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| A relevant meme. Author unknown, (Date unspecified),Retrieved from http://memegenerator.net/instance/53731930 |
The development of ‘viral’ videos and ‘meme’s has proven this, as through these ‘platforms’ (for lack of a better word) people can relate to a specific message or idea. For example, the ‘ain’t nobody got time for that’ news report video had an entire community come together and create new and original content or narratives based on it(.
Within my chosen network, I see a large variety of networked narratives through the creations of specific groups for the activities I participate in, along with events I could attend or have already attended. Within my network, ‘memes’ are a rarity – as they have lost popularity somewhat, at least in the context of individuals posting them. They are now often posted by political pages or for whatever reason, ‘musicians’ and radio stations. However, these do pull a lot of likes and do lead to creation of communities and followings toward the posters. This is interesting, because I know for a fact that 13 million people aren’t tuning in to virgin radio Lebanon, and you can immediately notice a significantdrop in ‘likes’ when they actually post content relating to their own material.This then prompts the asking of the question, what do these communities actually do? Most people don’t actually interact with each other, rather they quite often tag their friends or family (or post irrelevant pictures or memes in order to boost their ego) – who are already part of their own network (McNeil,2012). I suppose it could be argued that by doing this, all friends (and possibly friends) of friends could be exposed to this content, thus creating a larger network narrative.
However I would argue that this is very weak linked community, as if one of these pages were to suddenly disappear, the masses wouldn’t even notice, as they likely have 10+ other pages doing the exact same thing.
References
McNeill, L. (2012). There is no “I” in network: Social networking sites and posthuman auto/biography. Biography, 35(1), 65-82. Retrieved fromhttp://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au
Van Luyn, A. (2015). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives, and the making of place. Networked Narratives: Intertextuality. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au
I found it interesting that a meme and/or viral video is able to bring together a community in a unique way. It is also fascinating how certain social networks have networked narratives of specific groups that allow this content to be distributed to the community. Facebook, as you mentioned, is an excellent example with many groups being dedicated to sharing viral content, although it is completely unrelated to the theme of the narrative that their page is trying to construct. When you began delving into certain groups being distribution centres for this content, it was good that you had a specific stance on this topic by asking the question: "what do these communities actually do". The answer in my opinion is that these communities construct a narrative of the collective world, and are not concerned with piecing together a personal networked narrative. Another interesting thought that crossed my mind was that Facebook became aware of this trend and made it more accessible for the community to be connected to these viral videos and memes. The trend I am talking about is when you mentioned that most people don’t interact with each other but tag the people who are already a part of their own network (McNiell, 2012). In 2006, Facebook made it possible for people to tag others in posts and in my opinion allowed for better cohesion of these particular communities that you discussed in your blog (Wikipedia, 2015).
ReplyDeleteReferences:
McNeill, L. (2012). There Is No" I" in Network: Social Networking Sites and Post human Auto/Biography. Biography, 35(1), 65-82.
Unknown, A. (2015). Timeline of Facebook. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Facebook