Lonelygirl15 (YouTube)

[Kaslo]

So I couldn't find a thread but one of the original webseries apparently is returning starting today.

Anyone who’s been paying close attention to YouTube culture since 2006 knows all about lonelygirl15. That year on June 16, 16-year-old Bree Avery posted her very first video to her lonelygirl15 YouTube channel, which grew rapidly in viewership despite the ho-hum nature of the videos’ topics, like Bree’s homework or her boring hometown. It certainly helped that the teenager interacted with viewers on platforms outside of YouTube like MySpace, one of the first clear instances of transmedia usage on the internet.

Consequently, what followed was a cult — both fictionally and literally.

Only a few months into Bree’s vlogs, the lonelygirl15 YouTube channel was exposed as fake. Viewers found out the channel’s videos were really predetermined, scripted parts of a larger storyline produced by Los Angeles-based creators and actors. But no one seemed to care. The moment Bree (now discovered to be actress Jessica Lee Rose) revealed her parents were part of a cult which wanted her life-extending blood, viewers forgave the lonelygirl15 creators seemingly without a second thought.

By June 2008, the lonelygirl15 universe’s videos on YouTube, MySpace, and lg15.com had garnered a combined total of 110 million views. Here’s the video that started the digital cult following:

Now, ten years after Bree’s first vlog upload, lonelygirl15 is back. Miles Beckett, one of the show’s original creators, told me on a phone interview that the lonelygirl15 universe is “the baby he created,” so he wants to see it preserved.

The groundbreaking YouTube series deserves at least some level of preservation, as indicated by its long-lasting popularity. “Generally when I talk to people about it, [such as] people in their mid-20s who were in their teens when lonelygirl15 was airing on YouTube, the recognition rate is close to 100%,” Beckett explained.

Fortunately, the lonelygirl15 creator has plenty of help in bringing back his beloved universe. Jenni Powell, the executive producer for the upcoming lonelygirl15 content, was an original fan of the series when it debuted. Later, she was brought on board as a production assistant for the last season. Now, under her Discourse Productions company and with several more years of professional experience in digital media, Powell has acquired the rights to the lonelygirl15 franchise.

“I was always aware that the ten-year [anniversary] was a thing that was coming up, and potentially could be an opportunity to re-engage old fans and bring lonelygirl to a new generation,” Powell explained on our call. “The opportunity to come back into a story world that made me fall in love with what I do now, ten years later, is just, on a personal level, so fulfilling.”

Beckett and Powell deliberated for months just exactly how they’d bring back lonelygirl15, especially considering neither could gauge how much interest there still was after ten years. However, Powell noted the lonelygirl15 channel continues to get subscribers and people are still discovering the universe (she pointed out a fairly recent Fine Bros. “React” video in which YouTubers were shown Bree’s original vlog, which you can see below.)

So Beckett and Powell went for it. Now several original cast members are on board with the updated lonelygirl15 universe, including Rose herself, Yousef Abu-Taleb, and Maxwell Glick. Logan Rapp, an original fan like Powell who got his start in digital thanks to his love for lonelygirl15, will contribute his writing skills to the franchise’s new content.

While Beckett and Powell kept mum on just exactly what they were releasing today for the lonelygirl15 universe, they did say they’re still honing on in the larger plan for the brand, but what they have figured out is something people will be excited about. Beckett and Powell are especially excited about the opportunity to integrate the show’s traditional transmedia elements with new, 21st-century platforms like Snapchat, Periscope, and Instagram (not to mention the new tools those platforms can be used on which weren’t around in 2006, like smartphones).

Overall, though, the fate of the lonelygirl15 universe rests with the fans. “Can we get things set up for potentially a new series or a new project that would be accessible and interesting to a totally new audience, while still preserving the original ethos and being true to the original fans?” Beckett posited. “I’m hopeful and excited to have a new generation embrace it; I think that would be

http://www.forbes.com/sites/breebrou.../#7b61c8ae43e5

[BadKarma]

The fuck is this

[Zetanio]

On top of that a link to Forbes?

This is the worst post of the year.

[NotGreyheim]

The fuck is this

 

[Lyall]

I'm only aware of it tangentially, but it was an ARG-like video series that came long before Marble Hornets or the glut of Slenderman stuff or things like that. lolsorandom teen girl starts web blogs about her super boring normal life, then weird shit starts to happen, then it goes full-on angst-thriller.

It kind of falls into a niche as a storytelling vehicle because, similarly to an ARG, the characters all had social media accounts and interacted with people.

[Zealot]

Wasn't she killed by the Ask a Ninja Ninja? Or am I thinking of someone else?

[Alistaire]

I'm only aware of it tangentially, but it was an ARG-like video series that came long before Marble Hornets or the glut of Slenderman stuff or things like that. lolsorandom teen girl starts web blogs about her super boring normal life, then weird shit starts to happen, then it goes full-on angst-thriller.

It kind of falls into a niche as a storytelling vehicle because, similarly to an ARG, the characters all had social media accounts and interacted with people.

So basically the Blair Witch of youtube, and they want to do another? OK, but people won't fall for it being "real footage" again.

[Lyall]

So basically the Blair Witch of youtube, and they want to do another? OK, but people won't fall for it being "real footage" again.

That's a pretty fair comparison. I also wonder about trying to catch lightning in a bottle twice; This might get fans of the original back and some peripheral people, but the process won't be the same as the viralish nature of the first time.