Guest Speaker: An Xiao Mina
An (an xiao mina, Meedan) offered a great perspective on ‘memes.’ I thought of them as just surface-level jokes before, however, the 2016 election really changed my mind on them. We began to see memes that carried an agenda… people actually listened to them. It began to blur the lines of humor and context. An says it best in her own words, “There’s a lot of dark stuff on memes and on the internet. I think of memes as paintings, films, any type of media, they reflect and amplify all aspects of humanity. The best of us and the worst of us.”
I wanted to share the ‘meme’ above due to its comment on establishment vs. action. It’s a showing of compassion and care, but what people want are actions, and many weren’t fooled by this ‘PR’ practice.
It’s easier than ever to share your opinions, social media gives us access to statements from people of all different places and backgrounds. Even in my own project for 375, I plan on utilizing hashtags and engaging people I normally wouldn’t, which is leaving my own bubble to a certain degree.
