Virality of social media in the 18th century is
very different than virality of social media in the 21st century.
This can be seen through Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense and the meme Why The F**k You Lyin’. Common Sense voiced
America’s independence and was the most popular and influential pamphlets of
the American Revolution (Standage 146). People saw this piece of writing as
very radical and extremist, which is why it had such a large impact on the
American Revolution.
The way that Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was able to reach such a large number of people is
comparable to virality today, especially with the meme Why the F**k You Lyin’. This meme started when Nicholas Fraser
posted a vine with the caption “That one person that’s sways lying on what they
own”, he then proceeded to listen to a person tell a lie, and then the video
cuts to him singing “Why the f**k you lyin’” to the song “Too Close”. As of
September 7, 2015 the original vine had over 31,000 likes and was looped over 1
million times. The success of this one vine has caused many other people to
create similar videos and Fraser even released a music video of him singing the
entire song.
Kevin Allocca describes three key events that take part when
content goes viral. First a tastemaker introduces the content, second community
participation allows for the content to be recreated, and lastly the content is
unexpected. These three events can be seen through Common Sense and the meme Why
the F**k You Lyin’ but the difference of virality can be seen through the
two articulations of media modes of production.
The first articulation of media modes of production
describes how media is a mode of communication, mode of affect, and mode of
accumulation. This can be seen through Thomas Paine’s Common Sense as it outlined an extremist view during the American
Revolution. Common Sense was made
popular through its publication in print and through word of mouth. The second
articulation consists of creation/production, distribution/circulation, and
consumption/ reception. This can be seen through the meme Why the F**k You Lyin’ as it gained popularity very quickly on the Internet.
The main difference between virality in the 18th
century and 21st century is how quickly information can spread.
Through the Internet information spreads much more quickly and people are able
to recreate content much faster. In the 21st century it is also
easier to reach a large audience because you can make one post on the Internet
and they post can be seen by thousands of people within a few hours. Through
print and word of mouth information did not move as quickly as it does today.
I'm really glad that someone blogged about this meme, it is one of my new favourites. I was truly amazed when a friend sent me the "Why the F**k You Lyin'" link, and then it went viral within a couple of hours. Hence, this is a perfect example of how a silly video can go viral with the power of the Internet. I believe that the creators of this video understood that this meme would create a mode of communication for society to express this kind of humour.
ReplyDeleteI have only recently seen this awesome song “Why You Always Lyin’” and now it always gets stuck in my head every time I hear the word “lying”. This song is so simple and foolish, but in todays society people fiend this type of music. In my opinion I think that songs such as “Why You Always Lyin’”, “Friday” or even “What Does The Fox Say” all have catchy tunes, ridiculous meanings, and easy to memorize lyrics, which encourages people to adore the song. (I will admit that I am guilty of having all these songs on my IPod).
ReplyDeleteThe other day on my newsfeed I came across this picture that I have attached a link to below (unfortunately my friend has a limited profile and I cant share the link to her post to you but I found it posted on Twitter as well by different users). Someone took the “Why You Always Lyin” song and appropriated the lyrics. I found this hilarious because the words spoke to me personally as a student – relating to how I always spend more money than I should. I enjoy when consumers are just as creative as the producers, it makes being on social media a joy and always a surprise to what you can find on your newsfeed.
https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xaf1/t51.2885-15/s320x320/e35/11373909_1685883974985639_1505463723_n.jpg
Yes! So happy to see this, I love this meme and its one of my newest favourites. This video and photo now used all the time, is a perfect example of how something so effortless, silly and not intended to go viral, often do. It's crazy to think of something like this going completely viral with the power of the Internet, especially when in comparison to what used to go viral like "Common Sense".
ReplyDeleteI have seen many variations of the meme and really enjoyed the "Why you always buying?" one about the bank account. Also, using the "Why the F*** you lying" meme in the context of a significant other stating that their phone is dead or that they didn't get the text message. I find the post quite funny and I'm glad you shared it.
As with the other people who commented on this post, this is one of my favourite memes of all time. No matter how many times I watch it, it always has the same effect on me and I can't contain my laughter.
ReplyDeleteThe other reason why I think that this meme was able to go viral was because of the song that was used to produced the video. The song "Too close" by Next gives off a sense of nostalgia for those born in the 80's and 90's and R&B lovers alike. It reminds them of the classic R&B songs of the past while it is simultaneously being used for comedy. This further allowed the meme to reach a larger audience.
Great post Christine!
The moment I read your blog post title, I knew I had to comment. I am in agreement with my fellow commenters above in that I absolutely love this meme as well, it is one of the funniest meme's I have seen and it is always used perfectly. In comparison to Paine's "Common Sense," is interesting that a meme of such simplicity can be spread virally in our digital society through social media due to is vast reach capabilities.
ReplyDelete