2008 Woodie Awards
Internet personalities meet in Boston - usual suspects make headlines
One reporter's inside look to ROFLCON 2008
Eryk Salvaggio
Issue date: 4/28/08 Section: Style
For two days, Internet fanatics converged on the MIT campus, in the hopes of catching the micro-celebrities of a medium in which, in the words of musician Momus, "everyone is famous for 15 people."
ROFLCon is a convention about the intricacies of the Internet meme. Memes - pronounced "meems," is a term devised by Richard Dawkins in his book, "The Selfish Gene," to describe the ways in which Darwinian theories of evolution could apply to human culture. Today, a meme is what we call funny pictures of cats that say "OH HAI."
In the days of broadcast television and films, celebrity was scarce, explained David Weinberger, a Fellow at the Harvard Berkman Center, in his keynote speech. "It was all about alienation."
Now, technology is "taking revenge on 100 years of broadcast" by emphasizing the imperfections of homemade media. "Perfection is the enemy of credibility," Weinberger explained. "We're ceasing to believe that which is too perfect. There's got to be a problem somewhere."
Which is what brings us to Tron Guy. Jay Maynard is a 47-year-old man from Minnesota. He is also a fan of Tron. While planning to attend a science fiction conference, Maynard used his LiveJournal to share plans for an elaborate costume made of spandex with glowing pieces of armor powered by 10 AA batteries and a Nine-Volt.
"I know I need to lose about 40 pounds and I know this costume isn't flattering," Maynard said. Nonetheless, when pictures of him wearing the suit showed up on the Internet, "My life turned upside-down in a matter of hours."
Not all of it was pretty - darker, more cynical communities like Somethingawful.com were brutal; at the same time, Maynard started getting requests from morning-show DJs who would bring him on as a guest to mock him, which he called the worst experiences he's ever had.
Eventually, Maynard ended up on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" for a total of 15 appearances. While the butt of jokes on mainstream television, Maynard said the people who talk to him or read his blog get it on a different level.
ROFLCon is a convention about the intricacies of the Internet meme. Memes - pronounced "meems," is a term devised by Richard Dawkins in his book, "The Selfish Gene," to describe the ways in which Darwinian theories of evolution could apply to human culture. Today, a meme is what we call funny pictures of cats that say "OH HAI."
In the days of broadcast television and films, celebrity was scarce, explained David Weinberger, a Fellow at the Harvard Berkman Center, in his keynote speech. "It was all about alienation."
Now, technology is "taking revenge on 100 years of broadcast" by emphasizing the imperfections of homemade media. "Perfection is the enemy of credibility," Weinberger explained. "We're ceasing to believe that which is too perfect. There's got to be a problem somewhere."
Which is what brings us to Tron Guy. Jay Maynard is a 47-year-old man from Minnesota. He is also a fan of Tron. While planning to attend a science fiction conference, Maynard used his LiveJournal to share plans for an elaborate costume made of spandex with glowing pieces of armor powered by 10 AA batteries and a Nine-Volt.
"I know I need to lose about 40 pounds and I know this costume isn't flattering," Maynard said. Nonetheless, when pictures of him wearing the suit showed up on the Internet, "My life turned upside-down in a matter of hours."
Not all of it was pretty - darker, more cynical communities like Somethingawful.com were brutal; at the same time, Maynard started getting requests from morning-show DJs who would bring him on as a guest to mock him, which he called the worst experiences he's ever had.
Eventually, Maynard ended up on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" for a total of 15 appearances. While the butt of jokes on mainstream television, Maynard said the people who talk to him or read his blog get it on a different level.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
Dave
posted 4/30/08 @ 12:28 AM EST
Dawkins didn't invent the term "meme". If you had read his book, you'd know this.
eryk
Eryk Salvaggio
posted 4/30/08 @ 3:39 AM EST
I have read the book, in fact, though admittedly it was in 2003. Regardless, Dawkins did precisely what I described in the article. "Meme" has existed prior to Dawkins, but he popularized it in the book as it relates to a cultural context, which is what we're talking about here. (Continued…)
Amazon Herbs
posted 5/26/08 @ 4:24 AM EST
The internet is still relaively new. Only time will tell if people can handle all of these different experiences.
Losing Weight
posted 6/28/08 @ 12:54 AM EST
I heard that as of today, Bill Gates is no longer working with Microsoft but he will still remain chairman. He is putting all of his effort into his foundation. (Continued…)
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