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Subscribe to RSSThe Internet is no place for the faint of heart, and failing a Vonnegutian "Welcome to the Monkey House" future envisioned by our Facebook overlords, that’s just the way it is.
No one knows this better than the adolescent American female demographic, what with their penchant for tweeting death threats to and vandalizing Wikipedia entries of anyone who dares cast even the vaguest aspersions on, or stand too close to, their beloved Justin Bieber.
via Know Your Meme
Just one of the many ways the Internet has memorialized 'Friday' lyrics at young Rebecca Black's expense.
Yet here’s Rebecca Black, the 13-year-old star of the "Friday" viral video, telling The Daily Beast that she’s shocked by the mean things people are saying about her and the video. "At times, it feels like I'm being cyberbullied," she said.
No doubt.
Floating around YouTube since mid-February, Black’s massively Auto-Tuned video went viral (aptly enough) last Friday after the The Daily What posted it with the accompanying snark, "Where Is Your God Now of the Day: I am no longer looking forward to the weekend."
The Daily Beast outlines the video’s rapid reach:
Black, 13, certainly never anticipated the social media uproar, mainstream media hellfire, parodies, and remixes that greeted “Friday” as the video became nearly ubiquitous across Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Time.com called the song – which provides a primer on the days of the week, innocently celebrates partying, and ponders the merits of "kickin’ it" in a car’s front versus the back seat from a wholesome teen girl P.O.V.--"a whole new level of bad" and "a train wreck." Slate proclaimed "Friday" "disastrous" while Yahoo asked straight up, "Is YouTube sensation Rebecca Black’s 'Friday' the worst song ever?"
Both the song and the video were provided and produced by vanity production company Ark Music Factory, for which Black’s parents paid $2,000. Earlier this week,"Friday" broke into the iTunes Top 100 singles chart this week, moving ahead of both Bruno Mars and Justin Bieber.
And not necessarily because people like it.
To make matters worse, Black is now in the sights of 4chan’s notorious /b/ board, reports Gawker’s Adrian Chen. With an attack date set for Saturday, March 19, members have posted contact information for Black’s school as well as her family’s contact and social networking information and a list of possible home addresses:
Chen dug up this proposal for "Operation Black Friday" circulating /b/board:
here are some simple orders. 12pm est, start calling the school with all of the numbers and tardy bull---t, fax as many nudes of ANYTHING and put rebecca's name on it. at 1pm est DDoS Ark Music Factory. at 3pm est, start requesting her (sorry excuse for) music on the radio
"And, to be fair," Gawker’s Chen points out, "some users have expressed concern over how it would look for them to target a middle schooler, perhaps having learned some lessons from the time they harassed 11-year-old viral video star Jessi Slaughter into police protection.":
"I fully support the action against Ark Music Factory, though think about how the media could spin targeting a 13yo girl," wrote one 4channer. "They would try to use it to discredit and smear the name of Anonymous, potentially detracting credibility from future efforts." Another possibility: 4chan's founder moot steps in and shuts down the raid. (He's been cracking down recently.) We'll see.
Not for nothing, "Operation Black Friday" seems a bit late to the Rebecca Black party, especially one that essentially started on mainstream media. The Daily What is part of Ben Huh’s "I Can Haz Cheezburger?" franchise, an empire built on the backs of 4chan memes.
That’s mainstream media, kids.
More stories about the annoying way we live now:
- Kid body slams bully, gets his own cartoon
- 4chan founder: Zuckerberg wrong on privacy
- Can the Internet and pop culture be friends?
- Famous Internet cats commemorated in cheddar
- Bieber fans go on Grammy-fueled Wikipedia rampage
Helen A.S. Popkin is always going blah blah blah about the Internet. Join her on a Facebook or Twitter, won't you?
Leave a Comment:
Welcome to the Jungle.
OK...
BUT....
She's only 13 friggin years old...
Pre-pubescent girls are not an appropriate target for vicious cyber attacks...
And in a world were the Jersey Shore can dominate the ratings and turn "the situation" into a multi-millionaire...
What the hell do you expect to see next out there...?
The idiots out number the true artists in vast, VAST numbers...
Learn to IGNORE them...
Don't you get it? She wants all this attention! Bad publicity still equals publicity for this otherwise average teen girl. Her god-awful lip-synced video and song (even with autotune she sounds like crap) has gotten more play than anything else recently -- she can even boast she has gotten more play than Bieber and the web searches on this girl have surged. How many other talented singers wish they had this exposure but have yet to even get noticed? This is exactly what Rebecca and her family want. If you ignore her instead, she will fade into oblivion and just become a memory of a bad nightmare. 4chan is giving her the publicity forum she seeks though, although they may not realize it.
Since when has R&R not been about the teenybopper and simple, 2 minute hooks. And this one is not nearly as bad as "tiptoe throught the tulips" Tiny Tim or anything done by Tommy James and the Shondells. And you're gona bash her for being in a long (and honorable) tradition of top 40 radio. Turn in your Ramones t-shirts!!!!!
You'd expect the lyrics to a song by a girl whose parents paid $2k for a vanity video to be pretty vapid and lame, but then you'd expect the girl - and her parents - to keep the video on their bookshelf for their personal viewing. This is akin to sending in pictures of your kid in the bathtub in to the high school yearbook.
Hey, I liked it.
Why does everything have to be a polished 2 million dollar production?
She seems happy and genuine, and I bet the kids had fun making it and being famous for a few minutes.
I liked it a lot.
I thought it was fun and I am what you may call old in my 60ies
Must be some are just pissed cause they did not think of it
Why does music need to violent, mean or destructive? This kid had some good, clean fun with her friends. What should I expect from a 13 year old? Obviously, a lot of narrow-minded, control freak weirdos think something else. Ms. Black did not need to stoop to low-life remarks, self-centered neediness, violence, sex, drugs or other detriments to enjoy herself. I hope this teen enjoys her life and her singing. I admire her abilities, behavior and love of life. Good for her.
And funny enough we don't see any of the haters putting themselves out there in a video on You Tube...makes me wonder if this is more about envy than anything. The song wasn't very good and the video was definitely low-budget but it looked like she and her friends had a great time doing something that just about every teenage girl wishes they could. With a bit of voice coaching, and some better lyrics I get she could go far. You go girl!
Don't see what the big deal is. I liked this video. Live and let live, and relax.
My God!
Give the child a break!
She's only 13 years old. She's having fun. She looks well dressed, Well behaved, And most of all, She's expressing herself. I didn't read anywhere that, Even though she's on Welfare her parents spent $ 2,000.00 helping her make a video. Her parents helped her fulfill a dream.
I'm not rich but if my 8 year old asked me to do the same, I'd jump at the opportunity to help her because it helps develop social skills.
I would much rather spend $2,000.00 on helping my child make a video then spend it on Drug Rehab or on Maternity Clothes.
And to all of you out there that are so fast to criticize the video? Why don't YOU make a video and post it so we can critique it for you? There's so much anger and hatred in this world now that's it's disgusting.
If you agree with my comment then let's have a vote.
Thank you.
I couldn't agree with you more! You have *my* vote.
Anyone can make a video and music just like on youtube. Check out the next big thing.
Is it the best song? No. But, it's better for a teenager to be singing about something genuinely innocent, like a day of the week, rather than singing about sex. I like the fact that she decided to keep her innocence, which is something many teenagers in this country and around the world have lost. Her voice might not be the best (hence why it was auto-tuned so much), but you can tell she IS having fun in the video. I don't understand why people are harassing her SO much. She had fun, isn't that enough?
Personally, as a 56-year-old male, I see nothing terribly wrong with the video, EXCEPT that there are kids riding in a pop top sitting with their feet on the seats and their butts on the upper part of the seat going down the road. This is a REALLY bad example, even though it's a simple music video.
If you don't like it or think it's stupid, vapid, whatever, IGNORE it! Otherwise, leave the young lady and her friends alone. As stated above, it looks like they had fun making the video. Let them have that and leave your venom in your head. There's 'way too much negativism and attack-mode thinking in the world today.
Geesh! They're just kids!
Oh, yeah; I almost forgot to say that, if you think these lyrics are vapid (which, for the most part, they are, but so what?), go back and take a look at Michael Stipe's lyrics for some of R.E.M.'s biggest hits. There are many other examples. It's been known for a long time that lyrics don't need to make any sense whatsoever for a song to become a hit.
At least she has a point to her song!
Ahem! By way of example..."mares eat oats, and does eat oats, and little lambs eat ivy..." World's lousiest lyrics; one of the world's best-known songs... I rest my case!
seriously, this isn't any worse than the other crap my 13 year old listens too. at least it has a beat and you can understand what she is saying. that puts her ahead of a good 40% of the other music on her ipod.
There is nothing wrong with this video and the song. It is no worse than the stuff Miranda Cosgroove of iCarly sings and it's values are much better than those in the video "TiK ToK" by Ke$ha. The child is 13 for goodness sake. It's a nice video and she should be allowed to enjoy it without be attacked because she isn't Lady Gaga.
Glad to see so many good-natured folks discussing this kid's video. I mean, if anyone remembers Styx' Domo Arigato video from the 80s, there's no way you can call Friday the worst video ever. And, true, Friday's lyrics are redundant, mundane and inane, but that fairly well describes most of the current videos I've viewed, the only difference being Black was fully clothed and didn't evoke images of a caterwauling slut in heat. In fact it was refreshing to see a kid being a kid blathering about kid stuff. How unique. As for the vicious lemmings that infest the internet and want to calumniate a young kid for doing something other than wanking around on a computer: @!$%# them!
Omg, if you are going to make a bad song don't put it on the internet. You would think people know this by now. I do feel bad for her though
Who in the hell is Rebecca Black, and why would you care? Given that y'all seem to have NOTHING to do but keep tabs on a teenage girl, she seems to be so much smarter than you.
$2,000 to make an ass of yourself? Put me in your family video, I'll make an ass of you for free.
Robot says - "Par-tee Par-Tee fun fun"
It's like I said earlier Johnny In South New Jersey.
People are so fast to bash this little girl for her video, Including you.
So where is your video so all of us on this board can critique it for you. We're waiting!
Just what I thought.
Dearest Lanny, Your condescending tone really is drippy. Only my mother calls me by my full screen name when I'm in trouble. You are WAAAAAY late buddy. I've been on YouTube for two years now. That's why I put the offer out there, But thanks.
I'm on youtube in a few locations actually. And yes, I've been totally ripped...but guess what I don't care, because if you put yourself out there, you have to be prepared. Say what you want, I don't delete nor I do a censor comments.
Just what I thought.
Proof-positive that, if you go to the right synagogue and have a little cash to throw around, anyone can be famous. Trooth.
To all you losers, bashers and crackheads..The ones doing the criticizing most likely suffer from substance abuse problems, failure at any social level and probably can't wait for an opportunity to Marry their brother or sister. Just a kid having fun. You know what fun is? Probably not...You all believe Reality TV is "Real"...Suckers and losers.......
@Damien Thurnberg: proof positive that any illiterate, uneducated low-life can troll the internet with a worthless opinion and broadcast it for all the world to see. *Truth*.
ooohhhh help me rhonda, help help me rhonda, help, help, help, help, help me rhonda... oooowwweeeeaaaahhhhoooooooaaaahhhhhhh!
The song stinks, but she is getting just what she wants. Publicity.
Horrible song, but hey... I'd rather listen to this on repeat than hear ANY of lil wayne's crap.
My only real complaint is none of the kids are wearing seat belts. What decent parents didnt enforce that pre-production of the video??? SMH.
Do not put your images, videos, or music on a world wide network where people have the freedom to criticize, rant, rave, etc. about said content, if you can't handle it.
For the haters, I would imagine that one of your favorite musical renditions is "Who let the dogs out?" Give me a break.