I thought dinosaurs were extinct?

From lolcats to rickrolling and from rage comics to memes, online gimmicks have become increasingly prominent in contemporary culture and with advances in digital media; websites such as knowyourmemes.com have become popular interactive communities for net users. Consequently, viral images in the form of memes have evolved into a genre with its own established culture and characteristics.

Clay Shirky (2010) argues that technology and the prominence of online communities enabled by convergent social media have led humanity into a golden era. The barriers between producer and audience have been drastically lowered and people are now capable of shifting from their traditional roles as passive consumers to active cultural producers (Shirky 2010, 18 - 20). Quality is essentially secondary because it is not created by professionals; therefore it is not expected to portray the aesthetics of a professionally produced work. Memes may appear to be silly on the surface but they are still creative and invoke thinking by people who access them and this can only be made possible by freely experimenting and sharing within online communities. Shirky further adds that, the new digital era will continue to evolve as more individuals realise they are no longer dictated to by cultural industries and can now congregate to use media tools in creating their own culture.

Furthermore, as a form of resistance against cultural industries, many memes attempt to twist the meanings of original works or professional crafted star images. One particular trait of this culture is that there appear to be no boundary when it comes to the creation of memes. While it is common for memes to mock the source texts, the straight forwardness of memes can be of vicious and vulgar nature. For instance, the Anthony Davis memes shared in the previous posts of this blog demonstrate that memes are seemingly created with a "no holds barred- everything-goes" mindset. A good majority of Anthony Davis related memes mocks his facial features. Memes related to multiple time NBA all-star and 2008 Olympic gold medallist Chris Bosh, appropriate the same tone.

 

 

 

 

 

 



This free production model enabled by convergence and anonymity has fostered many values such as increasing diversity, forming consensus, creating identity and expressing ideas. By no means, are memes considered high-end art but they are certainly becoming a staple in mass culture. As Shirky (2010) argues, in reference to 4chan, they are extremely protective of their rights to free speech and strongly promote information sharing and user anonymity.  While memes were first assembled as a celebration of internet culture, it has gradually become an influential form of expression due to the ability for users to mass create. The straight forwardness of the content, made by ordinary individuals perhaps can reveal traits of consumption and production within society itself, such as the relentless pursuit for instant entertainment, regardless of the potential ramifications that it may bring.





Shirky then concludes that though they first assembled
to celebrate their Internet culture, they then became more civically active because
of their ability to create (Shirky, TED). In 2008, users manifested 4chan’s political
aspirations into the democratic hacker-activist network, “Anonymous,” which takes
its name from the forum’s membership because it only wields its collective power
when there is majority consensus, similar to how a meme only gains strength through
numbers and connection. Although it has no sole leader and instead functions like
the hive mind in 4chan, it has protested against the Church of Scientology, supported
Wikileaks and its founder Julian Assange, and harshly criticized illegal online corporate
actions.