Fifteen Minutes of Fame: Not Lonely Anymore

Rabid excitement, wild speculation and marked skepticism are nothing new to the Internet. These qualities generate viral communications and create buzz for new products, services, events or people. Recently, YouTube’s summer hit - Lonelygirl15 – has drawn the attention of many Internet enthusiasts.

The brainchild of three, twenty-something year olds, Miles Beckett, a med school dropout; Mesh Flinders, a screenwriter; and Greg Goodfried, a lawyer, set out to create an on-line mystery story. Lonelygirl15’s plight has unfolded through “collaborative storytelling,” a method of storytelling where viewer comments help direct plot and character actions. Via web-diary postings, fans met the cryptic, 16-year old female “Bree,” aka Lonelygirl15. Vague details about “Bree’s” location, personal life, relationships and religion generated an Internet buzz and led millions to view postings on YouTube and MySpace.

By mid summer, message boards and fan websites were speculating about the interests behind Lonelygirl15. Were these videos trailers for a new movie, a la The Blair Witch Project? Would “Bree” be in a new fall television show? Was a corporation sponsoring Lonelygirl15? Last week the identity of Lonelygirl15’s creators and “Bree” were revealed. The Los Angeles Times worked in collaboration with amateur Internet investigators to uncover this mystery.

At the heart of the Lonelygirl15 phenomenon is peer-to-peer, online communications. In traditional forms of communication, trust, respect and openness are vital qualities of any relationship. Online communications test these qualities since many online social networking relationships contain a level of anonymity. How is trust affected when peers share deceptive online communications? Is trust compromised? Will peers ultimately turn against each other or the interests behind a deceptive message?

Answering these questions will be important for public relations professionals and communications strategists who wish to engage Interactive audiences with new products, services and ideas in the future.
Wyatt