6/6 Boyd/Dominguez


According to Boyd, online meme’s have become a source for telling the truth through a virtual and mass productive way. Memes are successful in spreading truth in a virus-like way because they are easy to create, do not require complex materials, and can be easily replicable. Through its simplicity and effectiveness, news outlets can showcase the meme in a quick segment and then will prompt a much deeper discussion about the real issue behind the meme. The process becomes fascinating as at face value the meme may seem comical or surprising, making someone reading feel taken aback, but then the meme becomes much more as more people ponder about it and discuss it. Memes still have drawbacks though. Boyd mentioned the difficulty of controlling the meme’s mutation. The fact that it is easily replicable is a good thing, but can also become the source for backfire. Once the meme becomes “viral,” the manipulations it may go through may not reflect the author’s original intention. This reminded me of the meme Pepe the Frog who originally was made with good intentions, but then was spinned off as a white nationalist, Nazi, and Trump supporter as time went by. Another source of cultural resistance through the use of the internet was explained by Dominguez who used electronic disturbance to bring light to online protest. Personally, I have never heard of electronic disturbance, but this tactic does seem like the future of activism. I think it is a good way of reaching an opponent's attention without really harming them. Rather, it is like pranking your sibling. They receive temporary consequences, but ultimately an underlying problem becomes addressed because your mom has come to stop the motions.  

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