Online Caroline

August 2, 2000 5:22 PM

Online Caroline Join up, be her friend, the webcam changes every day and she develops a "friendship" with you. Interesting entertainment from across the pond.
posted by owillis (9 comments total)

Just some B.S. marketing ploy. I bet that, over time, she develops an "affinity" for products and services meticulously catered to your demographic group.

On the other hand, if she is "on the level" she needs to work on making her posts sound a little less like corporate press releases.
posted by Optamystic at 6:33 PM on August 2, 2000

"Caroline" isn't a real person with a real webcam - she is a marketing ploy to get information from users.

If she sounds like a corporate press release, that is because she is one, but the email 'she' sends out is just creepy as hell.

This is a division of http://www.xpt.co.uk/ - whose corporate site reads like that of a cult.

posted by kristin at 8:07 PM on August 2, 2000

Interesting, Kristin. I'm curious-- anyone have examples / quotes from Caroline emails?
posted by wiremommy at 8:11 PM on August 2, 2000

I believe the whole XPT thing is part of the story, as I received an email from them saying they were "spying" on Caroline...
posted by owillis at 9:59 PM on August 2, 2000

And I swear to you, it ain't me.
posted by prolific at 11:16 PM on August 2, 2000

Knowing the people who worked on OnlineCaroline, I can tell you, unreservedly, that it's not a marketing ploy, and it's not trying to get your personal information. Basically, it's an attempt to see what kinds of narratives work on the web: it's playing with back-stories. In fact, I said to the lead designer that the web makes it tricky to tell the real companies from the fictitious ones...

So it's not RubberBurner, and it's not SuperGreg.

(The idea being that it's something between the non-interactive soap operas like "The Spot" (RIP) and the "Choose Your Own Adventure"-style interactive fiction.)

The latest XPT site, though, is really quite fun: IT3C. Again, they're not trying to sell you anything. Really.
posted by holgate at 5:33 AM on August 3, 2000

here's the message she sent me:

Oh dear Ryan.

That was NOT the start I wanted. I had a vision of me, all interesting and demure in a tidy flat welcoming you with opens arms. Instead you get drunken antics on the living room carpet with Simon. What a waste of a decent cake.

I don't even know if I was wearing the right outfit. You didn't hang around long enough to express a preference in the 'What Shall I Wear' section. I don't blame you. Hopefully I can persuade you to stay a bit longer next time you come.

Simon is such a pig. Every time David goes away he dashes round here as fast as his little trotters will carry him. Not that he's a match for David as you can tell from the 'My Boyfriend' section.

So why do I put up with him? Well, he happens to be the only editor in town who still regularly gives me work. For example, he's just this very day offered me 5,000 words on Paris - which would be great if he wasn't insisting on coming along with me. Purely for professional reasons, of course (yeah yeah).

So there's my first dilemma for you. Should I go? What do you think? God knows what David would say. Lie - I know exactly what he'd say. And what he'd do. Sometimes I'm glad he's so far away.

David is coming back soon. I only know this because that bloody cow of a 'best friend' of mine told me he'd called her yesterday. Nice. He calls Sophie before he calls me. I suppose that's for 'professional' reasons too. I don't imagine you'd get that kind of treatment from Joshua.

Anyway, ENOUGH about me already. What about you? You're a man I see. And you're single. Fine. It's a start, I suppose. But none of this really tells me how you actually feel about things, does it? Or whether we're compatible, whether we're going to be happy together. We're going to have to do some work in that area.

Which means you hitting those 'You Decide' buttons once in a while. I don't know about happiness, but I'm hoping I can make you smile. In fact, I have a silly game for us to play.

Come soon.

Caro xxx
posted by sixfoot6 at 6:24 PM on August 3, 2000

pretty crafty, eh? i really do feel like we're best friends.
posted by sixfoot6 at 6:25 PM on August 3, 2000

Even if it's not a marketing ploy, god damn, that creeps me out.
posted by wiremommy at 7:58 PM on August 3, 2000