Blog Post #3- Kitt Empey

 This week, the course content allowed us to explore media assemblages or otherwise known as media ecologies. Essentially, our mission is two examine two pieces of media that have gone "viral" in history and draw connections to them from a critical lens. This critical lens is should be supported by one of three articulations depicted within the lesson. As students that exist in this era of technology, this assignment can better help us understand why different media texts are received differently by various "audiences". Likewise, it raises the question of why these texts that "go viral", are more successful than others that do not. 

    The ways in which humans are able to communicate with each other are fascinating and ever-changing. As society progresses further and further with technological advancements, bodies are receiving, absorbing, and distributing media differently every day. It is rather interesting to analyze how different media texts have been consumed by different people in different time periods. A convincing and accurate depiction of this can be seen in two different media texts. One being Martin Luther's 95 Theses, and the other being a viral meme that took over the internet

    Looking at Martin Luther's 95 Theses, it is evident that this development and media text has been one of the most influential developments of media not only of its time but of history. Using the third articulation outlined in class, the ways in which this media text influenced, spread, and manifested in society should be examined. Martin Luther thought critically and strategically when he nailed his 95 theses to a church door. This can be seen through his use of the media that was at his disposal at the time as stated by Tanya Mohn in the article "Long Before Twitter, Martin Luther Was a Media Pioneer" states "Luther strategically used the media of his time: books, paintings, prints, and music."(Mohn, 2016). His 95 theses were able to reach such a large audience due to the fact that people of this time had not seen media distribution quite like this before. The Reformation was able to occur, largely because of how Luther's media was received, understood, and distributed. This new way of communication was exciting and thrilling to society, making them want to consume this media more. The article also states, "Typical texts by Luther might have had 15 printings, and been distributed from 15 cities, with about 10,000 copies in the region. The immediate spread of his message and its popularity is “the thing that pushed the Reformation so far, so quickly,” Dr. McQuillen said" (Mohn, 2016). This mass distribution contributed to the success and popularity of Luther's message. In summary, Luther's message was able to reach many individuals through the use of media at the time. 

    Examing a more modern example of this, we can look at the viral meme of "Woman Yelling at a Cat". This meme has a collaborative essence as the meme is simply just a template that has been passed around for users to add captions to. As one can see in the photo located in the blog post instructions, the creator of that particular meme used the template to add their own joke. The two photos used to create this meme, have no relation to each other whatsoever. The viral nature of this picture is mainly due to not the photo itself, but the way in which is has been able to spread across the internet. Much like Luther's message, it was not necessarily the message that was gaining popularity but rather the success of the message was credited due to how it was distributed and the way it was spread through different mediums. The collaborativeness of the "Women Yelling at a Cat Meme" allowed it to go viral and let people express their humour as they saw fit. The accessibility of the internet also can be credited when discussing how these memes go viral.

Here is a link that breaks down what was going on in that Real Housewives episode. Likewise, it is a good site to brush up on your "meme-knowledge".

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/woman-yelling-at-a-cat 

-Kitt

                                                                            Work Cited

Mohn, T. (2016, October 28). Long before Twitter, Martin Luther was a media pioneer. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from 
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/30/arts/design/long-before-twitter-martin-luther-was-a-media-pioneer.html#:~:text=The%20500th%20anniversary%20of%20Luther's,the%20media%20of%20his%20day.