The hottest ARG ever: lonelygirl15

by Vladimir Cole { Sep 5th 2006 at 11:58AM }

At this point, internet starlet Lonelygirl15 should need no introduction, least of all to net-savvy Joystiq readers. But if you've been asleep all summer, here's a brief intro: Lonelygirl15's Youtube videos have garnered over 18 million views. She's the second-most subscribed-to channel of all time on Youtube, and she's crazy cute to boot.

But she's not real. In fact, but she may be part of an alternate reality game (ARG).

Bree's ARG-ness is discussed in detail over at the Alternate Reality Gaming Network. Admittedly, the evidence that she's part of some big ARG (ZOMG! The Halo 3 launch?!) is rather flimsy, but if we went with more mainstream conspiracy theories, we couldn't very well cover her on Joystiq now, could we?

Whatever the outcome, this whole episode shows how powerful storytelling and internet video might be interwoven to create compelling new forms of gaming that entertain millions of people who don't normally consider themselves gamers. The interaction between whoever's producing these videos (the game master) and the millions of players is intricate, exciting, and very game-like at heart.

Tags: alternate reality gaming, arg, bree, lonely girl 15, lonelygirl15, youtube

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

protofunk @ Sep 5th 2006 12:08PM

Attention Whore: The Home Game.

32_Footsteps @ Sep 5th 2006 12:11PM

You know, if nobody knows whether or not this is an ARG, I think on a meta level it automatically becomes the best-executed ARG of all time.

happy shmappy @ Sep 5th 2006 12:16PM

it should turn very dark and creepy very soon

Sheir @ Sep 5th 2006 12:22PM

That is an ARG I never went to play.

Newton @ Sep 5th 2006 12:32PM

You know, after doing some reading on this, there is a TV show coming out in fall on CBS called Heroes, perhaps this is related?

derrick @ Sep 5th 2006 12:37PM

One of my friends has been following this for awhile. I can't wait to tell him that it might be an ARG, that's one theory he never had.

Zero @ Sep 5th 2006 12:40PM

I think her eyebrows alone are proof that she's an actress.

mykie @ Sep 5th 2006 12:41PM

Apparently, she's got quite a following (with active forum) at:
http://www.lonelygirl15.com/

Other people offering up theories and such:
http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=270058

Microsoft spent a cool couple of million to promote Halo 2 with this:
http://www.ilovebees.com

Who knows...

HaloBreaker @ Sep 5th 2006 12:47PM

Lonleygirl15 rolls for initiative.

Scott @ Sep 5th 2006 12:49PM

If you noticed in her latest video entry, the cookie ratings are 10-12-6 or 10-12-06. I take that to mean something big will be revealed on October 12, 2006.

Huzzah!! @ Sep 5th 2006 12:53PM

I dont get it. but LMAOZOMG SHE'S 103!!!!!!!!!!! She must have some NICE anti-aging cream!

Matt Smylie @ Sep 5th 2006 1:02PM

I'd sling one up 'er!

Matters @ Sep 5th 2006 1:03PM

completely pathetic.

HaloBreaker @ Sep 5th 2006 1:06PM

She has ULTRA HIGH quality recordings for a teenage video blogger.

Anyways I'de say it has to do with this.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433338/

Grant @ Sep 5th 2006 1:06PM

10-12-06 is the 131st birthday of occultist Alastair Crowley, whose picture she apparently has on her wall.

Pag @ Sep 5th 2006 1:06PM

Viral marketing? Likely. ARG? Doesn't really make sense -- there would need to be a game for it to be an Alternate Reality Game...

protofunk @ Sep 5th 2006 1:15PM

ah, it's just an elaborate commercial.

You know, I'm getting really sick and tired of this kinda crap. This kind of marketing isn't even trying to sell you a product, it's trying to trick you into one.

Matt @ Sep 5th 2006 1:17PM

I find all of her videos pretty annoying, actually. She's like that popular girl in high school who you wanted to smack in the face for being too cute. I don't have any issues, really... ;)

blue @ Sep 5th 2006 1:27PM

It is an experiment in filmmaking. It is not real, nor is it an ARG. It is merely the next generation Blair Witch Project for the YouTube set.

Business Week had a interesting article on it.

Jay @ Sep 5th 2006 1:29PM

Who is she?

JimJimBinks @ Sep 5th 2006 1:44PM

@#15
I'm glad I'm not the only one who put the numbers together as a date. I'm surprised the LA Times article didn't mention it.

Chris Taran @ Sep 5th 2006 1:46PM

Hmm, never heard of hear and I'm fairly active on YouTube. I always wonder how apparantly big things like this slip through my awareness.

Chris Taran @ Sep 5th 2006 1:47PM

er... of "her" not "hear"!

phl0w @ Sep 5th 2006 1:49PM

This joystiq entry is the first time I hear of her or this "YouTube" thing. Who the hell is she and why is she so popular, it's not that she's good looking or something. In fact rather the contrary is true...

James @ Sep 5th 2006 1:54PM

She is a fuckin' phony.

http://www.slumdance.com/blogs/brian_flemming/archives/002277.html

End of story, end of discussion.

Nmaster @ Sep 5th 2006 2:01PM

The internet must be nothing but pedophiles...

WHY is some random chick's vlog one of the most popular things on YouTube? Who the hell actually takes time out of their day to watch that crap? What is wrong with you people?

cringer8 @ Sep 5th 2006 2:31PM

Okay, I'm not internet savvy, so I didn't know about this lonelygirl stuff until now. I checked out the videos (three of them, that's all I could take) and it was VERY apparent that she was acting. How could anyone be taken in by such a flagrant ruse? If you believed that Bree really existed as she is portrayed, then you fall into the demographic they (we don't know "who" they are yet) are marketing to (highschoolers who spend way too much time on the internet).

It's the Blair Witch Project all over again. Intelligent people realize it’s a fake once they see the bad acting.

UPDATE: Just before posting (to make sure I wasn't repeating anyone), I read the article that James (#25) posted and I recommend that everyone reads it. It would have saved me some time here (but I'm still gonna post this, since I took the time at work to type it).

Mike @ Sep 5th 2006 3:06PM

I don't get this. Not because I've tried to get it and can't, but because I don't want to even try. These viral things are a bit dumb IMO.

iEnigma @ Sep 5th 2006 3:37PM

I think the real question is, who's really behind this and what is their motive? It is blatantly fake. God, I hate these ARGs. Why did Bungie do ilovebees.com? Wouldn't it have been better to have gone down a more straightforward route and just highlight the game's features or something? This lonelygirl15 nonsense is a big waste of our time. Perhaps it's made by the GOP to distract us from the war? If I get a decent camera and film conversations, will I be an internet celebrity?

This is all bull.

0x336699 @ Sep 5th 2006 3:39PM

Oh, c'mon. This is obviously a promotion for the new Transformers movie.

erica. @ Sep 5th 2006 3:51PM

wait, people actually thought the blair witch was real at some point?

Fandel @ Sep 5th 2006 4:18PM

You know, If we sent police officers to search the computers of every person who subscribes to this girls videos on you-tube. Our child sex predator problem would be instantly solved.

saidnamyzO @ Sep 5th 2006 4:47PM

I dont understand, silly internet fads.
plus everyone knows tila tequila is the most popluar person on the planet.

http://www.myspace.com/tilatequila

scott @ Sep 5th 2006 4:55PM

I think someone has read and replicated William Gibson's book, Pattern Recognition, here.

scott @ Sep 5th 2006 4:57PM

That said, this is purely viral marketing for either a TV show or a movie. I hope Joystiq gets a check for the free advertising.

nugget @ Sep 5th 2006 5:00PM

I'm so confused... How is that popular? I sat down and watched a few of them and well its not like its intresting or anything. I've seen better work on newgrounds that hardly anyone watches. She does have very good picture there too for a 16 year old teenage girl. Don't most girl's have other stuff to spend their money on than cameras? I remember highscool, none of the girls cared about anything other than IM, clothes, and the latest TV show...

Stupid people...

SID SPACE @ Sep 5th 2006 5:05PM

I am on YouTube quite frequently and did come across her videos a while ago. But I just thought that it was some attention-whoring vidblog similar to ones by users like FilthyWhore, Brookers, and TheWineKone.

Needless to say, I'm glad I didn't waste my time watching that tripe.

Jeff @ Sep 5th 2006 5:13PM

Holy christ. Watch the one entitled "I'm Really, Really, Really Excited!"

How could *anyone* be taken in by this? If I taught an acting class, this would be overacting exhibit A. That was absolutely cringe inducing.

I wouldn't call her "super-cute" either. "Kinda" cute, maybe, in a regular-girl-you-see-on-every-college-campus kind of way. But she's not 16 either. 20-22 is what I'd peg her at. She's trying really hard to act younger than that, but her expressions are a little too mature, her skin actually starting to wrinkle a bit (the lighting hides it most of the time, but not always). The fact that she is trying so hard to seem young so much of the time actually makes it more obvious that she isn't.

It's either some kind of college hoax or the marketing for some sort of horror film. You can't ignore the Alistair Crowley connection, or the religious turn this is all apparently taking.

I'm fascinated by these things as social experiments, but always shocked and surprised by how gullible people still are - especially, as it seems here, young people that are supposedly so internet-savvy. Obviously not.

Probably vain of me, but I'm also sometimes surprised by how "popular" things like this supposedly are, when so many of us apparently haven't even heard of them before. This may be one of the most popular channels on YouTube, but it's still only got 21,000 subscribers. That's not a lot of people in the grand scheme of things. Still, 21,000 people were dumb enough to think this chick was real.

alex1519 @ Sep 5th 2006 6:35PM

This looks like the game I'm playing over at Ocular Effect.com - it's tracking this girl called Faith Arella (another cute one!) as she travels around the world. She sees symbols everywhere and is following them to REAL people who have had near death experiences.

RELATED sites:
http://www.oculareffect.com
http://www.00112358.net
http://www.faitharella.com

foxhaze @ Sep 5th 2006 8:56PM

What the hell? I didn't realize that such a thing existed.

Xophonic @ Sep 5th 2006 9:34PM

I don't think an underage girl with an army of pedophile fans is gaming news. Joystiq seems to be stretching the boundry of what falls under that heading alot lately. I'd rather see less news than more and more non gaming related and mostly boring crap. Next time you see a video of a cute girl or a guy who stuffs an mp3 player into some old video game control please feel free to not inform the masses.

Kekule @ Sep 6th 2006 2:18AM

"This looks like the game I'm playing over at Ocular Effect.com - it's tracking this girl called Faith Arella (another cute one!) as she travels around the world. She sees symbols everywhere and is following them to REAL people who have had near death experiences."

darn, I hope she doesnt come to me I had a near death experience watching that video.......
btw...

Ihatebees

I'll be so glad when the popularity of viral marketing dies again... if only people would stop watching the, and "tripe is the applicable term here, complete rubbish

loneleygirl15 @ Sep 6th 2006 6:32AM

I am not an actress.

diggduggnugget @ Sep 6th 2006 7:29AM

43 good comment,

man this is the lamest thing ive ever heard of,
shes not cute at all, unless you love big bushy eyebrows, this bitch needs to get to a salon or somthing.

and it being an RPG to boot, having to watch this girl is playing a game>? wanna know a good game its called the hippity dippity dooo.

Phantom Saint @ Sep 6th 2006 7:29AM

No you'r not, because you can't act.

Minerva @ Sep 6th 2006 7:18PM

Whether it is an ARG or not, it isn't a very good one, considering all it is is a bunch of videos. ILoveBees2 was one of the best ARGs I ever played, and I doubt this could go anywhere close. If you haven't before, check out http://www.ilovebees2.com/ It = not pedophilia.

jgrey @ Sep 7th 2006 3:24PM

This worries me a bit about the state of online nerds. And I must say, I must be careful too as I'm sure it's a common pit to fall into.

"she's crazy cute to boot"? I think a lot of you Internet vegetaters need to get out more and interact with real girls out there.

No offence to her - I think she is pretty too, but I don't see anything spectacular above average to grant this obsessive magnitude of attention. There are many like her out there, and many much better, if you cared to go out more in real life.

Again, I want to emphasise that this isn't a stab at her. I'm just trying to put this whole issue into context to point out that at the moment it appears disproportionate. To the point of creepy.

Lithium City @ Sep 7th 2006 5:04PM

This is so lame. You people are stupid for caring about this. I don't care about it at all, but I am spending time out of my day to write about how lame it is and how stupid people are for caring about it.

Only pedophiles would care about this, even though she's obviously a 25-year-old actress and not a 16-year-old girl. And why is everyone saying she's so hot? I'm a gamer and I personally have half a dozen girlfriends way hotter than her.