Blog Post #2- Life Instagrammed

In recent years, the digital media industry has been reconfigured from communicative media to a digital representation of the user. Avid users of social media platforms, like Instagram, often contend that their profiles disseminate an accurate and authentic portrayal of themselves. However, over the past several weeks, users considered to be “Instagram famous”, like Essena O’Neil, have come forward dispelling this myth. O’Neil made a public proclamation about the falsities surrounding the profiles of “Instagram celebrities”. According to both O’Neil and, to a lesser degree, Lilli Hymowitz, what appear to be authentic representations of ‘famous’ Instagram users is typically nothing more than filtered photo shoots manufactured for Instagram. These false representations on platforms, like Instagram, that are promoted by the power of people and institutions to shape technology (Baym, 2015, p. 52), greatly contribute to “the anxiety about the interactivity of new digital media”.

In the chapter, “Making New Media Make Sense”, Nancy Baym describes four perspectives that attempt to account for the anxieties felt by digital media users. However, of the four, I believe that the social shaping of technology has the greatest impact on the user anxieties surrounding interactivity. According to Baym (2015) the social shaping of technology refers to the technological affordances of a specific platform, and how those affordances are used to “engineer particular kinds of sociality”, which then translate into establishing user norms on the platform (p. 51). Exemplified in the article, The Prom Queen of Social Media, the few elite users who have achieved the level of “Instagram famous” tactically edit, post and caption their pictures in a concerted effort to gain popularity. In the article, The Prom Queen of Social Media, Hymowitz stated, “I think people think I’m cooler than I am”. This quote effectively summarizes the direction of new digital media applications. Users are able to manipulate their online identities by strategically sharing a limited image of themselves; an image that adheres to the norms established by the technological affordances of the specific platform.

18TH VS. 21ST CENTURY VIRALITY

18^TH VS. 21^ST CENTURY VIRALITY

Looking at Thomas Paine’s pamphlet “Common Sense”, which helped spark the American Revolution in the 18^th century through it’s virality, and the 21^st century example of Drakes’ “Hotline Bling” memes, it’s clear that with the development of new social media platforms and technologies, which continue to blur the line between space and time, the media modes of production, or the various media forms and communication tools we use to create new media ecologies has endured much change throughout history.

“Common Sense”, which argued for independence and the creation of a new form of government while abandoning “the European traditions of hereditary monarchy and class-based societies”, gained symbolic meaning as it suddenly became a topic that, “transformed attitudes toward independence, which had previously been something many people were reluctant to talk about…”.  “Common Sense”, thus, became a mode of communication, or a social practice of creating symbolic meaning by using print to generate and spread new discourse across America.  “Common Sense” was inflicted with modes of affect, or emotion that was attached to its meaning, as it began to change people’s feelings and attitudes towards how their country should be ruled. Standage notes in his book that, “His pamphlet both revealed the extent of latent support for independence and won new converts to the cause”, suggesting that the widespread distribution of Paine’s pamphlet brought an important issue to the surface, which revealed similar, hidden stances about independence, as well as transformed the attitudes of many to support his argument. Standage points out in his book that Paine reduced the cost of his book to one shilling, donated proceeds to the colonists’ Continental Army, and “increased the circulation of the pamphlet by allowing more printers to copy it”, making his mode of accumulation less about capital and more about power (Standage, 2013).  What I mean by power, is that by increasing the circulation of his pamphlet and creating virality, he had the ability to reach a vast audience, giving him the potential to change many attitudes to support his argument.  Because “Common Sense” exemplifies how media modes of production work together to create symbolic meaning through communicative tools, change or develop new attitudes, feelings, and emotions towards a cause, and accumulate power by capturing the attention of a massive audience, I would therefore argue that 18^th century virality differs from 21^st century virality in that it illustrates the first distinctive conceptual articulation while modern day virality represents the second articulation of media modes of production.

            Drakes’ “Hotline Bling” meme is a modern-day example of how new technologies and sharing processes have created a whole new understanding of virality since the 18^th century. The second articulation, which is most applicable to modern-day mass media practices, is concerned with the process of how media artifacts are brought about and spread through culture, and the spatio-temporal relationships that exist throughout this process.  Looking at the spatio-temporal dynamics of relations of creativity and production, relations of distribution and circulation, and relations of consumption and reception, it’s evident that each of these relationships is dependent upon each other in the process of making something viral.  In relation to the “Hotline Bling” memes, it’s evident that once Drake released his music video, people began to tamper with the original images from the video to create and produce a new, imitated, version, which would then be distributed and circulated across social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and so on, to be shared, consumed and received on a mass, multi-platform level.  Because we have the ability to share so much information on such a large, multifaceted level today, and thus, develop new communities, cultures or societies as a result, the second articulation is most applicable to modern-day virality and Drakes’ “Hotline Bling” example, and the first articulation is most relevant to 18^th century virality as it mainly focused on changing as many attitudes as possible, creating new discourses, and accumulating power through communication rather than creating, circulating, and receiving information to merely be passed around.  

"Common Sense, Gangnam Style"

In a world that is inundated with a multitude of different message. In a world of publishing and resharing, there are few special messages that “go viral”. When a message has a sharp spike in its spread it becomes a culturally significant moment. This demarcated by the human & social characteristics of sharing, the speed in which it’s shared as well as the reach, in both the number of people exposed as well as the distances travelled/networks bridged.

As media forms and communicative practices are affected by the environment they take place in, the articulations as media modes of productions are also affected.

 

When Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" went viral in colonial America, 1776, it is in a very different process of Youtube's Most Watched Video OF ALL TIME - Gangnam style. However, the works of both this 16th century author who wrote in favour of independence, and the korean popstar with a materialistic crtitique of the new millenium both were wildly popular within their own audiences.

Thomas Paine's work was a pamphlet, which was at first anonymously printed in newspapers. It rose in popularity as it was both printed in sections (and developed a following) as well as being reprinted across the United States. It was also shared to the illiterate by being read aloud in taverns. This extended its reach beyond the newspaper reading population, and let it be discussed by a manjority of people. It discussed an issue that was relevant to all colonists at the time, as it argued for American Independence. Therefore, most people had a stake in it, and it also evoked a lot of feedback and responses that were sometimes published, but definitely shared themselves. This demand for "Common Sense" was due to the interested audience, and involvement that garnered it's virality.

 

Moving into the 21st Century, another media artifact that has been shared and discussed is PSY's Gangnam style. Nearing 2,500,000 views on Youtube, this video has gone viral in a very different context. In the digital world, something goes viral when it is introduced by a tastemaker, has a lot of community involvement, and is "novel" or "unique". Being Korean, despite a growing trend of K-Pop music, there is a general unfamilirity of having a korean song, this adds to the obscureness and "wtf" factor of the video. With his comedic antics, PSY's Gangnam style is both exotic, but the horse dance soon became all the familar. The "horse dance" allowed community members to participate, and soon after it went viral there were a slew of "Gangnam Style" remakes as audiences made their own versions. How did Gangnam style get introduced? This was both through mainstream articles from Gawker, Billboard, Time Magazine as well as a slew of social media sharing across websites like twitter and facebook. Gangnam Style was a decently popular song in South Korea, and thus got a lot of play in Videogame streamers, and spread across that community, where South Korea has a strong foothold. As an earworm, it spread across that community and soon "leaked" into the mainstream world -- and pushed PSY to the front of the global music scene.

 

 

 

 

Common Sense “That Could Only Mean 1 Thing”

Based on the virtually of social media in the 18^th century and Thomas Paine’s Common Sense pamphlet, the 21^st century version of this can be displayed through meme’s including Drake’s Hotline Bling music video. The song that was put on iTunes several months ago released a music video that instantly went viral. Copycats of the video, memes, and various video compilations were created and posted on the Internet for viewers to like, comment, and share a good laugh. One main difference between this famous video and Paine’s pamphlet is the outlet in which it was shared and distributed. Viral versus hard copy.

According to Kevin Allocca, 3 things must happen for media content to go “viral”, for instance, 1. Drake as the “taste maker” releasing his content to viewers on YouTube; 2. the participation of world viewers in creating a transformed version of Hotline Bling such as all of the memes and compilation videos essentially making fun of Drake’s dance moves; and lastly, 3. the novelty of this never being done before – people live for the unexpected content and to be entertained by something as small as a meme.

Whereas in historical context and the 18^th century, Thomas Paine produced a pamphlet titled Common Sense, which was a huge success among individuals of the American Revolution. The pamphlet elucidated the urge for independence from Great Britain in the mid to late 1700’s. As technology was slim and remote in the 18^th century the pamphlet had been read to troops, and circulated via print copies. From paperback novel copies to being quoted in numerous newspapers Paine’s Common Sense was delivered to the masses via printed copies and being read out loud to the masses. Similar to Drake’s Hotline Bling meme’s the Common Sense pamphlet was viewed by millions of people. Yet, with the advancement in technology and the use of social media, Drake’s music video would have circulated way faster to a larger audience. It is with this that we see the increase in digital technology and how it has the ability to distribute to millions, even billions of people with the click of a button.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVMoMRUifCY

Common Sense vs. Winter Is Coming

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was a pamphlet circulated throughout the 18^th century that reached “viral” status. Common Sense provided Americans with a radical view on America’s independence while simultaneously being easily digestible to a wide range of readers, thus becoming an influential piece of literature during this time. While Paine didn’t have the space-biased advantage of today’s modern technology, the virality of his content during this time is still seen today on a grander scale through digitally mediated networks. Within contemporary society, virality is embodied by images and videos that circulate the web at a rapid pace, reaching intense popularity only to soon become dated. Media theorist Joss Hands states “the transmission of memes and viral content carries a considerable amount of power as the propaganda does not land from above, but is passed on from your own associates” (Hands, 2014). Kevin Allocca attributes three primary events that occur once content reaches viral status. It begins with a tastemaker establishing the content, followed by community participation, which enables the content to be reconstructed and re-circulated, and then finally something unexpected often occurs. This process of virality is demonstrated in both Paine’s Common Sense and the meme Winter Is Coming.

Winter Is Coming displays an image of Ned Stark a character from the incredibly popular television series Game of Thrones staring into the distance at the impending winter ahead. The meme features the words “Brace Yourselves ______ Is Coming” and is extremely adaptable to express excitement or anticipation about an event or product. This meme is particularly relevant due to the wildly successful nature of the show, consequently reflecting the elements of the viral process described by Alloca. Winter Is Coming has been particularly successful with respect to the second articulation of virality, community participation. Community participation is bolstered by the ongoing success of the show, which allows the content to remain relevant. Furthermore, this meme is utilized to express expectation of an event, which allows each meme to be relevant leading up to said event.

            Consequently, the viral nature of any media artefact (digital and non-digital) is measured through it’s relevance within social spheres. While viral products have evolved from physical texts to digital media, the importance of these cultural products are of equal importance and reveal the interests and values of a society.

1-800-HOTLINEBLING

                 Recently, Drake's "Hotline Bling" music video created a frenzy across social media platforms as Internet users had a field day creating parody's based on Drake's strange dance moves in the video. Within a matter of hours there were numerous variations of the video floating around the Internet across social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Vine, etc. With the emergence of social media the ability of rapidly sharing content across transnational borders has become increasingly easier. With that being said, the concept of media content reaching a viral level dates back to the 18th century, as seen in Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense. Within ten days, Common Sense had been distributed to New York, Virginia, and Massachusetts as the pamphlets were shared with families, friends, and colleagues (Standage 141) while also being shared in the post as well as through the political sphere. Additionally, Paine increased the rapid spread of his pamphlet by allowing an increasing number of printers to copy it as they flooded in to capitalize on the popularity of Common Sense (Standage 143). Through a comparison of the aforementioned rapid dispersement of media in the 18th century to the contemporary means of content going viral, differences can be seen. In today's digital society, content is shares through the Internet in which has a much larger reach than word-of-mouth or the sharing of physical media does. A YouTube video, such as Drake's "Hotline Bling," can reach millions of individuals in a matter of hours.                
                 Moreover, Kevin Allocca defines the concept of going viral as occurring when three things occur, "1) The content is introduced into the mediascape by a 'taste maker'; 2) Community participation that creatively transforms original content; and 3) The content must be 'unexpected' or novel." Allocca's ideas are evident through the virality of Drake's "Hotline Bling" parody videos as Drake can be seen as the 'taste maker,' the Internet community transformed the original content into humorous remakes, and the created content was always different, creative and unexpected. 

                  Although the concept of virality has existed for many years, it has evolved drastically in terms of production, consumption, and reach, through our technological advances.

Check out my favourite parody of "Hotline Bling," that appeared on the Ellen show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLveuzoauBo