Week 5. Making Cultures.

Traditionally, culture is something that has had a tangible aspect. Architectural wonders, literature, art, and music were once how we defined culture. But just like everything, the internet has changed this. While we once experienced a performance in a beautiful concert hall or a famous exhibit at an iconic museum, we can now also experience these events through our computers and mobiles. Live streaming, eBooks, Torrents, image galleries, and other various technologies allow us to access a world of culture through the click of a button.

An example of two of the most popular memes, 'Good
Guy Greg' and 'Scumbag Steve' (www.imgur.com).

But this is only how the internet allows us to explore the kinds of culture that has existed as long as recorded history. What about the culture that the internet has created? Social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter have developed social queues and terminology that is comprehended near unanimously amongst the users. The most distinctive and comprehendible aspect of the internet’s culture is its humour. The internet has created a unique new form of humour known as memes. They typically involve an image with text overlay captions and a humour that is usually widely relatable and often crude or in bad taste. Furthermore, people can belong to groups and use these websites to define their personality. With the sheer volume of knowledge users have provided about themselves to Facebook, the site has become a library of social behaviour and personalities. It is clear that one’s page is an accurate portrayal of their character (or atleast how they see themselves). 

References

http://www.facebook.com

http://www.twitter.com

http://www.knowyourmeme.com

http://www.gaarde.org/acronyms/

 Morrison, J 2003, ‘“The dark side of globalisation”: the criminalisation of refugees’, in R Robertson & KE White (eds), Globalization: critical concepts in sociology, Routledge, London, pp. 474–7.

Sun, W 2002, ‘Fantasizing the homeland, the internet, memory and exilic longings’, Leaving China: media, migration, and transnational imagination, Rowan & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., pp. 113–36.