The challenge with notability is that everyone, or at least a lot of people (and things), are notable within some community. "Celebrities"? Sure. How about senior executives of F500 companies, high school quarterbacks who are written about in local newspapers, journalists who publish regularly, tenured professors at "major" universities, authors, the most trivial political figure, etc.

A lot of people/things have some level of public visibility if you get to a sufficiently specific group--whether geographical or in terms of popular/professional interest. The system kinda sorta works but it's very inconsistent.