LonelyGirl15 and Fake Videos

When Youtube was in its infancy, it was primarily a platform that was treated much like a social media. People would make videos dicussing their days and views, sending video messages to each other, and the occasional short film. then in 2006, a new regular content producer started to appear with the tag "Lonelygirl15". At first she seemed like the typical teenage girl content producer with strict parents.

As this channel progressed and started creating more content, her fans started to notice weird things taking place in her life such as things on the wall, bruises, stories about her parents etc. This worried a lot of the fanbase, creating an explosion in subscribers, comments, discussion on forums creating theories such as her parents being satanic priests or cult leaders. Eventually, it was revealed that Lonelygirl15 was actually a character, created by Greg Goodfried (a Lawyer), Miles Beckett (plastic surgeon intern) and Mesh Flinders (a Screen Writer). 

This is the first example of people manipulating the platform in a completely new way, by creating a character with a story arc but presenting it to the consumers in the most common video format on youtube, vlogs. This very much signaled the start of further manipulation of the platfrom of youtube and the development of the marketisation of youtube. 

below is an interview with the creators of Lonelygirl15:

Unsurprisingly, this reveal was met with some backlash. Even though the creators carried no malicious intent with the creation of Lonelygirl15, viewer's still didn't like the fact that they were being lie to.

This does bring up an interesting point though. Looking at a few lists of so called "fake videos" and the drama that seems to collect around them, it brings up the point that very few of us truly know how real much of the content we watch is when it comes to prank videos or vlog channels. Below is a video showing some other fake video "scandals" in the past including Lonelygirl15. If anything, the video shows just how volatile the platform of youtube is and the lengths some people will go to just to get themselves extra viewership. I hope you enjoy.

Age Ratings on Music Videos

An article published last year on the BBC "Newsbeat" website delves into the issue of age rating on music videos. This has become a greater problem in recent years due to artists pushing the boundaries of what is deemed appropriate to be used to accompany a song. This new motion introduced means that record labels (such as the big three- Warner, Universal and Sony) will have to send all of their music through the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) meaning that they will be given an age rating before they can be shown.

But what does this mean for artists? well, with certain videos that seem to abuse the rather lax rules on music video, such as Nicki Minaj- Anaconda (shown below), we could see a distinct reduction of viewers due to a large amount not being able to access them online or on music channels due to age restrictions.

in terms of this research effecting my production, i don't think it will much. While themes like drugs and mental health are explored in it (and they would class as for a higher age rating) i don't feel it will have a large effect due to the target audience I'm hoping to attract, which will be young and older adults who have heard of the song in question. It may take a toll on the younger viewers of the song when it is put online, but i feel that will make for a smaller demographic.

Here is a link to the article: Age rating article