Martin Luther was considered to be the first social media influencer. Doing this by revealing the power of a “decentralized, person-to-person media system” (Standage, 2013). Today, it can be seen that Luther’s 95 Theses holds much relevance towards our fast paced society that is driven by digital and social mediums. The media ecology of print that Luther introduced created an assemblage of media forms and communicative practices that affected how production, distribution and consumption took place and therefore changed how information was shared. Luther learned that the members of his congregation had been sold indulgences and this led him to go against the Catholic Church to spread his message, gain followers, and create a new community of Protestants. He went “viral” as the circulation and distribution of the message in his pamphlet generated a high demand and an increase of production. Through traveling merchants and traders carrying copies to different towns, this distribution process sparked interest in what Luther had to say. In comparison to modern day society and content being “inferred from the number of likes, retweets, reblogs, or page views it generates” (Standage, 2013) how many times the pamphlet was reprinted can be seen as similar to the process of "retweeting" for example. Pamphlets provided a medium for the wide distribution of Luther’s view and by doing so the articulation of how media artifacts are brought into being can be seen. In sum, changing how people looked a literacy and creating a new power system of how messages can be communicated, produced, and distributed.
The “Pepe the Frog” Ethno-nationalist meme can be argued to be from the same media ecology as Luther’s 95 Theses. This meme became a symbol for Donald Trump’s 2016 Presidential campaign and according to the New York Times, “Pepe plugged into the ideology of the alt-right because it was a reaction against the people they call “normies” (Williams, 2016). Pepe the Frog has been a representation of social outcasts for a long time but in this election by the single action of a retweet Trump gained this specific audience to be his own, becoming a candidate like no other.
“No meme has ever been denounced by a presidential candidate. In a way, Pepe serves as a social media dog whistle for Trump followers to echo their implicit support of ultraconservative beliefs in public forums without risking the invitation of backlash” (Williams, 2016).
A meme is a direct message to the people, by this taking place the media assemblages and ecologies are evident in how the media message of a meme is spread throughout a culture. In this case by ways of igniting both a comedic but valuable tool to drive Trump's campaign. Manifested in the spatiotemporal dynamics of relations of creativity and production, distribution and circulation, consumption and reception, it is proven that Pepe the Frog was an influence in American Politics. In ways that Luther had similar success within changing how communication took place and uses of propaganda. Directing thought within an audience that is interested in the same views ignites a way to bring people together and whether that be from the use of reprinting a pamphlet or Donald Trump retweeting a tweet of Pepe the Frog. This media ecology stems from how its message is brought into being but really how it is maintained. Leading way to how representations, experiences, and affects constitute the means to be a social media influencer.
Work Cited
Standage, T. (2013). Writing on the wall: Social media -- the first 2,000 years. New York, NY: Bloomsbury.
Williams, A. (2016, October 28). How Pepe the Frog and Nasty Woman Are Shaping the Election ... Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/style/know-your-meme-pepe-the-frog-nasty-woman-presidential-election.html
No comments:
Post a Comment