Meme Warfare demonstrates how people can engage in cultural resistance through visuals that raise awareness about the existing inequities and sometimes difficult realities. Memes operate similar to the flash mobs that were shown in previous classes in that they are fun, silly, and easy to replicate. The viral aspect of it also applies to both flash mobs and memes, as it spreads to the public quickly. The importance of cultural resistance through less "traditional" platforms (e.g., protests) is that it sends a clear message across to both corporate media and grassroots activists (p. 371). Memes that are done by everyday people - like college students, for example - may also exemplify everyday acts of resistance since they are not directly tied to an institution nor led by a political activist. In this way, it grants ordinary people the power to impact others and effectively raise awareness. Despite memes ability to challenge the status quo, the message may slowly lose popularity and unfortunately impact people temporarily. I've personally seen this happen in the Facebook meme pages, where silly memes about Katehi were floating around for a certain amount of time. Eventually, people gradually forget about the larger picture.
Electronic Disturbance gives a great example of how the internet can be used as a major and effective tool for spreading knowledge, like a virus. Dominguez references the electronic movement inspired by the Zapatistas as well as the efforts to raise awareness on the AID epidemic to demonstrate its effectiveness. However, Dominguez asserts an important argument that 98% of the world are not online, thus do not have access to such information (p. 394). This is a crucial aspect that should not be overlooked since it may privilege those who have access to the internet and exclude communities with low socioeconomic statuses who are interested in participating in the movement but merely uninformed.
No comments:
Post a Comment