A week after the climax of lonelygirl15's mystery and its revelation things are still far from cooling down. Despite the fact that the topic has been exhausted and pushed to its limit, LG15 just can't seem to calm the storm "she" created. But why should she? It is an internet (some would say Web 2.0) phenomenon, first of its kind and forever written in history because of it.
A quick history lesson: lonelygirl15 first appeared on YouTube in mid-June as an authentic fresh 16 year-old vlogger. The videos of a "perfect" teenage girl, accompanied by her geeky friend Daniel soon started attracting large numbers of viewers and the more controversy and questiones it created, the more views and eventually subscribers she managed to get. But when the circle of fans and observers along with her popularity widened so much that it contained a broad palette of viewers who were able to unite their expertise and try to solve the puzzle, more and more gathered data started piling up.
When LG15's creators threw in another bone in form of Aleister Crowley's occultism, finding out the truth turned into an obsession. Things went from analyzing plants in her outdoor videos (by a PhD botanist fan) to digging out information that a Californian lawyer has registered lonelygirl15 trademark even before she started vlogging (as NYT's Virginia Heffernan, herself obsessed with LG, put it) and finally to fans with "skillz" who traced her e-mails to a Californian talent agency. At this point (at the end of August), all kinds of speculations and conspiracy theories were blossoming - and so were LG15 video views.
Guessing who could be behind lonelygirl only spread public awareness of the internet drama and also caused some fears - what if it turns out that LG is just a puppet in hands of some power-mongering corporation? That was the most dreaded of all theories, among other things because YouTube was considered a safe haven for marketing-free site without the invisible profit-driven corporate hand, pushing its own agenda.
Along with the original LG15, countless parodies and imitations of her appeared on YouTube: from LonesomeOctober and loonygirl to more crude remakes of her videos. Since YouTube hive was stirred, everyone wanted to join the buzz, either to creatively express themselves or simply exploit the situation to gain some popularity.
"Jumping on the bandwagon" is one of YouTube fundamental characteristics that works as glue for the community and makes order out of its chaos of thoughts and opinions.
Lonelygirl had reached the point of no return as articles and reports started appearing in mainstream media - first in L.A. Times and then everywhere else. The creators themselves, afraid that their carefully devised plan of deception is about to collapse, made a quick move and posted the first official response on lonelygirl15 "website's" forum (also registered by them), thanking for support and cooperation. The momentary vacuum of disbelief that was created by it instantly exploded, causing a true Big Bang of slightly smaller proportions. The word was out: lonelygirl is fake!
And this is where our story really begins...
A quick history lesson: lonelygirl15 first appeared on YouTube in mid-June as an authentic fresh 16 year-old vlogger. The videos of a "perfect" teenage girl, accompanied by her geeky friend Daniel soon started attracting large numbers of viewers and the more controversy and questiones it created, the more views and eventually subscribers she managed to get. But when the circle of fans and observers along with her popularity widened so much that it contained a broad palette of viewers who were able to unite their expertise and try to solve the puzzle, more and more gathered data started piling up.
When LG15's creators threw in another bone in form of Aleister Crowley's occultism, finding out the truth turned into an obsession. Things went from analyzing plants in her outdoor videos (by a PhD botanist fan) to digging out information that a Californian lawyer has registered lonelygirl15 trademark even before she started vlogging (as NYT's Virginia Heffernan, herself obsessed with LG, put it) and finally to fans with "skillz" who traced her e-mails to a Californian talent agency. At this point (at the end of August), all kinds of speculations and conspiracy theories were blossoming - and so were LG15 video views.
Guessing who could be behind lonelygirl only spread public awareness of the internet drama and also caused some fears - what if it turns out that LG is just a puppet in hands of some power-mongering corporation? That was the most dreaded of all theories, among other things because YouTube was considered a safe haven for marketing-free site without the invisible profit-driven corporate hand, pushing its own agenda.
Along with the original LG15, countless parodies and imitations of her appeared on YouTube: from LonesomeOctober and loonygirl to more crude remakes of her videos. Since YouTube hive was stirred, everyone wanted to join the buzz, either to creatively express themselves or simply exploit the situation to gain some popularity.
"Jumping on the bandwagon" is one of YouTube fundamental characteristics that works as glue for the community and makes order out of its chaos of thoughts and opinions.
Lonelygirl had reached the point of no return as articles and reports started appearing in mainstream media - first in L.A. Times and then everywhere else. The creators themselves, afraid that their carefully devised plan of deception is about to collapse, made a quick move and posted the first official response on lonelygirl15 "website's" forum (also registered by them), thanking for support and cooperation. The momentary vacuum of disbelief that was created by it instantly exploded, causing a true Big Bang of slightly smaller proportions. The word was out: lonelygirl is fake!
And this is where our story really begins...
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