Blog Post #3: Articulation #2 - Kathryn Staples
Looking at Articulation 2, for Martin Luther’s 95 Theses he used a printing press to create identical pamphlets that contained common language and images (Herman, 2021). What made them particularly effective was what Mohn describes as the use of a consistent design, font and typography, and “beautiful, decorative title pages” that helped people to recognize his unique brand (Mohn, 2016, para. 17). In the case of the ‘Woman yelling at a cat’ meme, the internet is used by individuals to create and spread the meme. Memes are one picture or a series of pictures that can fit in one post on a social media platform. They include text, usually white, and photos/animation.
For Luther, the mode of affect is that in having a recognizable style and an easy to transport pamphlet that could be read aloud, he fosters a group identity of people who follow his work (Herman, 2021). The mode of affect for the meme is that the woman and the cat were originally posted separately. Then someone put them together. Then someone else added text. So it requires the basic template and a form of social media to post and share it. It then builds a group of followers, some who simply enjoy the memes and some who also edit the meme in their own ways. The internet moves quickly, so things spread fast, but they also disappear quickly. But through the editing and sharing of new, but similar memes, it lasts much longer.
Luther’s pamphlets were re-printed and sold by merchants and others, creating an economy around his work (Herman, 2021). For the meme, companies such as Facebook and Twitter make money by driving users to their platforms (and selling their information and advertising to them). Sharing the meme, re-creating the meme and sharing it again on the internet, which allows millions around the world to see media at once, creates millions of clicks. Also, the cat itself became famous and has its own Instagram. Once a cat is famous, advertisers will pay big money to put their product with the cat. So the cat owner makes money.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSL6ZQNjI-k&t=7s
Hello Kat, this was a great post!
ReplyDeleteI specifically enjoyed the part you mentioned about how groups of followers are built based on these examples of media texts. Just as Martin Luther had followers that enjoyed the messaged being communicated in his theses, the same can be seen today on Instagram for example with "meme pages" or similar communities. These people form a community who have a shared interest in meme content such as the "Woman Yelling at a Cat" meme. In the same way that people would attend Martin Luther's live readings of his theses or visit the church door where they were originally posted to consume their content, people use Instagram as way to stay up to date and consume meme content. The concept of follwers has changed to a digital form thanks to the Internet, which has allowed for ease of distribution, circulation, and consumption of communication and meanings.