There’s low, and then there’s low.

Former MTV reality star Farrah Abraham, 21, who shot to fame as a subject of the network’s “16 and Pregnant” in 2009 and its spinoff “Teen Mom,” admitted this week that she had sex on camera with professional porn star James Deen. It was then widely assumed the idea was that the video was to then be “leaked” as a celebrity sex tape.

While sex tapes are nothing new in the scandal drenched Hollywood community, some argue that hiring a "pro" to orchestrate a fake sex tape is evidence of a whole new level of desperation.

“Staging an event like this is really a desperate cry for fame. As the old adage goes, fame is fleeting and only lasts fifteen minutes. But today’s stars, and reality stars in particular, are looking for ways to make their fame last as long as possible," sociologist popular culture expert Dr. Hilary Levey Friedman told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. "The way to keep building fame is to be talked about, and in our crowded media space it takes something quite controversial to get so much ink."

Life and career strategist Suzannah Galland says Abraham’s stunt says a lot about our culture.

“Hollywood’s impact has misguided youth yet again. This is a new low of lows where the latest self-creative hype is shaped around being crude and in your face,” she said. “It’s very clear that being an exhibitionist is in demand, and will encourage other aspiring fame seekers to crave the same kind of attention.”

Even though it worked for the likes of Kim Kardashian, who several years ago shot to international fame and spawned a reality television empire after her sex tape with rapper Ray-J surfaced, some industry experts are not convinced that celebrity sex tapes in today’s media climate have the same fame and fortune-wielding impact.

In other words, Abraham may very well have taken her clothes off for nothing.

“The power of sex tapes to boost a would-be celebrity’s career is very difficult to predict. I don’t know whether it will revive, boost or prolong Farah’s career, but it has limited her options,” said Quentin Boyer, public relations director for adult entertainment site Pink Visual. “Reality TV evidently doesn’t mind if its assorted personalities have a ‘porn past,’ but a whole lot of other industries and markets do.”

However, Joanna Angel, the co-founder of the Burning Angel porn company, says the press surrounding Abraham's video is proof it was a good idea.

“The fact of the matter is a few weeks ago this girl was just some girl on a past season of a reality TV show. She was actually one of the more responsible moms on the show – yes I watch it – which should be a good thing, but unfortunately it made her yesterday’s news really quickly,” Angel said. “The more messed up moms on the show, like Amber and Janelle, are in gossip magazines all the times because they are constantly in and out of rehab or jail or whatever. In any case, everyone is talking about her now. And what is she going to do, get a ‘real job?’ It’s hard to go from being on TV to being a manager at Best Buy.”

Getting down and dirty for the cameras isn’t Abraham’s only attempt to stay relevant since her MTV series wrapped in August of last year. Immediately after the show’s conclusion, she released a song and a music video featuring her young daughter, Sophia, wrote a book entitled “My Teenage Dream Ended,” marketed her own pasta sauce, and completed some sexy bikini modeling shoots.

But it seems Abraham isn’t quite ready to admit she made her video for the cash and attention. Instead she is claiming that she is a “great woman, mother and entrepreneur” and that she simply wanted her own personal video made and photos taken for her own personal viewing pleasure when she is older, so that she will have her “best year to look back on.”

“Society has taught this young woman and many others that ‘shock and awe’ gets attention and that being a sex on our object is highly valued by our culture. We reward immature and trashy behavior and glaze over and ignore those who are making a positive difference in our world,” concluded media activist and director of the “Cover Girl Culture” documentary, Nicole Clark. “It is a sad reflection that many girls have learned from our society, over which Hollywood has a huge influence, that they need to be remembered as sex objects in order to feel worthy and successful.”