My online practices
I didn’t start using Social Media until I was 16, when a friend made a Facebook account for me. Since then I have started using several platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. In my spare time I like to browse the internet, watch YouTube or binge Netflix shows. I spend more hours than I would like to admit in the great deep pits that are the internet.
Being a massive geek, I mostly use my Social Media accounts to stalk (not really) my favourite actors/actresses, shows and franchises. It’s an easy way to keep up-to-date with the latest news concerning the ‘fandoms’ that I like to keep up with. I mostly see myself as a passive user, I do not engage often with others on Social Media with an exception for my Instagram account. On here I occasionally post updates on any progress that I have made on my costumes and props (I’ll get to that later), or place comments on my friends’ posts. Mostly though my time on Instagram consist of scrolling through pages or stories for minutes long. I also like to keep up with any progress that my friends make and post about.
Besides wasting time on Social Media I foremost use the internet as a reference base. When recreating replica props or costumes from movies or shows the internet functions to me as huge library of unlimited reference material. I can download patterns, HD pictures, videos or 3D-files that will help me recreate any costume I could think of recreating. Following the progress my fellow costumer-buddies make also helps a lot. I occasionally find myself discussing details with them, which material to use, or the best way to get a certain result. But mostly they’re just great friends (
with whom I have a lot in common with) that I can always talk to.
Week 2:
Reading questions:
Kuhn, Virginia. 2012. “The rhetoric of remix.” In “Fan/Remix Video:
In what way do the authors use the term ‘argument’ differently from the usual definition, and why?
Nissenbaum, Asaf and Limor Shifman. 2017. “Internet memes as contested cultural capital: The case of 4chan’s /b/ board.
How are memes characterized by both similarity and variation?
Jenkins, Henry, Sam Ford and Joshua Green. 2013. “Introduction: Why Media Spreads.” In Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture.
What is spreadability and how do the authors use the term in the context of spreading media?
The template of this meme is called Skeptical Baby, and it’s probably an older, more recognizable meme. It’s meant to show ‘sarcastical confusion’.
Participatory Culture 