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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.
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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."。

Thus, a meme was born, one that you're almost certainly familiar with: Overly Attached Girlfriend.。

The Overly Attached Girlfriend character is a stereotypically clingy girl, obsessed with knowing what her boyfriend (at least, her perceived boyfriend) is up to. Morris's lyrics -- "If I was your girlfriend / I wouldn't let you leave / without a small recording device / taped under your sleeve" -- are hyperbolic and goofy, but it's her enormous, I'm-watching-you eyes that catapulted the video to internet fame.。

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People still approach her in public occasionally.。

SEE ALSO:Remembering Advice Animals, one of the internet's first viral memes 。

Overly Attached Girlfriend is the perfect emblem of the 2012 internet landscape, where parody videos and zany personae reigned supreme. Luckily, that online environment dovetailed perfectly with Laina's interests: parodying songs and creating characters.。

Add a catchy, already-famous pop song, a strong visual, and a third-party memeification, and it's easy to see why Morris went viral. After all, we were all still enjoying the fun version of the internet. 。

"I just feel like the internet is a different place today than it was six years ago." 。

"I've thought about [whether it would go viral again] before," Morris said, "and if I had to guess, I don't think it would. I just feel like the internet is a different place today than it was six years ago."。 She does, however, appear admirably chill about her brush with viral fame. Despite a successful YouTube channel, numerous television appearances, and a host of fans who love 。all。

all。

her work, Morris is still known primarily for being the Overly Attached Girlfriend. And she doesn't mind at all. 。

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