Revision [27765]
This is an old revision of MemesChaps5to7 made by RebeccaCarvell on 2017-10-28 11:50:01.
Chapter 5
- virality- word of mouth passing the message from person to person
- 3 key attributes to virality
- person to person mode of diffusion
- great speed-enhanced by social media platform
- broad reach, achieved using multiple networks
- viral and mematic are two opposite ends of a spectrum
- 3 fold spectrum
- 1) viral- a single cultural unit spread by multiple agents viewed by millions
- 2) founder-based meme- often a specific text, image, video
- 3) egalitarian meme- many variations that seem to have evolved simultaneously without a founder
- internet memes and virals are 2 separate modes of engagements rather than passive versus active formulations
- two antithetic framings of communication
- communication as transmission
- likens the movement of goods or people in space to the spread of information through mass media
- mainly a process of imparting information in the hope of augmenting the spread and effect of the message
- effectiveness is getting message through the masses without disturbance
- communication as ritual
- not so much imparting the information as the construction and representation of shared beliefs
- reach is not easily traceable
- study on memes mostly focuses on work with communication as ritual
Chapter 6
what makes content "viral"
- positivity (and humor)
- people are more likely to share positive, surprising, interesting, or useful things
- social media use shows self-representation
- provoking "high arousal" emotions
- positive arousal is found in awa stories: pieces that elevate feelings greater than ones self
- anger reactions also leads to sharing
- packaging
- clear and simple is better than complex
- prestige
- relates to users knowledge about contents source
- the more popular the source the more it gets spread
- positioning
- things being centrally located seems to work best
- it can also be about the location of people spreading the information
- participation
- success could be assisted if you don't just pass through the piece but actually do something with it
what makes content memetic
- some virals don't make it into the meme world
- memetic videos
- has multiple focuses
- 1) ordinary people
- user generated videos are most often gain more derivatives
- viewers may feel they are more approachable than celebrities
- 2)flawed masculinity
- men did a large number of the looked at videos
- 3)humor
- humor made many memes successful
- 2 types of categories, quirky and situational humor & biting social commentary
- first category is most popular
- 6 attributes on prominence of humor
- playfulness
- people intend to be funny
- incongruity
- unexpected cognitive encounter between 2 in-congruent elements
- simplicity
- most videos had few people, no editing , and no over the top backdrop
- enables people to easily imitate the video
- repetitiveness
- goes hand in hand with simplicity
- enhances memorability
- whimsical content
