The first articulation: Martin Luther’s 95 Theses and the Woman Yelling at Cat meme – Taylor Holmes
Taylor Holmes
The first articulation focuses on how a message is distributed, who contributed to its creation and dissemination, what format it is presented in, and who is on the receiving end. Beginning with Martin Luther's 95 Theses, his information was mainly presented via the written word in a pamphlet. It was copied in "manuscript form," and was posted on the church doors. Luther was angry that the church was selling indulgences, as it was exploitative. The work was translated into different languages to augment the spread of Luther's message (Standage, 2013, p. 52). The work was distributed via peer-to-peer connections. It was shared that "fourteen days have passed when these propositions were known throughout Germany," which is very fast for that time (Standage, 2013, p. 53). Some paid a little bit of money for the pamphlet. There was a massive demand for Luther's pamphlet leading to a greater number of copies (Standage, 2013, p. 54). New media forms were tailored to specific groups to increase outreach that led to a more inclusive communicative environment (ex., "new-ballad genre," and woodcuts) (Standage, 2013, p. 58). Overall, Luther is the creator of the 95 Theses, local printers would replicate the work, society was the distributor [ex., "travelling merchants, traders, and preachers" (Standage, 2013, p. 54), and friends and family (Standage, 2013, p. 57)], and the general public and the church were the consumers. Luther's work created an environment where many people could be involved in different ways.
Turning to the "Women Yelling at a Cat Meme," memes are found on a variety of different social media platforms and sometimes it can be hard to pinpoint where a meme started since content going viral happens so fast. Know Your Meme (n.d.) shares that the meme was first shared via Twitter in 2019 by @MISSINGEGIRL. They combined the picture of a woman from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills posted by The Daily Mail, and the Smudge the Cat picture that was from Tumblr. A public format was shared on Reddit. The meme then was shared on other social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. With the meme’s format being easily accessible (i.e., free), anyone could start repackaging the meme and sharing it. People who interacted (i.e., create and share) with the meme were anyone with a social media account. The meme, similar to the 95 Theses, was shared via peer-to-peer networks. The clear difference between the 95 Theses and this particular meme is that the meme is shared via a digital medium.
Both messages were complete opposites regarding the content and the medium through which they were spread. They both took advantage of the peer-to-peer network communication and continued to alter itself to maintain relevance (i.e., Luther’s message changed formats and the meme was repackaged). Luther’s message was able to gain popularity because of its engagement (Mohn, 2016); the same goes for the meme. The meme and the 95 Theses succeeded because they had tools that permitted them to reach a large audience for their time period. While the 95 Theses are more serious than a meme, people responded well to both types of information as each addressed a point of interest (i.e., the church and comedy).
References
Know Your Meme (n.d.). https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/woman-yelling-at-a-cat
Mohn, T. (2016, October 28). Long before Twitter, Martin Luther was a media pioneer. New York Times.
Standage, T. (2013). How Luther went viral: The role of social media in revolutions. Writing on the Wall: Social Media – The First 2000 Years. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Hey Taylor!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post! I enjoyed reading your explanation of the first articulation in the two different examples.
Something I find super interesting is that the cat meme was basically all over the internet in 2019-2020, however, I had never seen it! I know it was super popular after researching it for the purpose of the class, but I am surprised I wasn't familiar with it. I'm an avid user of social media, but it's interesting to see how messages are distributed and how something can go viral but only be seen by certain groups.
Were you familiar with the cat meme prior to learning about it in class?
- Kayla
Hi Taylor,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how much detail your posts went into while explaining how Luther’s work created an environment where many people could be involved in different ways. You outline in explicit detail each of the three components of the first articulation by stating that Luther is the creator of the 95 Theses, local printers would replicate the work, society was the distributor. What I really liked from your post was how you also provided an example to further enhance your illustration of how his information was presented and received within society at the time. Regarding the second “viral text” which was the “Women Yelling at a Cat Meme," you made a very important point when mentioning who contributed to its creation, in saying that “with the meme’s format being easily accessible, anyone could start repackaging the meme and sharing it. I believe this to be a defining component of social media today, and more specifically, a crucial component when comparing this example of a “viral text” to that of Martin Luther's 95 Theses. Although they both took advantage of the peer-to-peer network communication, Luther’s text was not able to be reproduced or ‘repackaged’ like the meme is today. Contemporary social media accompanied by digital image enhancing software allows its users to take a meme and re shape its visual components to give it a whole new context and meaning. All in all, this was a great post with exceptional detail!