The point at the end is so important and weirdly prescient that I was thinking about exploring it in an entirely separate post. What are memes like "brat" and Trump serving McDonald's if not the aestheticization of politics, brought to us as viral algorithmic memes? When we view political content through the same gaze as all other "content," how does that affect us as viewers?
The idea of politics becoming subject to the same “content” mill is fascinating to me. It feels like it helps explain some of the current motivations present in the Tech Bro/Government overlap. Elon isn’t interested in running the government, he’s interested in making “content.”
This is such an interesting point! So worth digging into… I’ve always found that last section of the Benjamin piece mysterious. Quite possibly we are seeing such an aestheticization now
I reaally enjoyed this piece!! Some of my thoughts:
I thought the choice to look at TikTok scrolling as a merely visual experience was interesting, and even though it didn't limit the analysis that much (you also acknowledge that the language, sounds etc probably are effected similarly) I couldn't find a particular reason to do that singling out, other than the main anchor literature of this piece being Benjamin's exploration of cinema and cameras. I think TikTok videos are much more than a visual experience, and the algorithmic work that is done there that makes us conscious of a process wouldn't work if the content we were consuming was just visual rather than hold a lot more substance to it like messaging etc, so I felt your analysis applied to the other realms as well, the technicalities of them perhaps different, but still.
I really enjoyed the triangle of you, the computer and the piece of you in the computer, but the thought about memes made me think -- we use memes as a tool of humorous communication in most cases, an easier format of communication to pass an intended message while signaling to a common cultural text (kind of like language, it is a tool (though I need to read more of your stuff to see your take on memes!!) ), so I had a hard time relating it to that triangle -- it made intuitive sense with the algorithm, but with memes I think they can't be seperated from the collective. Not saying the personal shouldn't be thought about, but as memes exist, I think they are far more cultural than a what a personalized tiktok feed is. The algorithm and the vids it brings us has layers that tie us to other people as well, but after all, it is our part that lived in the computer that did the bringing. Memes have general cultural standing, kind of transcending algorithms and the personalization that limits the feed -- people from all corners of the internet know a lot of common meme formats, what they do with them differ, but they do know them.
These are quite unfinished and first reactions to the text, but wanted to note them down before forgetting. Glad to have found ur corner of the net, really enjoyed reading this :)
Thanks for your thoughtful reply, and for coming to my corner of the net! I think you've zeroed in on precisely the two things that I most feel like need developing:
first, my focus on the visual. I did choose that because of the anchor literature, and I do agree there's much more than a visual experience going on. There is arguably always much more than a visual experience going on when we look at a picture in a museum or a book too. The singling-out was perhaps a bracketing, out of a cautious instinct of "I don't know enough to speak on this" and maybe it's unnecessary. Sound and the physical experience of social media are things I want to think about more -- although it's a bit outside of what I'm familiar with. There's definitely a kind of tempo happening, and a kind of bodily immersion (I had a post a while back calling it a "body high" -- something I wanna revisit).
second, the triangle of computer/you/piece of you in the computer isn't where I should end that analysis, you're right. Memes are certainly inseparable from the collective. Maybe memes are a rupture of that triangle and its solipsism? Or, they're kind of what keeps it fresh? Maybe I should abandon the triangle for a square. Memes do have a "general cultural standing" apart from the algorithms, and it's never just about the individual person. Thank you for your help here, giving me food for thought and responding like this -- what I always want to do with my posts is advance a thought, get a response, and then adjust.
The point at the end is so important and weirdly prescient that I was thinking about exploring it in an entirely separate post. What are memes like "brat" and Trump serving McDonald's if not the aestheticization of politics, brought to us as viral algorithmic memes? When we view political content through the same gaze as all other "content," how does that affect us as viewers?
The idea of politics becoming subject to the same “content” mill is fascinating to me. It feels like it helps explain some of the current motivations present in the Tech Bro/Government overlap. Elon isn’t interested in running the government, he’s interested in making “content.”
This is such an interesting point! So worth digging into… I’ve always found that last section of the Benjamin piece mysterious. Quite possibly we are seeing such an aestheticization now
I reaally enjoyed this piece!! Some of my thoughts:
I thought the choice to look at TikTok scrolling as a merely visual experience was interesting, and even though it didn't limit the analysis that much (you also acknowledge that the language, sounds etc probably are effected similarly) I couldn't find a particular reason to do that singling out, other than the main anchor literature of this piece being Benjamin's exploration of cinema and cameras. I think TikTok videos are much more than a visual experience, and the algorithmic work that is done there that makes us conscious of a process wouldn't work if the content we were consuming was just visual rather than hold a lot more substance to it like messaging etc, so I felt your analysis applied to the other realms as well, the technicalities of them perhaps different, but still.
I really enjoyed the triangle of you, the computer and the piece of you in the computer, but the thought about memes made me think -- we use memes as a tool of humorous communication in most cases, an easier format of communication to pass an intended message while signaling to a common cultural text (kind of like language, it is a tool (though I need to read more of your stuff to see your take on memes!!) ), so I had a hard time relating it to that triangle -- it made intuitive sense with the algorithm, but with memes I think they can't be seperated from the collective. Not saying the personal shouldn't be thought about, but as memes exist, I think they are far more cultural than a what a personalized tiktok feed is. The algorithm and the vids it brings us has layers that tie us to other people as well, but after all, it is our part that lived in the computer that did the bringing. Memes have general cultural standing, kind of transcending algorithms and the personalization that limits the feed -- people from all corners of the internet know a lot of common meme formats, what they do with them differ, but they do know them.
These are quite unfinished and first reactions to the text, but wanted to note them down before forgetting. Glad to have found ur corner of the net, really enjoyed reading this :)
Thanks for your thoughtful reply, and for coming to my corner of the net! I think you've zeroed in on precisely the two things that I most feel like need developing:
first, my focus on the visual. I did choose that because of the anchor literature, and I do agree there's much more than a visual experience going on. There is arguably always much more than a visual experience going on when we look at a picture in a museum or a book too. The singling-out was perhaps a bracketing, out of a cautious instinct of "I don't know enough to speak on this" and maybe it's unnecessary. Sound and the physical experience of social media are things I want to think about more -- although it's a bit outside of what I'm familiar with. There's definitely a kind of tempo happening, and a kind of bodily immersion (I had a post a while back calling it a "body high" -- something I wanna revisit).
second, the triangle of computer/you/piece of you in the computer isn't where I should end that analysis, you're right. Memes are certainly inseparable from the collective. Maybe memes are a rupture of that triangle and its solipsism? Or, they're kind of what keeps it fresh? Maybe I should abandon the triangle for a square. Memes do have a "general cultural standing" apart from the algorithms, and it's never just about the individual person. Thank you for your help here, giving me food for thought and responding like this -- what I always want to do with my posts is advance a thought, get a response, and then adjust.