Bradifer

January 14, 2005 10:23 AM

Jennifer Aniston explains everything in her blog. Well...um...probably not. But the interesting thing about this blog is how many of the people in the comments section assume it's really her. Odd.
posted by braun_richard (44 comments total)

OMG idiots.
posted by xmutex at 10:35 AM on January 14, 2005

You mean that's not really her? Thanks for CRUSHING MY WORLD.
posted by m0nm0n at 10:35 AM on January 14, 2005

God, I'm sick of hearing about this. Two celebrites will no longer be boning eachother. Stop the presses!
posted by jonmc at 10:38 AM on January 14, 2005

I miss her recently-ex-husband's ex-blog (also mentioned by Ev here).
posted by dhoyt at 10:39 AM on January 14, 2005

jonmc-- That's not the point of this post.
posted by xmutex at 10:42 AM on January 14, 2005

OK, the (current) last post in that blog is the following:


You sad sad people.
Really think this is real? This person is taking you mugs for a ride. Even if it is the real jen, who the hell is she and who cares.
get a life
http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/38630

Posted by a on Friday, January 14, 2005 at 10:41 AM
[Reply to this]


Is it really necessary to troll a fansite and direct them here? (Is "a" really a mefi member?)
posted by aberrant at 10:50 AM on January 14, 2005

Heh. Compare and contrast:
I was so sorry to hear about the split. I pray that God's grace is with you both during this time.
Posted by Melissa on Monday, January 10, 2005 at 5:44 AM

with
[on preview], what aberrant posted. First dibs on Santa Clause derailing if anyone can find his blog, k?
posted by fatllama at 10:52 AM on January 14, 2005

My guess is it's a non-mefi member but occasional mefi reader. While there are a few people whom I wouldn't put it past to troll to mefi, most would either write more eruditely or more intentionally badly.
posted by Bugbread at 10:55 AM on January 14, 2005

ten seconds of googlin' fatllama...
posted by delmoi at 10:59 AM on January 14, 2005

I'm not sure it's entirely stupidity or gullibility-- there may be a kind of willful disbelief going on here too, where the people who comment "know" that it's not really Aniston, but in a sense feel that they are communicating with her through a kind of proxy representation.

But on the other hand, maybe they're just idiots.
posted by jokeefe at 11:06 AM on January 14, 2005

So we should go out of our way to be kind to the poor misguided dumbasses who bought the JenBlog story?

Sure, as long as they visit the gift shop on their way out.

People are sad.
posted by fenriq at 11:07 AM on January 14, 2005

jokeefe: That alternative is more depressing than them simply being idiots.
posted by xmutex at 11:19 AM on January 14, 2005

xmutex: imagine the fun you could have with JesusBlog.
posted by aberrant at 11:21 AM on January 14, 2005

hmmm... we're to be surprised that there is a web page on the internet in which someone is posing as someone/something/somegender/somespecies that they are not?

oh, wait...no... i get it..

We're to be surprised that there are people on this globe who would believe anything you told them as long as it furthers their own strange dysfunction in some way???

oh...wait...no... i get it... wait... no. no I don't.... I don't get it at all....
posted by HuronBob at 11:26 AM on January 14, 2005

This reminds me of the Maury Blooper Blog previously posted here. Ahh... stupid people. The world would be so much less fun without them.
posted by papakwanz at 11:28 AM on January 14, 2005

Ah, but what if the comments themselves are trolls, trying to get someone to post what "a" posted.

Actually, that's still pretty sad.

I'm going to go stick my head in the oven.
posted by dirigibleman at 11:30 AM on January 14, 2005

Certainly not enough ridicule going around.
posted by orange clock at 11:33 AM on January 14, 2005

Ugh. But it is real. She says so herself, right here!
posted by paulychamp at 11:40 AM on January 14, 2005

But the interesting thing about this blog is how many of the people in the comments section assume it's really her. Odd.

I remember a couple of years ago I wrote a blog entry commenting on a Nelly music video. I got a lot of comments to the entry assuming somehow that I was Nelly. I guess people are just that dumb.
posted by gyc at 12:15 PM on January 14, 2005

i don't know why you wouldn't assume that *all* the comments are in jest. for example, the missive below first appears straightforward and earnest. but wait, a "huge fan" who first heard the news on the fake blog? right! i live in a complete media vacuum, but i stumbled upon jennifer anniston's blog... a few humorous but subtle misspellings. nicely done.

if i made a fake blog (which i would never do), the first thing i would do is fill it up with seemingly naive comments and then laugh when those who thought they could see through the ruse attacked the imaginary rubes. that's where the action's at.

###
this is the first that i'm hearing this. i'm so sorry. but i'm glad that you and brad are still close friends. thats is always good. i'm always going to be a huge fan of yours. it doesn't mater what you plan on doing in life. i never choose sides. i'm always there for everyone!

xoxo,
Mary
posted by nequalsone at 12:27 PM on January 14, 2005

See also Ron Jeremy's blog.

(Fake as well in case anyone wondered)
posted by Berend at 12:34 PM on January 14, 2005

Best phrase there:

"It sucks that people have too much time on their hands and they feel the need to be rude to you."

Casting the first stone, from the blog of a star of a cancelled show...
posted by Busithoth at 12:48 PM on January 14, 2005

Although there certainly exists a certain amount of justification for the assumption that any appearance of a celebrity on the 'net is a hoax perpetrated by someone in desperate need of attention, there are many examples of celebrities maintaining websites and blogs.

I've seen a lot of assumptions being made in this thread - assuming this blog isn't real, assuming people are idiots. I do think there's some merit to the "willful disbelief" idea, but what about people being trusting (or naive, depending on how you look at it)? Personally, I can recall a time a few years ago when I interacted on AOLIM with a musician that was recieving a lot of airplay and whom my friends and I were big fans of... just by getting on a fan listserv that he contributed to. None of my friends believed me until the conversations became personal enough that it was pretty hard to doubt the veracity of his claims. All musicians have communities, and many communities in real life today also have some presence on the internet.

Famous people are people, too. What makes y'all assume that they have no interest in social networking?
posted by Embryo at 12:51 PM on January 14, 2005

I share a birthday with John Stamos (pinch me - I think I'm dreaming...) Anyhow, I got comments from three women congratulating me and telling me how hot I was. I don't look like John Stamos, don't have the allure of John Stamos nor am I even in the same zip code but these people seemed oblivious.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 1:11 PM on January 14, 2005

> Is it really necessary to troll a fansite and direct them here? (Is "a"
> really a mefi member?)

An army of lawyers has been dispatched. IP address subponea will ensue.
posted by NewBornHippy at 1:13 PM on January 14, 2005

I don't think their split is interesting. People get divorced all the time. I do think people's reaction to it, and the reactions to the reactions are interesting. Why do people care so much about stuff that doesn't affect them a sniff? (like 1. the break up of a marriage of people they've never met and 2. other people's emotional reactions to that non-news news.)
posted by raedyn at 1:28 PM on January 14, 2005

You Must Be a Member to Do That!

MySpace is FREE, and it only takes a second to join!

no thanks
posted by mr.marx at 1:32 PM on January 14, 2005

OMG, Jennifer and Brad spit up?!?!
posted by kamylyon at 1:50 PM on January 14, 2005

I don't think their split is interesting. People get divorced all the time. I do think people's reaction to it, and the reactions to the reactions are interesting. Why do people care so much about stuff that doesn't affect them a sniff?

This canned reaction to people's interest in celebrities is about as tired as people's interest in celebrities.
posted by xmutex at 1:57 PM on January 14, 2005

You Must Be a Member to Do That!

MySpace is FREE, and it only takes a second to join!

no thanks

My thoughts exactly. I hate posts that link you to some site where you have to register.
posted by DieHipsterDie at 2:31 PM on January 14, 2005

I also don't want to register, but since no one brought it up before this, maybe the blog is off-line? Could anyone check?
posted by Monday at 2:43 PM on January 14, 2005

Yeah, this link was in no way register-only when it was posted.
posted by xmutex at 2:48 PM on January 14, 2005

I got in through paulychamp's link:

Ugh. But it is real. She says so herself, right here!
posted by paulychamp at 2:40 PM EST on January 14

It was enough for a taste...
I for one firmly believe it's you. And so does Sarah (my girlfriend) who is just flipping out knowing that you are one of my newest myspace friends.

It is really too pathetic to be amusing.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 3:22 PM on January 14, 2005

It was definitely registration-free when posted.
posted by Bugbread at 3:31 PM on January 14, 2005

I thought it was registration free when posted, otherwise that would've been on of the first three comments.
posted by Monday at 4:00 PM on January 14, 2005

Jennifer and Brad who?
posted by kamylyon at 4:07 PM on January 14, 2005

This link might work.
posted by Hankins at 5:01 PM on January 14, 2005

Huh. Yeah, the link was definitely free when I posted it. Maybe because of all the MeFi hits it went to "you must register"?
posted by braun_richard at 5:27 PM on January 14, 2005

Famous people are people, too. What makes y'all assume that they have no interest in social networking?

In this case I think it's more a question of believing that a successful 35 year old actor would have a "myspace" blog. It's true that plenty of famous and semi-famous people (especially musicians, writers & artists) have web presences, but they are usually quite tailored and individual, and reasonably professional. To join a teenagey chatty livejournaly typa thing seems particular to a certain demographic to which jennifer aniston does not belong.

However, if I were famous, I might find it hard to resist setting up such a blog for the very reason that no one would think it was real... basically, it could only happen as a piece of performance art.
posted by mdn at 5:47 PM on January 14, 2005

myspace is tailored to promote artistic work - it's not a livejournally thing. i can name about 5 professional (well-known, major-label-signed) musicians with myspace pages off the top of my head.
posted by Embryo at 1:24 AM on January 15, 2005

huh. Okay, it doesn't read that way on first glance, esp. not with the teenagey comments. But I've never been there before. What makes you sure the pros you're thinking of are legit sites, though?

Now that I think of it, there are some pretty well known people with livejournals, too - but they tend to be 'well known' in small circles...
posted by mdn at 6:00 AM on January 15, 2005

well, those are musicians within my personal sphere of awareness, of course - i'm sure there are others. i know they're legit because they're tied to internet musician communities and have a personal presence on the internet. and yeah - i mean, the same is true with these guys, they are well-known in certain circles, but some have near-houshold-name status. shrug. it's a small world, truly.
posted by Embryo at 8:48 AM on January 15, 2005

You Must Be a Member to Do That!

And I so wanted to give her my condolences (and *ahem* get Brad's number).

*sniff*
posted by deborah at 9:28 AM on January 15, 2005

"The user has not posted a Blog. Send them a message and tell him/her about the blog!"

Methinks it's gone.
posted by tomble at 9:33 PM on January 18, 2005