Blog Post #4 - Abigael Chalmers
I will be focusing on the third articulation and its relation to Martin Luther's 95 Theses and the "OH LAWD HE COMIN" internet cat meme. The third articulation explores how media was created and how it obtained its virality. Additionally, it explores how this spread of media influenced and impacted cultures and societies. Looking at Martin Luther's 95 Theses as the first example, Luther produced hundreds of copies of his writing by hand. They were produced in many different languages (mainly Latin and German), allowing people from all around to read his writing. The writing was shared by hand and people would pass copies of his work to friends and family in order to spread Luther's Theses. This act of sharing a viewpoint not accepted by the majority sparked a place for people to converse and changed the current social culture Luther was living in. Production: hand-created copies of text; Circulation: copies were shared and passed along by friends; Consumption: copies sparked conversations between people and created a place to discuss religion.
In terms of the "OH LAWD HE COMIN" internet cat meme, this meme was spread online, through Twitter (now "X"). Similar to Luther's 95 Theses, this meme was spread of audience attention. Through this meme, cat lovers and meme enthusiasts alike were able to connect and share a space of similarity. People could share the meme with their friends, save the meme to look at later and, like Luther's 95 Theses being spread by hand, this act of sharing sparked conversations. It created a place for people to find a common interest. Production: the posting of an internet cat meme online by many people on Twitter (now "X"); Circulation: the sharing of the meme by friends through the platform as well as elsewhere as the meme could be screenshotted and saved to a device; Consumption: the meme created a place for people to connect with each other and find others who shared a common interest.
Hi Abigael, you make a good connection between the how Martin Luther's 95 Theses and the internet cat meme went viral through different methods of production, circulation and consumption. I like how you specified how each of these occurred for the two examples. I agree that audience attention was a key factor in both examples going viral. How might the digital landscape in which the internet cat meme went viral have contributed to its ability to gain audience attention compared to the handwritten nature of 95 Theses?
ReplyDeleteHi Abigael, great post and connection to this weeks blog discussion on Luther and the cat meme. I find it interesting how we can see the similarities between how ideas were widely spread back then versus now in the digital age. I like how your idea displays this clearly. Overall, great post!
ReplyDeleteHey, great job with your blog post! You effectively connected both the meme and the theses very well and I enjoyed reading your take on this topic! You explained the third articulation very well, especially when you discussed production, circulation, and consumption one by one to relate to each example. Again, great job!
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