Media
assemblage is a concept that has been widely discussed throughout our past few
classes. For the purpose of this post, will be examining Martin Luther’s 95
Theses in relation to “Pepe the Frog” presented in the context of Donald Trump’s 2016
Presidential campaign. I will be analyzing both of these media texts with the use of the third articulation which “concerns how media
artifacts and messages are brought into being and spread trough a culture,
community, or society, and manifested in the spatio-temporal dynamics of
relations of creativity and production, relations of distribution and
circulation, and relations of consumption and reception.”
When
an image or text goes viral it is usually caused by the loss of control from where it originated and in turn, losses its original or intended context and reaches a mass audience. Both Martin Luther’s 95 Theses as well as
Pepe the Frog as Donald Trump became viral through social media. Once a few
users get ahold of a particular image or text, it then becomes easy to distribute
and share with others through various social media platforms. Along this process context of the original message can be lost
as many replicas are formed and arise, which continue to spread. With the example of Pepe the Frog as Donald Trump, users were able to replicate and create a meaning
behind these images and were ale to build a sense of community online. This
image became a symbol for trump supporters and made them feel more united than
they would have without sharing this image.
Hi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI agree with the point that you made in your post, that the original context of a meme can be skewed when it has the ability to be transferred to many people on many different platforms. This can also be true for Luther's 95 theses, since he is unable to be present to explain his theses, whatever someone depicts when they are reading the pamphlets is what they are going to make meaning of. When content goes viral it is also hard for the originator to put any affect behind the meaning of the post or picture, which can sometimes be an important aspect of the thing that was posted in order to make meaning of it.
Great points Lauren!
ReplyDeleteYou linked Martin Luther's theses to Pepe the frog very well by talking about how each of them involve loss of control, reaching to mass audiences. Along with this, you made a good comparison of how users are able to replicate and create new meanings of each of these images in relation to Donald Trump. I too believe the main reason these images from both Pepe the frog, and Martin Luther, are from losing control of the original contexts, and that is the same reason for the ongoing replication of the Trump memes.
I agree with how you mention when things go viral they lose their original meaning, Pepe the frog was originally just a funny meme. It is now tied with things such as racism which is why I find it unbelievable that Trump was able to tweet this meme and have it work positively in his favour. This shows how meanings of things which go viral have the ability to be constantly changing based on how the message is used.
ReplyDeleteMatthew Bloom
Great post Lauren. The point you made about how when an image or text goes viral is because of the loss of control from where it originated from, really stood out for me. Reaching a mass audience I think is interesting to think about. How "Pepe the Frog" was replicated and in turn created a sense of community, do you think it was intentional that Donald Trump retweeted the meme? Or maybe he simply thought it was funny. Besides that the power the meme held throughout the election is powerful in itself, as a picture of frog carried some form of political weight.
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI want to start by saying that I really enjoyed reading your post. I thought you did an amazing job at explaining how the circulation of a message can ultimately alter the intended meaning. I personally am interested in what Donald's intentions were when he re-tweeted the first Pepe the Frog duplication. I think that both Donald and Luther demonstrate a strong understanding of how to manipulate communicative platforms in order to reach their target audience. It is worth noting that both messages (the 95 Theses and Pepe the Frog) enabled a strong sense of community among followers. Overall great post and I look forward to reading your posts in the future!