There is a bizarre internet conspiracy brewing and if you have not yet heard the name Marina Rose Joyce, we are here to enlighten you.
Marina Rose Joyce is a YouTube celebrity from the UK, who kicked off her career at just 15 years old. The now 19-year-old is known for her upbeat videos about life, beauty and makeup. She suddenly hit the headlines this week, when her 1 million followers became increasingly concerned for her safety due to what they perceived as the declining state of Joyce in hervideos.
SEE ALSO: Fans of YouTube vlogger Marina Joyce fear for her safety after ‘mysterious’ tweet
It all started with an anonymous blog post on JustPaste.it. The post caused the internet to freak out, with #SaveMarinaJoyce and #SaveMariaJoyce trending on Twitter across the world. Since then, things have progressively spiraled out of control with thousands of people searching through her social media presence for clues.
Joyce has tried to calm frantic fans by doing two live videos, bringing her mother in for verification and tweeting out random bits of information. So far, the internet is still hooked on finding out what is really going on.
There are a number of conspiracy theories that can lead you down a deep, dark internet hole. So we are going to break it down for you. To keep us on the straight and narrow, it should be noted that police visited the home of Joyce and tweeted out that she is alive and well.
This theory is the one that started the whole saga. In her recent video called Date Outfit Ideas, which was posted July 22, it appears she is being coerced by someone outside of the shot. This also happens in other videos, where Joyce can be seen looking off to the side of the camera as she speaks.
The JustPaste.it document states:
I have the feeling, along with many other people, that someone is forcing marina to make these videos (most likely her boyfriend, but it is possible that she could have been kidnapped.) or she’s overdosing on drugs. her eyes keep trailing off behind the camera and her body language makes her seem incredibly uncomfortable. almost like she’s repeating what someone else is doing. she can barely stand still, she’s shaking, and her body appears stiff and wobbly.
The armchair investigators point to four things in the date outfit video: a whisper of “help me” at the 13-second mark, bruises on Joyce’s arm, a script spotted on the left hand side of screen and the strange appearance of a random finger.
In the video, Joyce appears wide-eyed and dazed, striking bizarre poses as she repeats her words and giggles like a child. Her behavior in the video seems different compared to that of her earlier videos.
This theory was put to bed by her mother, who appeared in an interview online on Thursday (below). Cheryl Joyce explained the bruises were due to Joyce being clumsy and falling over in the park, the “help me” comment, the finger and the script was simply her directing her daughter in the video.
“She wanted me to help her with the camera, and it is my voice … so I said to her ‘turn around’ and then I whispered ‘like me,'” Cheryl said to YouTuber Aaron Currey.
The other thing that plays into the kidnap theory is what appears to be a rifle, which was spotted in the background of one of Joyce’s videos. In an interview on Thursday with Scarce, she said it was a BB gun. There were even photographs doing the rounds that showed men in scream masks in a reflection, the original tweet has now been deleted.
Then there are the blue lines, which have appeared on her face in recent days. Many people are speculating it is just one of many signals that Joyce has been trying to send a message that she is in trouble. Many commenters have claimed that the blue lines are a symbol of a UK domestic violence agency.
“The Blue Line” is in fact a law enforcement website for career information. There are no obvious domestic violence organizations that use a blue line as their symbol. There is an organization in the UK called “No More,” which has a blue circle as its symbol but that seems a stretch that Joyce would be somehow referencing that.
Joyce has always used glitter and make up in interesting ways, so these lines are not out of the ordinary.
Theory #2: Islamic State is involved somehow
This is definitely a far-fetched theory. Somehow word spread that Joyce had been kidnapped by the terrorist organization and was organizing a meetup to lure teenagers to a terror attack. It followed on from a tweet in which she asked her fans to go to a rave, Morning Gloryville, to meet her.
And Joyce herself put this theory to rest. She has given an interview to The Sun in which she played down fears that she’d been kidnapped by the Islamic State (ISIS).
“The first I knew of it was when I saw the hashtag trending and people started to get worried.
“People really care about me and it went crazy and blew up. People out there are really kind.
“I care about my YouTube channel and after this I have got lots more viewers which is really good. But I am really OK. There are no ISIS terrorists here.”
Theory #3: It is a scam for publicity
It has happened before and it could happen again. The internet is a wild place where people attempt to spin the truth. An example is the story of LonelyGirl, a YouTuber named Bree from the ’00s who made dorky videos from her home.
After three years of videos, it was discovered that Lonely Girl was a hoax for a social experiment. The main takeaway? Doubt everything online.
If this did turn out to be a social experiment, an ad or a hoax for publicity — Joyce has mentioned the attention the scare has brought to her YouTube channel — it has been a dedicated project over the course of years. Joyce told her fans on Thursday night that if it was a publicity stunt, it was crafted by her viewers, not her.
Theory #4: She has a problem with drugs
Joyce answered these claims directly in multiple videos, saying she is sober and that no one needs to worry. This theory was raised in the JustPaste.it document, which links to two of Joyce’s friends sharing social media posts involving drug use.
Some have tried to connect her involvement with raves to recreational drug use, but the rave she shared for the meet up with her followers prides itself on its clean message.
“We’re a sober morning dance party, passionate about connecting through clean fun. We’ve been on this mission for over 3 years, turning clubbing on its head, offering morning dance parties that involve great music, soul nourishing healthy snacks & drinks, yoga and massage and loving connection,” Morning Gloryville wrote on Facebook.
Online sleuths also pointed out there were empty containers in her room, which they claimed were associated with drug use. However, the containers could be for prescribed medication.
In an interview with Philip DeFranco, who runs a YouTube news channel, Joyce opens up about these accusations. “I promise you that I am not taking drugs. I would never do that. Mainly because of my viewers, I really care about my viewers,” she said. “I go to drug-free events. I go to raves, but the raves that I am going to are drug-free raves.”
