I think the cult of celebrity has changed with the advent of social media. Artists have the opportunity to get closer to their fans and vice versa - the dynamics of it all has changed - the myth of what a celebrity gets up to behind closed doors is completely gone out the window now because they will quite happily tweet a photo of their debauched selves and post a status about it!
Nothing really is a mystery anymore, we pretty much know everything about them, and the same potentially goes for them with us. Privacy as we know it has become non-existent and our attitude and comfort level with it has also changed.
Just to be the one aloof from the flock, I'd like to be a celeb! I could do it! Being walled up in a mansion is not a lot different to my private life now - when I'm not at work all day I'm pretty much at home and barely rub shoulders with the outside world in this small town. I'm already kinda conditioned to the relative isolation of it.
And I would get a kick out of communicating with fans, no different to how we are on a forum now. Robbie Williams was actually a member on a UFO forum I was in once, and I think he enjoyed the banter of sharing experiences and stories with people who have the same interest. And I've had the good pleasure of friending a few famous musicians on Facebook in my time on there. They're just people like the rest of us.