[NeonAges]

    Well, I'm not sure how many of you keep up with the YouTube community, or how many of you actually know that there's more to YouTube than people making Anime Music Videos or random clips of them burning things, but yes, there's a very active community of video bloggers on YouTube, and it's one of the reasons why YouTube has gotten so big.  Video blogging is a very interactive thing on YouTube;  People make video responses and have conversations amongst themselves, making for very active and connected communities.  Many video bloggers before have been pinned as fakers, but never to the scale that is the LonelyGirl15 Fiasco, the LG15 Saga, if you will.
    Firstly, a bit of background.  Flashback 2 months ago;  Bree(LonelyGirl15) is an attractive, geeky, homeschooled, 16 year old who just got her friend Daniel(DanielBeast) to help her set up a web cam so she wouldn't be so bored in her little commune.  Starts off innocently enough, there's some quirky cute girly moments and science tidbits spouted off by her all complimented by suspiciously good quality webcam images, high production values, and impeccably edited shots.  In the beginning, many people really thought that Bree was a genuine girl who wanted to join their community; many people tuned in to her video blogs.  They smiled and cheered at her cute and quirky entries, they consoled her when she faced some drama, they nudged her when they sensed some romantic attraction coming from Daniel.  She was getting thousands of views and comments, people wanted to engage in dialogues with her, she was getting a bitch-ton of attention.
    Of course, with attention comes scrutiny.  Why is the lighting so good?  Why is the image so clear?  Is she just acting?  Can Daniel really edit that well?  It wasn't too long until people were speculating that the Bree they've been in contact with through comments were just hired employees that posed as both Bree and Daniel.  Though skeptics started to arise, the royal fanbase grew even faster.  An online drama was developing and they were hooked.
    Well, the message finally came.  In the form of *DrumRoll* a fan forum post.  That's right ladies and gentlemen, they actually "officially" came out and announced that it was all fake.  A staged act.  Boo Hiss.  Yea, you bet your ass many people were pissed.  Even more people were saying ToldYaSos to all those who fought that it was real.  Even fewer still believe that she's genuine to this day.  Bickering aside, this is a very widescale implimentation of a seemingly low-budget production.  Awesome.  This is perhaps the new medium of teen drama reality shows.  It's like Laguna Beach, but y'know, with interaction.  Personally, I think it's a bold venture into online entertainment.  There won't be much room for Teen-Girl-Webcam Drama, maybe one or two more shows like this before the market becomes saturated.  If done right, it could be entertainment that would be happily consumed by not only the frequent YouTubers but could attract the attention of the Tween-to-Teen female demographic, bringing yet more viewers to YouTube.
    As yet, the whole fiasco has attracted the attention of reality mystery gamers in the form of ARGN.  Many bloggers have voiced their curiousity at the whole Saga, wondering 'Is she or isn't she?';  though I think that they made the reveal a bit too early, right before they reached Critical Mass, and possibly had the chance to really go mainstream.  One thing that perplexes me though, is how they were able to keep the identities of Bree and Daniel, which I think is Mission Critical to the whole thing, a secret all this time.  Their true identities have yet to be revealed, but just the fact that they're not completely genuine has made a lot of viewers leave.  Honestly, I, for one, am looking forward to more installments still.  The writing, I think, is cute and quirky with its moments of awkward drama and eccentric humor.  But that's the way I like it!  That's right, I'd rather take an attractive, eccentric, intelligent character than one of those presented by Laguna Beach any day.

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