The Commonalities Between a Historical Figure and a Cat Meme
What makes something viral? One would believe the use of the internet medium is the only way for something to go viral, however as Martin Luther has proven otherwise. In my blogpost I will apply one of the articulations studied in class to Martin Luther’s 95 theses, to understand how it became viral. First, a short background story, unpleased the amount of power the church had, priest-scholar Martin Luther wrote 95 thesis and posted them on the church door to protest his worries against the catholic church. His ideas received a lot of attention, positive and negative, and sparked a lot of conversation. As he wrote in 1518 “They [were] printed and circulated far beyond my expectations (Standage, 53)
The first articulation is the connection between the message, media, and agent. The message of the 95 theses was all based on religious texts, the bible, each thesis stated a certain disagreement with the catholic church and addressing the corruption in the church (Standage, 53). The mean, started off as a singular paper, printed, and once Martin Luther recognized the importance of each thesis the printing press was used. The agents were the specific roles that helped distribute the message, in this case, it was the pamphlet’s read by people, and the readers sharing the pamphlets with one another, the printing press workshop was also a key agent to the continuation of information spread. These articulations proven the power of the printing press and the importance of a reliable authorship source.
It is obvious now that the way a message, medium and agent are used can have a lot of cultural influence, as we see in this example, Martin Luther’s text sparked a whole revolution. Prior to his protests, the Catholic church was the one that controlled the message. They insisted on the content, and religious practices to be a certain way. The Catholic church’s preferred medium of choice was religious sermons, where only monks had access to, making them the only agent to share information, giving them all the power. This is what made Martin Luther’s engagement with text so revolutionary, he made it accessible to all. As Standage explained “Luther’s pamphlets embody his belief that everyone should be allowed to participate in the debate about the reform of the church” (Standage, 56).
So, to answer my previous question, it is not the internet that makes text go viral, but the articulations used, as Martin Luther has proven with his 95 theses. With this theory, we can then explain how and why the “woman yelling at a cat” meme went viral, as it followed the same articulations as the 95 theses. The message, although customizable, was a comic because it was about a woman yelling at a cat, as the title describes it. Although captions varied, the woman accusing the cat was at the essence of the message. The mean here is digital media, specifically memes. Finally, the agent here, is very similar and comparable to Martin Luther’s situation. First is the creator that combined the two memes, @missingeril (Ritzen, 2019). However, platforms such as twitter, Instagram and Facebook that helped facilitate the circulation of the meme in its various ways are also another agent in this articulation. Lastly, the users who generated the memes and customized them to create more discussions and relatable contents for users by altering the meme itself. With this being said, as odd as it sounds, Martin Luther’s 95 theses and the woman yelling at a cat meme do in fact have more in common than I previously thought.
- Valerie Mettias
The first articulation is the connection between the message, media, and agent. The message of the 95 theses was all based on religious texts, the bible, each thesis stated a certain disagreement with the catholic church and addressing the corruption in the church (Standage, 53). The mean, started off as a singular paper, printed, and once Martin Luther recognized the importance of each thesis the printing press was used. The agents were the specific roles that helped distribute the message, in this case, it was the pamphlet’s read by people, and the readers sharing the pamphlets with one another, the printing press workshop was also a key agent to the continuation of information spread. These articulations proven the power of the printing press and the importance of a reliable authorship source.
It is obvious now that the way a message, medium and agent are used can have a lot of cultural influence, as we see in this example, Martin Luther’s text sparked a whole revolution. Prior to his protests, the Catholic church was the one that controlled the message. They insisted on the content, and religious practices to be a certain way. The Catholic church’s preferred medium of choice was religious sermons, where only monks had access to, making them the only agent to share information, giving them all the power. This is what made Martin Luther’s engagement with text so revolutionary, he made it accessible to all. As Standage explained “Luther’s pamphlets embody his belief that everyone should be allowed to participate in the debate about the reform of the church” (Standage, 56).
So, to answer my previous question, it is not the internet that makes text go viral, but the articulations used, as Martin Luther has proven with his 95 theses. With this theory, we can then explain how and why the “woman yelling at a cat” meme went viral, as it followed the same articulations as the 95 theses. The message, although customizable, was a comic because it was about a woman yelling at a cat, as the title describes it. Although captions varied, the woman accusing the cat was at the essence of the message. The mean here is digital media, specifically memes. Finally, the agent here, is very similar and comparable to Martin Luther’s situation. First is the creator that combined the two memes, @missingeril (Ritzen, 2019). However, platforms such as twitter, Instagram and Facebook that helped facilitate the circulation of the meme in its various ways are also another agent in this articulation. Lastly, the users who generated the memes and customized them to create more discussions and relatable contents for users by altering the meme itself. With this being said, as odd as it sounds, Martin Luther’s 95 theses and the woman yelling at a cat meme do in fact have more in common than I previously thought.
Hi Valerie,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! You explained the first articulation really clearly in relation to Martin Luther's work and the cat meme. I really like how you broke down the message, media and agent, and it helped me recognize how each role is very important when media goes viral, and even when sharing information in general to a large group. I think it is really interesting to view social media platforms as agents, and to realize the significant role they play when sharing media content. It was also helpful to see how the articulations aided in helping media become viral, instead of solely the internet (as I previously believed).
-Katherine
Hi Valerie!
ReplyDeleteI think your points about Luther were really good and concise! The reason why he sparked a movement was because he made it so accessible. His use of multiple mediums and articulations is what ultimately why the revolution he created was so successful. I also like how you drew the connections between the Women Yelling at Cat meme and Luther, proving that there is connection between mediums and messages and they way they are circulated have altered over time, but still have the same impact, it is what makes communications so interesting! Great post overall!
Hi Valerie,
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your post and I think you brought up some great points! In particular, I liked your emphasis on how messages can go viral separate from the internet’s affordances. I think this concept is interesting as I have always correlated those two ideas together. This got me thinking about any examples of messages in our societal structure that have spread without the internet. Overall, I found it very difficult to name any instances where the internet was not involved with distributing messages. Since the internet has become so immersed in our communication practices, I realized that I have become so reliant on social media for our news. Overall, I think that the internet has permanently shifted the way we disperse and consume messages.
Again, great post! :)