Blog Post #4: Victoria Williams

 I have chosen to focus on the first articulation in media assemblages and ecologies when looking at media texts going viral, specifically in this case that will be Martin Luther’s 95 Theses and the “OH LAWD HE COMIN” internet cat meme. The first articulation focuses on relationships between different aspects that can go into media such as the actual content, the way that the message is carried, and the different ways that individuals are involved in the creation and sharing of the media text. When it comes to the first articulation, we can see that Martin Luther came up with ideas and then created this document highlighting them and then was able to spread the message (which became extremely popular as more copies were created and shared between different individuals) through physical copies of his document. First, Martin Luther created the text and shared it without thinking about the possibility of it becoming popular, and then other people who were interested in the issue contributed to the distribution of the physical copies of the document. The individuals consuming this document had to have a certain level of intelligence and understanding of the particular issue at hand (indulgences) and then felt the need to share the information either through more copies or word of mouth, as there was of course no such thing as social media.

When we look at the “OH LAWD HE COMIN” internet cat meme, the articulation is quite similar even though it was spread through social media and not physical documents. The cat meme came from the LOLcats trend, where images of funny cats were shared online with different captions to go along with the photo. The “OH LAWD HE COMIN” cat meme had different size cats and the joke was that the biggest cat was at the “OH LAWD HE COMIN” level. This went viral in a different way than Martin Luther’s 95 Theses of course, although the aspects that go into it can be seen as being similar. Someone had to have created the cat meme through an online photoshopping platform and then also share their funny creation with their friends and other  followers on social media. Individuals who thought that the meme was funny would have shared it for their own friends and followers to see, therefore creating a viral meme.


If you are interested in learning more about how media texts go viral, this is an interesting article that mentions the Ice Bucket Challenge and cat videos. I found it interesting that the author talks about how random it can be for something like a cat video to go viral and that a lot of the time it was not done on purpose.

https://www.finn.agency/how-things-go-viral/


Comments

  1. Hi Victoria,

    First off, great post. I had a chance to check out the link you provided, and I found it very interesting. I found it most intriguing when the author mentioned the Ice Bucket Challenge, and suggested how it was an information cascade. When I heard this, I immediately thought about the viral Mannequin Challenge because it spread like wildfire, becoming "unstoppable".

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  2. Hey Victoria,
    This breakdown really hits the nail on the head! It's cool to see how something as serious as Martin Luther's 95 Theses and something as silly as a cat meme can both go viral in their own ways. The comparison between the old-school printing press and today's social media is spot-on too.

    I mean, who would've thought a simple cat meme could blow up the internet, right? It just goes to show that sometimes the most random stuff catches fire online. And yeah, that article about the Ice Bucket Challenge and cat videos sounds intriguing. It's wild to think how much of this viral stuff happens by chance rather than some grand plan. Just goes to show, you never know what's gonna take off next!

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  3. Hi Victoria, Great Post! Thank you for sharing your insightful analysis of the first articulation in media assemblages and ecologies, focusing on Martin Luther's 95 Theses and the "OH LAWD HE COMIN" internet cat meme. Your comparison effectively highlights the similarities in the mechanisms of content creation, dissemination, and consumption across different historical periods and technological mediums.
    I found your exploration of how individuals played crucial roles in both instances, whether through physical distribution in Luther's time or online sharing in the case of the cat meme, particularly intriguing. It shows the enduring influence of human agency in shaping the spread of media texts, regardless of the specific medium involved.



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