Got Milk? Got Meme?

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Pamela

When thinking about this project, it was easy for me to pick “Got Milk? as an example of a viral visual image. Got Milk? is an advertisement campaign designed to help increase milk sales in the United States. Since the launch of the campaign thousands of parodies and imitations have been created. Greis explains that “…new technologies afford opportunities for amateurs to create, publish, and distribute and social critique at viral speeds, making possible, in part, what Henry Jenkins (2006) has dubbed a “participatory culture.” (340).

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Advice Dog

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Pamela

The idea that a single image is capable of generating so much discourse over such a large scale is amazing. Internet memes have become an indespensible part of the web and woven in our culture. For example, Advice Dog, as seen below, originated from a Mario fan-site, The Mushroom Kingdom and was created in 2006. It started with a picture of a dog’s head with a multicolored color wheel background behind it. From there, Advice Dog developed into many variations of memes.

Image result for advice dog

Advice Dog Advice Lady

As mentioned in the Lauri Greis article, “Studies of transformation are especially useful in tracking how images undergo change in ways unanticipated by the “original” image’s designer and spark unexpected consequences.” (344), Advice Dog shows how an image can be circulated and transform with space and time. Whether the text changes with the same image or the image changes with the same text, it contributes to a rhetorical collaboration.

According to Cohen and Kenny “to participate in the meme requires an understanding of the linguistic nature of the meme itself.” (89). This can be seen with Advice Dog in which it is typical to combine two completely unrelated pieces of advice together. The genuine good advice, given at the top, is usually followed by a bad or humorous advice given at the bottom. While the linguistic nature of the meme is culturally understood by the participants who create and post, each meme has its own identity and its own message.

Courtesy of Cats

Posted on October 18, 2015 by Pamela

Having recently acquired at cat, I felt right at home in the Museum of the Moving Image. Among the large collection of featured artifacts is the exhibit, How Cats Took Over the Internet.The exhibit include images, videos, and GIFs range from cute and cuddly to strange and unusual with anthropomorphic characteristics. But what makes such a big phenomenon is the various paradoxes, otherwise known as memes. Essentially, “a meme is a piece of culture, typically a joke, which gains influence through online transmission” (Davison). The museum also has interactive stations where people can upload and share their own photos and videos.

What made the biggest impact on me was the collaborated effort in constructing these memes. Memes are subjective and particularly with the cat memes, each person puts their own personal spin on it. Whether the photographs are manipulated or unfinished, the idea that people spend so much time and effort making these memes, shows how social media has influenced society today and how much enjoyment people get from cats. Therefore the cat memes have become a attribution with multiple levels and degrees of collaboration.

In fact, according to a university press release, Media professor Jessica Gall Myrick, surveyed around 7,000 people and reported that watching cat videos increased their energy and positive emotions. She also claims that we need to research internet cats to understand the effects of the internet.

The best part of my visit was having the opportunity to interact and create a cat meme of my own. Of course, I was quite happy to participate and join the millions of people who create cat memes.

Social Media and Fandom Communities

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Pamela

Unlike the days of the past, what it means to be a fan has taken on a whole new meaning. Social media has made it possible for groups of dedicated fans to collectively create an environment to openly and enthusiastically share their fascinations. The “fandom” phenomenon not only provides a place for fans to express themselves, but fosters creativity, engages a multitude of cultural diversities, challenges traditional behavior, and changes how ideas and passions are expressed. In Producing New and Digital Media, Cohen and Kenny explain that multimedia platforms has afforded the convergence of media content (13). Cohen and Kenny also explain that the fandom group are fantic to the point of creating a community that acts as small kingdoms of shared common interest (33).

So when the video entitled “Can Fandom Change Society?” published by Off Book, PBS Digital Studios, on September 6, 2012, posed the question; the answer seems all too obvious; fandom can change society. As highlighted in the video, fandom has brought people from all walks of life together and provides a niche where people feel they are not alone. Even if they never meet in the real world, they share a communal identity and though their online connection, the interest of a few can now easily become the interest of millions in a mere matter of seconds. Fandom has in fact, changed how we interact with the media such as tv shows, movies, and music. No longer does a show end when it is finished but it can have a infinite life span kept alive by comments and blogs. Our views and beliefs have a place to be heard and challenged and we are able to move beyond the socially acceptable behavior or what is considered the norm.

As an example, the fans of Star Trek, commonly known as Trekkies, enjoy the series like many other but unlike many, they exessively discuss continuity errors within the show, they argue passionately about the show and they are often extremely knowledgeable. Often, members of a fandom connect with each other through things like conventions and zines and fanfiction, an art form when someone takes either the story or characters (or both) of a certain piece of work, whether it be a novel, tv show, movie, etc, and create their own story based on it. Sometimes people will take characters from one movie and put them in another, which is called a crossover.

Class Notes 10/1/15

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Pamela

Today we continued our discussion on blogging.

Remember we can take class notes directly onto the OL post.

HW : Be on the look out for a class discussion posted about the Buzz.

Purpose of lighting talks: gets everyone talking and gives us experience and confidence. Helps us to make good presentations. It is an important skill and we will do it almost every week.

Today’s Presentations:

Pamela: Newspapers to News Blogs

Jodi: A look at Millennial Discourse Communities

Ashley: Are Curls Slowly taking over the Blogsphere?

Samantha: Blog Presentation Hony

Mariah: The Non-Shady Post about a Shady Blog

Comments: The presentations were well done however, we must state why the topic was picked, define terms, talk more about the tools and how the site functions in site’s communities, use visuals, and bring in other examples.

Next week’s presentations topics:

Pamela: Facebook

Ashley: Instagram

Samantha: Twitter

Mariah: Tumblr

Jodi: LinkedIn

The blogs must be done in Prezi. Presenters must also post a comment on their experience using Prezi.

Next week, we will also experiment with different types of software.

Newspaper to News Blog

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Pamela

This blog is about how news reporting and viewing has changed since the evolution of digital media. The number of people getting their news from blog instead of the traditional mediums of newspapers and radios has drastically declined. In comparison, the number of people who turn to news blogs to discover facts, views, and perspectives on stories is on an upward trend. In this blog, I discuss the advantages and disadvantages of getting the news though digital media. I hope to make the point that the news is just as important as it always was but now we can have more of a connection to it.

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Response Blog #4 – Ethics for Bloggers

Posted on September 27, 2015 by Pamela

As a new blogger, I find blogging to be one of the best ways for self expression. Writing has always been my thing and as a shy child, it was my way of expressing my thoughts and the things I wanted to talk about. At secondary school, my essays would often be displayed around the building and that was a confidence booster. So I can see why so many people enjoy it. The idea that we can attract a community around us and singularly share our creative content has a powerful effect on bloggers. But as with each technology, blogging has its affordances and constraints. With blogging sites being so easy to setup, it is important for each blogger to design their webpage with integrity and responsibility.

Although bloggers enjoy the fact that they can build relationships with their readers, which involves making it easy for them to connect and share information, I think what most people like is that sense of uncensored freedom that blogging affords. However, it is that same uncensored freedom that Carroll warns against in Writing for Blogs (Carroll 184). Without a standardized code of ethics, the casual style of writing is often misused and misguided. While it is true that not all bloggers are journalists, Carroll says that bloggers should seek truth and be honest, minimize harm, act independently and be accountable (Carroll 185). I believe that responsible bloggers have an obligation to their readers to show that they can be trusted. Depending on both content and context, the public have a right to reliable information.

I believe that the most important quality of blogging is to be genuine and honest. But being honest isn’t always easy. Advertising is growing vigorously and online media has given it that boost it needs to flourish. Bloggers are bombarded with offers of free products in exchange for them giving a review on their webpage. How can viewers be sure of the integrity of the blogger and the content? Bloggers have to be mindful of obligations that could influence their content and exercise caution even if it means that they have to refuse products or services. It is far better not to align creator content with advertisements but if there is an agreement, then bloggers should be prepared to offer full disclosure.

It is a blogger’s duty to uphold the truth even if that means admitting a mistake. Carroll’s advice is that if a correction is needed, the blogger should first of all, take responsibility for the error and correct the mistake immediately (Carroll 188). The best way for bloggers to guard against inaccuracies is to be clear between what is an opinion and what a fact.

Should Wikipedia encourage writing from an embodied position?

Posted on September 27, 2015 by Pamela

Gruwell argues that “Wikipedia’s insistence on separating embodied subjectivity from the production of knowledge limits the site’s ability to facilitate any substantial, subversive feminist rhetorical action” (Gruwell, 117).

Putting gender issues aside, I wonder what would happen if Wikipedia did encourage it’s contributors to include their personal experience. As an encyclopedia, I think it has to be neutral and should not be used to push personal agendas. Afterall, it’s not personal.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

Digital Journalism Additional Comments

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Pamela

To further elaborate on a point already mentioned in our blogs, in the past, we as consumers would go to a credible source to get the news. Now in this digital age, it seems to me that we don’t really think about who is reporting the news, only what it is. Maybe, in the past, it was essential to know that established organizations like CNN or the New York Times was informing us on what was important, but this generation cares more about the content and not who produced it. I believe that there is no more loyalty in newspaper branding and that we seem to care more about believability than credibility. So we are left with faceless journalism that empowers us as individuals to customize our news or archaic reporting with limitations that cannot compete with digital journalism.

ENG 2720: Writing with New Media

Professor Belli, Fall 2015

Author Archives: Pamela