Monday, January 26, 2009
Art 211 - Entry 2
Internet memes have been a constant part of anyone’s life, be it knowing or unknowing. With the birth of one of the first memes, the “hamster dance”, it was common practice to send links of the sites hosing these to everyone you knew. Much like chain letters were common with the traditional snail-mail, meme’s are constantly spread, instantaneously, over emails, IM’s, or posts on blogs and social networking sites.
Traditionally, memes are simple inside jokes spread from one person to another via word of mouth or story telling. Internet memes, however, can become as unexpected as ever. The classic example would be “Rickrolling” someone. This classic “made you look” concept has been taken to a new level, with someone sending a hyperlink with a title such as,
“HOT NEW AMAZING GAMEPLAY FOOTAGE FOR HALO 3 RECON!!!111”
Clicking that above link will take you to a YouTube video of Rick Astley’s song, “Never Gonna Give You Up”. Congratulations, you’ve be rickrolled. This meme, among others, was started through an online message board, namely a site called 4chan. As others will, I’m sure, correct me on this, rickrolling is the most common form of a publicly-known meme. While others have been spread willingly, such as the “Star Wars Kid”, and the newer “Don’t tase me, Bro!”, the most common way of introducing a meme is by tricking someone into it, such as above. These inside jokes could only be spread through digital mediums, and thanks to the popularity of social networking and video hosting, they will continue to be spread across the vast tubes of the internet for over nine thousand years to come.
Oh, and by the way, you just lost the game.
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I actually appreciate the humorous/satirical spin you put on the advancement of digital technologies. It goes along very well with the entire theme of "Digital Technologies as a Tool" - yeah, a tool for constant headaches, worthless internet arguments, etc. The entire advancement of digital components have brought about an entire advancement of annoyance (most of the time), but some are quite funny and demonstrate how users all around the world can turn a small, funny idea into a world-wide hit.
ReplyDeleteOne big cause for this, like you've mentioned, has been because of the social-networking sites. Nowadays it seems as if everything popular over the internet starts or forms on sites like these one way or another. And the "made-you-look" concept has been around forever, it's just people have become more clever with the entire process. It's just become more and more annoying.
-Collin Mehalick
I think that memes are the perfect example of digital art. They exist purely online, and are accessible by everyone. Without the internet, even the concept of memes couldn't exist. As Collin pointed out, the advancement of digital technology has created an entirely new culture, and memes are a vital part of that culture. They may be annoying, but without them, the internet just wouldn't be the same. The same could be said of trolls, spam, etc. Just as graffiti both mars cities and adds to their character and atmosphere, memes and other online annoyances are what makes the online world so special.
ReplyDeleteMemes are, to me, are the main for of entertainment on the internet. The memes spread like a virus, and the ones I have viewed are mostly comedic. From the Sparta howl to the Tourettes Guy sayings, memes are really what make the internet stand out. These really are the "inside jokes" of the internet. They, for this reason, can be dubbed art in a way. They amuse anyone who ventures to see them, and they will attract attention for a long time. They can be annoying, but so can art like graffiti. The truth is, it's still art. Another fact is that everyone who sees these memes are prone to usually joke about it with other internet goers and create a sort of inside brotherhood of comedy.
ReplyDeleteCurses! RickRoll’d Again. It is amazing how Internet memes have started to present themselves in mainstream media aside from Internet forums. Case in point:
ReplyDeleteCN's RickRoll during the Thanksgiving Day parade:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bfNgekJG4M
Weezer’s Pork and Beans Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muP9eH2p2PI
Even Penn State’s computer store has used a LOLcats advertising campaign for the 2008 school year. Since people are living their lives on the Internet, companies have started taking marketing material from the Internet. It would only make sense to start seeing these Internet memes in commercials and movies. In fact, some movies have become infamous Internet memes, which shortens the gap between the two sources even further. Remember X-Men 3 and the Juggernaut? I definitely agree that these would not have become so wide spread if nearly instantaneous forms of communication like email were not popular.