Thursday, September 11, 2008
The Lonelygirl That Really Wasn't
Creating a fake persona or identity on the internet is quite common these days. The emergence of social networking sites and blog/video sites have really enhanced the usage of people creating a virtual identity, whether fake or not.
Within recent years, many people have found fame and have created a following with their videos on sites such as youtube.com. According to an article by Virgina Hefferman and Tom Zeller Jr in the New York Times, the summer of 2006 saw the emergence of a new internet star. Video blogs were created by a user whose name was "Lonelygirl15". The videos were short recordings of a beautiful teenage girl named Bree who discussed a wide range of topics. There were many reasons for the tremendous support and following, but Hefferman and Zeller described it best:
However, the fact that the videos attracted millions of fans was also it's downfall. According to Hefferman and Zeller, the high quality of the videos lead many of its viewers to question its authenticity. The skeptical feeling turned out to be right, as the videos were proven to be fake, started by Ramesh Flinders, a screenwriter and filmmaker from California as well as Miles Beckett, a former doctor turned filmmaker. Bree was played an actress in her 20's, named Jennifer Rose who graduated from the New York Film Academy before moving to Los Angeles.
Flinders and Beckett went thru several measures to keep the secret identity from being revealed, but a multiple of factors (including the discovery of online photographs of Ms. Rose) foiled their mystery.
A link to one of the fake Lonelygirl15 videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-goXKtd6cPo&feature=related
Within recent years, many people have found fame and have created a following with their videos on sites such as youtube.com. According to an article by Virgina Hefferman and Tom Zeller Jr in the New York Times, the summer of 2006 saw the emergence of a new internet star. Video blogs were created by a user whose name was "Lonelygirl15". The videos were short recordings of a beautiful teenage girl named Bree who discussed a wide range of topics. There were many reasons for the tremendous support and following, but Hefferman and Zeller described it best:
"Part of the appeal of the series was that the serious-minded, literate Bree offered an unbeatable fantasy: a beautiful girl who techy guys had something in common with"
However, the fact that the videos attracted millions of fans was also it's downfall. According to Hefferman and Zeller, the high quality of the videos lead many of its viewers to question its authenticity. The skeptical feeling turned out to be right, as the videos were proven to be fake, started by Ramesh Flinders, a screenwriter and filmmaker from California as well as Miles Beckett, a former doctor turned filmmaker. Bree was played an actress in her 20's, named Jennifer Rose who graduated from the New York Film Academy before moving to Los Angeles.
Flinders and Beckett went thru several measures to keep the secret identity from being revealed, but a multiple of factors (including the discovery of online photographs of Ms. Rose) foiled their mystery.
A link to one of the fake Lonelygirl15 videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-goXKtd6cPo&feature=related
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A good post. Why did so many feel betrayed? How does this kind of impersonation and fraud change our relationship to the virtual world? Will all such frauds eventually be exposed? Clearly it is easy to create a fake identity online, is it also easy to use the tools of the web to expose these attempts at manipulation?
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