When Being the Overly Attached Girlfriend is Actually Cool
We live in a day and age when “Internet Meme” is now listed as an occupation on Wikipedia pages. This idea of being an “internet celebrity” is entirely tied to our generation and its technological advancements, despite the thought that Andy Warhol may have anticipated the rise of popular culture stars with his words “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” Now, 15 minutes goes a long way — especially for Laina Morris. She even states in her Youtube video commemorating the 4th year anniversary of the video that made her famous, “I’ve milked my 15 minutes 140 160 times — and the clock just keeps ticking!” In 2017, 15 minutes of great Internet content can turn into a lifetime of fame — and a Wikipedia page with “Internet Meme” as your occupation.
Laina Morris, more commonly known online as just Laina, posted a parody video of titled “JB Fanvideo” on her Youtube channel on June 6th, 2012. The video replaced many of Justin Biebers lyrics in his popular hit at the time, “Boyfriend”, with lyrics sang from the perspective of an overly-clingy girlfriend. The video reached more than 1.35 millions views in less than 48 hours and continued to take hold of the internet in the form of the “Overly Attached Girlfriend” meme. I actually remember viewing this video back in grade 12 when it was released and I, like the majority of the Internet, questioned this girls seriousness. Little did we know that less than a year later, she would be completely sustaining herself financially at only age 21 simply from her Youtube videos. Four years later, bringing us to June 6th 2016, Laina had worked with advertisers like Kia Soul and appeared on popular television shows such as Jimmy Fallon and on other famous Youtuber channels, like Jimmy Tatro.
Laina’s come up is just one of the many examples of how fame has evolved to encapsulate Internet stars, and this category is endless — vloggers, bloggers, podcasters, Instagram famous, online personas, even blogebritys (yes, it is listed on Wikipedia as a blend of “blogger” with “celebrity”). 30 years ago, you could not make a living by sitting behind a camera for an hour a week, posting a 4-minute video from that hour footage, and possibly spending the rest of your days Tweeting, Instramming, live streaming and making pubic appearances.
I find the rise of Internet fame fascinating and wonder if there must be some sort of formula in order to achieve this online phenomena status. In regards to Laina’s fame, it was truly sheer luck. She posted the original video as a submission into a Justin Bieber fan contest, and had no anticipation of it going viral. Although, she does share some tips delivered in complete satire about keeping up the reputation of a good Youtuber. One tip is especially applicable to clickbait culture. “Make your titles descriptive, yet vague” Laina states, in regards to titling Youtube videos. “Do I have a Boyfriend???” is the example she uses, yet does not speak about her boyfriend (or non-existent boyfriend) at all in the video… Is playing into clickbait culture one of the keys of staying relevant and getting content views?
To quote Laina in her interview with Business Insider only months after her Internet blow-up, she “didn’t know that there was a even world of Youtubers and that it was a career for a lot of people.” To further the monetization on her Youtube videos, she quickly got signed into the Youtube-focused PR company Big Frame and now can confidently rely on her internet activity as a full time job. But, Laina is more than the content she puts out online. Laina utilizes her reach to more than 1 million subscribers on Youtube in a way that should, in my opinion, become the textbook example for Internet stars. For someone like Laina who unintentionally put in a few hours of video recording and clever lyrical twists to begin her Internet fame, she does not take this for granted. Lana works with a variety of charitable causes by raising money through her meme influence. Reddit user sasalina comments on this notion saying “Thank you for attempting to turn your Internet fame into something that benefits humanity as a whole — or at the very least a deserving charity.”
The variety of ways to make a living has dramatically increased with the rise of the Internet, and will only continue to progress in years to come. Youtuber salaries still baffle my mind, and the idea of product endorsements and taste makers are only in their beginning stages. The capitalization on the Internet is well and alive and I look forward to seeing the future Wikipedia occupations that come of this.
