You do such amazing jobs showing how YOUR interests intersect with the theories we've discussed, and in some cases, create fascinating intersections that can be shared with audiences that then take them up and reuse them. Case in point: Ms. Stephanie Linka. Her video on Caine's Arcade and its Spreadability was used at the Caine's Arcade Foundation meeting in Los Angeles. @henryjenkins tweeted her and his research group took this up. The filmmaker that discovered Caine favorited my tweet - sharing her video more.
This is spreadability in action. Here's the video.
How Caine Won the Internet from Stephanie Linka on Vimeo.
Then there's Andrew Clark's ridiculous Texts from Hilary - Texting Cats mashup - which created a bit of a stir among my Twitter followers (and Henry) when he tweeted it out. I told Andrew that his final grade depended on his response to all of this, but I was kind of just kidding. Though not quite as shareable, you can see this 25-point exchange between two memes. As Andrew put it:
This semester we discussed what makes a meme: how memes are not self-replicating, but are constantly changing as they pass from person to person, through culture, as each individual adds value to the original meme. Successful memes - such as LOLCatz - are those that can be used for a wide variety of purposes while still maintaining their most basic structure. To illustrate this point, I adapted two popular memes - Texting Cat and Texting Hillary Clinton - to suit a purpose that adds value to me and you while still keeping the memes basic DNA. What if Texting Cat and Texting Hillary Clinton had a conversation about memes, according to Henry Jenkins?Chris Watts' Tumblr really took apart the first "social olympics" and did a great job looking at core theories from the class, thinking about how and why the IOC might have made some miscalculations with their social media strategy. One of his critiques is this:
One of these guidelies related directly to “Domain Names/URLs/Page Naming.” The verbatim language from the document is: Domain names and URLs including the word “Olympic” or “Olympics” or any similar words related thereto (or any foreign language equivalents thereof) are not allowed unless approved by the IOC beforehand. For example, www.[myname]olympic.com would not be permitted while www.[myname].com/olympic would be allowed, but only during the Period of the Olympic Games during which these Guidelines are applicable.
Similarly, participants and other accredited persons may not create stand-alone Olympic-themed websites, application or any other feature to host coverage of the Olympic Games. This seems like am almost imposible task to regular and an incredibly bold move by the IOC to regulate how the the word “Olympic” can be used.Matt Maschino's project takes a look at the problem with Wikipedia -- that it is having trouble attracting new editors. While the site is fantastic at being sticky, and even spreadable, he argues Wikipedia is actually in danger...he definitely goes through much of the course's reading, offering a good intro for anyone interested in these theorists to learn more. Here's one of the cartoons he used to describe why one might not want to have a "like" button, or track one's browsing history, but why Wikipedia is so sticky.
Then, Courtney McKay took on the subject of whether social media could be addictive, posing the question to her friends:
She talked about the day-to-day issues we experience with social media, and for this project, she took on the subject of addiction.
And I have to say, Lynn Evans has just gone nuts this semester with her night at the movies blog. It started small, but it has turned into -well now she has a PINTEREST board for her movie obsession... She's been starting to amuse us - and tell us more about movies - through personalized videos and criticism. This blog is truly an amazing blog about a personal interest that I hope she continues because she's made to be a movie critic. And she gets convergence culture. Check out this pic.
HK does a brilliant takedown of what stays on FB doesn't well, stay on FB.... she gathers some pretty insane details, using sources such as the Wall Street Journal to tell us about some of the serious ways in which Facebook keeps track of our behavior. More disturbing is the lasting effects that what we do on Facebook can suddenly become part of whether we are hired or fired.
What's up next.... battta battaaa battta battta.... Rachel Weisel's blog on St. Louis basically became a landing page for the Cardinals. When she revealed in class that sportswriters actually followed her, I thought that was pretty awesome (we have a hardcore fan in class). She noted that this homage to the Cards was a pretty sweet example of Convergence Culture. And though, as her blog notes, MLB has a pretty serious list of social media guidelines for players, MLB actually seems to be pretty chill when it comes to fans remixing.
She also talked about the incredible meme-yness of Cards fans... who use memes to express support and anger at the team. Check out this meme based off the Ryan Gosling feminist meme (no I will not link to that) "Mike Matheny, the Cardinals’ new manager, and relies on his good looks and the fact that he is baseball’s youngest manager."
Sarah Hubbart tried to explain using a pinboard the very concepts we've talked about in class. Check this out - using small images, and key moments in agriculture and social media, she's figured out ways to explain how they relate to core concepts in theory. This is a good way to show that theory does, in fact, relate to practice.
Da gave us a great video (from an external source) that really goes through Weibo... if you haven't seen what this looks like, check it out:
And for waitress humor mixed with some clever memes, check out Cara's blog here.
Winnie created a tick-tock of GW Women's Rugby with this in mind:
In this case, the George Washington Women's Rugby Football Club (GWWRFC) has created an online community populated by current and alumni players, fans, family, friends of the team, and more removed individuals who are affiliated solely through a shared interest in rugby.The team went from Towson giving the team pictures (since GW doesn't have its own photographers) to GW Today covering the team.
“The type of camaraderie and community you gain from rugby is unlike any other sport. When you have to risk bodily harm for your teammates, you form a unique, strong bond. You support them and you know they will do the same for you.”And of course, if Lincoln were mainstream media, or at least a figure of power, which he is, here's a mashup.
Lincoln Scrum from Mark Judge on Vimeo.
Milena has been thinking about clicktivism all semester - I'm guessing because she spends her days working for AJStream :) But it was interesting to read her meditations on activism and - more significantly - how people she stopped on the street - answered the following questions.
QUESTIONS ASKED: How has social media played into your life? What do you share online? Is your online self the real you? What do you think about the rise of online activism? What if social media became obsolete?
Allee took on the challenging task of making her grandparents (stuck in the 1.0 era) a social media campaign. But this wasn't an ordinary campaign. Instead, she presented them with a plan using this Prezi to convince them to start a Facebook page. She snuck in core course concepts, and gave her grandparents some suggestions for engaging with users. The great thing about An English Garden Bed and Breakfast is that there WAS an existing community - much like Jenkins recognized the need for one to be there to tap into people who loved the B&B.
And finally, Max Burns decided to create an App for our phones - SocialFit. Why? Because getting fit alone sucks. And being social increases the chance that well, we'll actually do something if our friends are paying attention. He put together a really interesting forum (well, set of forum rules), where he argues:
In time, these strangers became friends, and the strength of those friendships fostered a self-sustaining community, The Well. Community members not only became friends, they became part-owners in the shared experience of maintaining a vibrant online community.True that. And there's both sticky and spreadable content - sticky being the personal trainer you're offered to customize your own experience, and spreadable being the workout and accomplishments you can share with your friends. As SocialFit outlines:
SocialFit looks at physical activity from a new perspective. We believe: Nobody should work out alone. The social experience motivates us to improve our workouts every day. Workouts are too boring. SocialFit offers games, challenges and customization to keep you engaged month after month. Motivation is missing in the app world. SocialFit is the ONLY fitness app on the market that comes with a fully customizable personal trainer. It shouldn't take a fortune to get fit. SocialFit combines many of the services of a full-service gym for a fraction of the cost - only $99 a year for Premium Membership!Well, as you can see, we've had a sweet success with an assignment people thought they couldn't do. Well done.
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