Skip to main content

Wired 14.12: The Secret World of Lonelygirl

Popularity Report

Total Popularity Score: 0
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

Rank

URL Tag Cloud

Groups (1)

Bookmark History

Saved by 20 people (0 private), first by anonymouse user on 2007-09-25


Public Sticky notes

But the fans – raised on the unreality of reality TV and with the role-playing ethos of the Web – seemed to take the revelation in stride.

Highlighted by mwesch

But the fans – raised on the unreality of reality TV and with the role-playing ethos of the Web – seemed to take the revelation in stride.

Highlighted by mwesch

Highlighted by vanamb16

Miles, it's time you quit being a doctor," he said. "We just passed 200,000 views."

Highlighted by mccrar25

ithin 48 hours, the video had half a million views.

Highlighted by meyerb15

on 2008-02-13 by meyerb15

How did people catch on to watching this video?

Highlighted by coffma46

hadn't taken them long to figure out, by trial and error, what worked in this new genre. Viewers wanted family and relationship drama mixed with a rich, mysterious backstory that could be explored and debated. > The YouTube community was sucked into the plot and speculated endlessly about > Bree's faith. Some thought she was Mormon; others insisted she was a Satanist. > Another group tried to figure out where she lived: The leading guess was > somewhere in the Midwest. Viewers spent hours Googling the possibilities and > posting their results on YouTube. >

Highlighted by vanamb16

It hadn't taken them long to figure out, by trial and error, what worked in this new genre. Viewers wanted family and relationship drama mixed with a rich, mysterious backstory that could be explored and debated.

Highlighted by sunflower123

explored

Highlighted by vanamb16

The YouTube community was sucked into the plot and speculated endlessly about Bree's faith. Some thought she was Mormon; others insisted she was a Satanist. Another group tried to figure out where she lived: The leading guess was somewhere in the Midwest. Viewers spent hours Googling the possibilities and posting their results on YouTube.

Highlighted by maureen

#4 The YouTube community was sucked into the plot and speculated endlessly about Bree's faith. Some thought she was Mormon; others insisted she was a Satanist. Another group tried to figure out where she lived: The leading guess was somewhere in the Midwest. Viewers spent hours Googling the possibilities and posting their results on YouTube.

Highlighted by richar19

That couldn't have happened on television. A conventional TV episode airs once at a certain time; even if it's great, it can only serve to attract viewers to future episodes. On YouTube, a video can be streamed at any time.

Highlighted by hughes27

The good ones are watched again and again, sending a clear message about what works and what doesn't. When "My Parents Suck …" broke 500,000 views, Beckett and Flinders realized this wasn't just an experiment or a setup for a film.

Highlighted by coffma46

It was a medium in its own right.

Highlighted by rabell3

everal people noted that everything in Bree's room seemed to come from Target. (One viewer annotated each item with its SKU number.) Could it be, one fan wondered, that the whole thing was an elaborate ad campaign for the retailer?

Highlighted by wolffw

several people noted that everything in Bree's room seemed to come from Target

Highlighted by sunflower123

(One viewer annotated each item with its SKU number.) Could it be, one fan wondered, that the whole thing was an elaborate ad

Highlighted by vanamb16

Meanwhile, the online celebrity started spilling over into the real world. Rose was browsing for a book in Santa Monica after "My Parents Suck …" was posted and noticed two girls watching her closely. That night, Amanda received an email from a fan: "Hi Bree. My friend and I thought we saw you at the Barnes & Noble in Santa Monica, but it couldn't be you, right?"

Highlighted by wolffw

Meanwhile, the online celebrity started spilling over into the real world. Rose was browsing for a book in Santa Monica after "My Parents Suck …" was posted and noticed two girls watching her closely. That night, Amanda received an email from a fan: "Hi Bree. My friend and I thought we saw you at the Barnes & Noble in Santa Monica, but it couldn't be you, right?"

Highlighted by liz_somer

lucrative career as a surgeon before he started making little videos and posting them online.

Highlighted by vanamb16

so his father, a marketing executive at an IT company, agreed to invest in the newly formed Lonelygirl15 production company. Beckett immediately called Rose

Highlighted by richar19

In return, she had to stay home as much as possible and wear sunglasses and a hat when she went out. For Rose, it was a dream come true – she was a working actress. She just couldn't tell anyone.

Highlighted by sunflower123

$500 a week to play Bree full time

Highlighted by dracmere

"I don't want you to ever set foot in another TGI Fridays," he said, explaining that he'd pay her #14 $500 a week to play Bree full time . #13 In return, she had to stay home as much as possible and wear sunglasses and a hat when she went out. For Rose, it was a dream come true – she was a working actress. She just couldn't tell anyone.

Highlighted by richar19

#17 "I don't want you to ever set foot in another TGI Fridays," he said, explaining that he'd pay her #16 $500 a week to play Bree full time . #15 In return, she had to stay home as much as possible and wear sunglasses and a hat when she went out. For Rose, it was a dream come true – she was a working actress. She just couldn't tell anyone.

Highlighted by butler09

MATTHEW FOREMSKI, the 18-year-old son of a Silicon Valley tech reporter, dug up an old version of Rose's MySpace page. She'd deleted it when she became Bree, but Google cached a copy, and Foremski posted the link to his father's blog. Within 48 hours, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and a slew of TV stations ran the story.

Highlighted by winter43

Highlighted by puccak07

on 2008-04-17 by puccak07

Wow, even though something is deleted there are still traces of it that can be retrieved and viewed. This is a little bit creepy that this can be done. The internet may not be as safe as it appears. I don't trust it, and reading this is making me trust it less and less.

but Google cached a copy

Highlighted by richar19

But the fans – raised on the unreality of reality TV and with the role-playing ethos of the Web – seemed to take the revelation in stride.

Highlighted by dracmere

If you want to talk to Jessica Rose, you can go to her MySpace page. If you want to keep talking to Bree, use this email."

Highlighted by liz_somer

Fair enough," the fan wrote back, and then went on to tell Bree the latest news in his life. To many, it didn't seem to matter whether she was real or not. A number of posts appeared on YouTube denouncing the series, but many more responded with variations of this simple statement: If you don't like it, don't watch.

Highlighted by maureen