Overly Attached Girlfriend: A retrospective

It’s Viral Market Crash week on Mashable. Join us as we take stock of the viral economy and investigate how the internet morphed from a fun free-for-all to a bleak hellscape we just can’t quit.

It’s been over six years since Laina Morris uploaded “JB Fanvideo” to YouTube. 

The clip, which shows Morris performing a parody version of Justin Bieber’s 2012 song “Boyfriend,” was originally intended as an attempt to win an online contest. (Bieber, who was launching a new fragrance called “Girlfriend,” had invited fans to submit their best riffs on his track.) 

Morris didn’t win the contest, but that’s beside the point. No one remembers who won the contest. Instead, Redditor yeahhtoast posted a screenshot and a link to her video to Reddit, where it quickly blew up. “I posted the video the night of June 6th, 2012 and realized it was getting a lot of attention before I went to bed that night,” Morris said in an interview. “I stayed up late with one of my roommates reading comments on YouTube and Reddit.” Read more…

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