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
"Your mechanism of saying, 'this is who I am, f--- you' It's awesome," said one audience member.
Maynard is an unlikely celebrity in a broadcast world. But then, so are people like Kyle MacDonald, who traded up from a red paperclip until he was able to purchase a house in rural Canada. While there are some celebrities who are born from the Internet - Tila Tequila comes to mind - there are fewer who can make it last without traditional media backing them. Tequila's self-promoted CD, for example, sold significantly fewer copies than she expected. It serves as a warning to anyone who uses the net in a conscious effort to make money or fame.
"People on the Internet are remarkably adept at spotting bulls---," said Maynard.
While many are tempted to explain the spread of ideas on the Internet as a product of new technology, the idea of the Internet meme is fundamentally the same as the way jokes get told. As a result, studying the way jokes get told on the Internet allows for a simplified model to earn insight into how technology changes the way we communicate.
"Internet humor is localized humor," said Alice Marwick, a Ph.D student at New York University, who spoke on the subject of "Microcelebrities." On the internet - like any other culture - fame is given to people who possess the traits culture most wants to possess: Maynard standing up for himself makes him an Internet folk here; so does the intelligent wit of someone like Ryan North (Dinosaur Comic Guy) or Randall Monroe (XKCD Guy).
With the Internet capable of supporting a limitless supply of subcultures, it's only natural that it can give us an explosion of Web celebrities, with its own definition of "famous" stretching to include people no one has ever really heard of, for something they made while bored at work.
Web sites:
roflcon.org
tronguy.net
oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com
qwantz.com
xkcd.com
Maynard is an unlikely celebrity in a broadcast world. But then, so are people like Kyle MacDonald, who traded up from a red paperclip until he was able to purchase a house in rural Canada. While there are some celebrities who are born from the Internet - Tila Tequila comes to mind - there are fewer who can make it last without traditional media backing them. Tequila's self-promoted CD, for example, sold significantly fewer copies than she expected. It serves as a warning to anyone who uses the net in a conscious effort to make money or fame.
"People on the Internet are remarkably adept at spotting bulls---," said Maynard.
While many are tempted to explain the spread of ideas on the Internet as a product of new technology, the idea of the Internet meme is fundamentally the same as the way jokes get told. As a result, studying the way jokes get told on the Internet allows for a simplified model to earn insight into how technology changes the way we communicate.
"Internet humor is localized humor," said Alice Marwick, a Ph.D student at New York University, who spoke on the subject of "Microcelebrities." On the internet - like any other culture - fame is given to people who possess the traits culture most wants to possess: Maynard standing up for himself makes him an Internet folk here; so does the intelligent wit of someone like Ryan North (Dinosaur Comic Guy) or Randall Monroe (XKCD Guy).
With the Internet capable of supporting a limitless supply of subcultures, it's only natural that it can give us an explosion of Web celebrities, with its own definition of "famous" stretching to include people no one has ever really heard of, for something they made while bored at work.
Web sites:
roflcon.org
tronguy.net
oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com
qwantz.com
xkcd.com
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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