it is also interesting how humor (memes, for example) drives people to action. we often do things just for the hell of it. which makes me think about how we can combine serious, well-thought out movements with this humorous element. especially because doing something for a joke takes less mental energy for the people, meanwhile approaching a topic with grave seriousness often makes people depressed or apathetic. another driving force is obviously anger or hatred which is still linked to humor since it is often spread through jokes and memes
I am looking for any bits and pieces of hope I can find in the face of this current madness in the US. This has provided me with a bit of hope. Thank you.
i happened to read this as i was trying to voice my own calls to online action/community participation. although i have a small audience, i shared it in my post in hopes of being one of those millions of knots out here! thanks! 🪢
That Mr. Beast insight is brilliant. Too much 2010s internet analysis treated audiences as malleable victims of algos. There’s much gold to be mined by asking how users use the tools and agency given them.
love all of this. i found your bit about viewing MrBeast’s fandom as his constituency especially thought provoking as i’m diving into research on gen z internet culture for an upcoming project—parasocial relationships being a focal point of that for obvious reasons.
for conservative gen z members that see progressive social movements as something that needs to be resisted against, MrBeast’s altruistic façade makes him the figurehead of traditional capitalistic ideals. to speak against his ethics and actions as a content creator is—by design—to speak against his character and his "philanthropy."
your perspective on his fandom’s idea of him as an avatar of themselves and their values sums their view of the relationship up perfectly. thank you for linking that paper as well!
thank you! There's so much going on in parasociality that people tend to reduce to "oh, they must just really be in love with this guy." It's a much broader thing! And the turning of the creator into an avatar for the self, as you say with the conservative gen z members, is why people take it so personally when you criticize the creator.
it is also interesting how humor (memes, for example) drives people to action. we often do things just for the hell of it. which makes me think about how we can combine serious, well-thought out movements with this humorous element. especially because doing something for a joke takes less mental energy for the people, meanwhile approaching a topic with grave seriousness often makes people depressed or apathetic. another driving force is obviously anger or hatred which is still linked to humor since it is often spread through jokes and memes
yes! Yet another important reason to use and study memes, you're so right
Relevant example of that might be Trump's first election victory, maybe we remember 4chan's mantra of "meme magic" winning the presidency?
I am looking for any bits and pieces of hope I can find in the face of this current madness in the US. This has provided me with a bit of hope. Thank you.
Love the idea of positive “digital citizenship”.
i happened to read this as i was trying to voice my own calls to online action/community participation. although i have a small audience, i shared it in my post in hopes of being one of those millions of knots out here! thanks! 🪢
That Mr. Beast insight is brilliant. Too much 2010s internet analysis treated audiences as malleable victims of algos. There’s much gold to be mined by asking how users use the tools and agency given them.
love all of this. i found your bit about viewing MrBeast’s fandom as his constituency especially thought provoking as i’m diving into research on gen z internet culture for an upcoming project—parasocial relationships being a focal point of that for obvious reasons.
for conservative gen z members that see progressive social movements as something that needs to be resisted against, MrBeast’s altruistic façade makes him the figurehead of traditional capitalistic ideals. to speak against his ethics and actions as a content creator is—by design—to speak against his character and his "philanthropy."
your perspective on his fandom’s idea of him as an avatar of themselves and their values sums their view of the relationship up perfectly. thank you for linking that paper as well!
stellar content as always :)
thank you! There's so much going on in parasociality that people tend to reduce to "oh, they must just really be in love with this guy." It's a much broader thing! And the turning of the creator into an avatar for the self, as you say with the conservative gen z members, is why people take it so personally when you criticize the creator.