Lonelygirl15 returns to YouTube, proves the internet is finally out of ideas
Like the awkward teenage photos that get dragged out at Christmas, lonelygirl15 is back. And if you're wondering whether a 2006 hoax web series will translate, things are still just as cryptic.
- Webby Award Winner (Best Video Host, 2021), Webby Nominee (Podcasts, 2021), Gold Telly (Documentary Series, 2021), Silver Telly (Video Writing, 2021), W3 Award (Best Host, 2020), Australian IT Journalism Awards (Best Journalist, Best News Journalist 2017)
The lonelygirl15 YouTube series is getting a reboot.
In 2006, Twitter was just a few months old, your MySpace Top 8 was prime real estate and lonelygirl15 captivated the internet with her first vlog.
What started as a series of webcam videos, filmed by a 16-year-old girl in her bedroom, lonelygirl15 soon turned into a massive sensation, pulling in millions of views. But after just a few months, 16-year-old Bree was revealed to be actress Jessica Lee Rose and the whole series was exposed as a scripted hoax.
Sure, the action started to get weird when small-town Bree started talking about her precious blood and a mysterious society called "The Order," but the mid-naughties were weird.
Now, lonelygirl15 (still played by Lee Rose, albeit 10 years older) is back online with a new video, "Whatever Happened To lonelygirl15?" We still don't totally know what's going on, and "Bree" is talking a lot of cultish garble about blood, "the ceremony" and "selection." We smell another attempt at going viral.