, "You can find him essentially anywhere and everywhere on the Web".

But while Cagri may have achieved his ambition to "be friendship from different country" he has also become the target of parodies and spoofs, some of them pornographic. A casual search throws up 77 results. All said, a small price to pay.

Due to the Net's speed, ease of use and global reach it has become the quickest route to popularity for people who are otherwise unlikely to be in the limelight.

On the World Wide Web, chat rooms, message boards, discussion forums and logs are free, prolific and interactive. Whenever something out of the ordinary is discovered it is immediately discussed. And hundreds of hyperlinks nudge surfers to the particular site. All this brings into instant focus the person behind it all, like in the case of Cagri.

At times this publicity can lead to a cult following, pitching ordinary people into international limelight: a phenomenon hardly possible in any other medium.

Cagri is not alone…

A quirky story with a dash of romance is what shot Kai to fame. For this 19-year-old German, it was a regular boy-meets-girl story. He saw Julia, 18, at a disco and was smitten immediately. However, having heard of his reputation as a flirt, she declined to sleep with him: "Not that I am innocent, but Kai is a flirt!" The guy claims this is the first time he has truly fallen in love and is frustrated when Julia says the two of them are just 'buddies'.

They've now arrived at a deal: The day Kai's Web site gets 111,111,111 hits, Julia will prove her love to him. She probably agreed thinking he would never reach his target but visitors have been logging on eagerly to help Kai reach his goal.

How long will it take? He admits that it first seemed like a 100 years away, then 50 and now more like 30. The Julia-o-Meter currently ticks at 71,837 and is going steady. (I have unwittingly made a small contribution). Kai has received a few mails from girls "who offer themselves" to him. And in the meantime, he and Julia have been busy with television interviews.

The Julia-o-Meter has experienced a few fluctuations though. Apparently, some hackers brought the number down and fans wrote scripts to increase the number of hits. When Kai corrected this by lowering the number, it gave rise to speculation that the entire thing is a hoax being perpetrated to profit longer from advertising revenues and sponsors. Sites like Kai Suckz have come up, threatening to expose 'the truth'.

Meanwhile, Kai waits for his chance with Julia. And no, the night will not be broadcast on a Web cam.

Yet another unlikely hero is Chris Raettig.

This British consultant put a link on his site to KPMG, a prominent accounting and consulting firm, and received a rather strange email from its senior manager, Frank Dunne.

Dunne wanted him to "be aware such links require that a formal Agreement exist between our two parties". Citing his "organisation's Web Link Policy", he asked that the link be removed. Raettig gave a fitting response, saying that his "own organisation's Web link policy requires no such formal agreement". He doubted whether the Internet would still be in existence without the "free associative nature of hyperlinking", and was amused that this organisation displayed "a staggering lack of understanding of the Web".

In a couple of days, a number of people got wind of the situation and began talking about it online. Raettig says that blogs gave the issue most coverage, probably because to bloggers linking is everything. Some blogs now deliberately provide numerous links to KPMG and usually accompany them "with derisive or snide remarks".

Raettig is thrilled. He has been interviewed by noted news organisations and most articles tend to commend him on his stance. He also feels that the real strength of the Net is the speed at which attention can be drawn to such things.

These Web celebs enjoy their 15,000 hits of fame and are making the most of their current popularity. After all, as Raettig says, "It'll all blow over in due course."