[Air-L] Ideas on in-class activity on memes?

Crystal Abidin crystalabidin at gmail.com
Wed Oct 28 20:45:43 PDT 2015


Moshimoshi Jesse,

A tiny humble list of popular media meme resources here <
http://wishcrys.com/2015/06/01/resources-on-memes/>.

C

On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 10:58 AM, Kathleen Stansberry <
katiestansberry at gmail.com> wrote:

> For something fun, hands on, and creative, consider using the site
> https://imgflip.com/memegenerator to have students create their own meme
> then share it with the class. I've had success doing a brief (10-15 minute)
> discussion on popular memes, then uploading a photo of the school mascot
> doing something silly to imgflip and having students add their own
> captions.
> They typically come up with inside jokes about the school, which can lead
> to
> a discussion about how memes require some level of shared knowledge or
> common assumptions. Also, it's a good exercise to show how memes are built
> on a common idea or piece of content and that creativity can thrive within
> prescribed boundaries.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Air-L [mailto:air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Liz
> Crocker
> Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2015 6:05 PM
> To: Jesse Littlewood <jesse.littlewood at gmail.com>
> Cc: List Aoir <Air-L at listserv.aoir.org>
> Subject: Re: [Air-L] Ideas on in-class activity on memes?
>
> It could be fun to focus on one particular meme per group and have them do
> research to see variation acceptability and change over time. They could
> look at submissions for sites like reddit (/r/adviceanimals being an
> obvious
> suggestion) to see what gets upvoted or downvoted and see if they can tease
> out what aspects make that particular form successful or unsuccessful. Are
> there in-jokes that index in-group belonging? Pop culture references? What
> is too tame and what is too obscene? How does timing play a role? Are
> current iterations of the meme the same as earlier ones and how can they
> chart those shifts over time? It would be easy enough to pull in some
> theory
> or levels of analysis you've already used in the course.  Then, once they
> think they've figured it out have them create a reddit account, make their
> own meme, and post. They'd probably have a blast seeing how their
> experiment
> turns out. Maybe even offer some Halloween candy or a bonus point for
> whichever team's meme does the best.
>
> I look forward to seeing other suggestions!
>
> Liz Crocker
> Graduate Research Assistant
> Division of Emerging Media Studies
> PhD Candidate
> Department of Anthropology
> Boston University
>
> On Wed, Oct 28, 2015 at 12:20 PM, Jesse Littlewood <
> jesse.littlewood at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I'm a lurker here (and only part-time lecturer) and trying to overcome
> > my own Afraid to Ask Andy <https://i.imgflip.com/t9h5b.jpg> I thought
> > would throw this out: my social media <http://exp50.com> undergraduate
> > course has time for an in-class activity around internet memes. Given
> > ~45 minutes, what would you do to have students explore how/why and
> > impact of internet memes?
> >
> > I would say the goals are to drive the "folk culture" aspect of memes,
> > digging into what makes them "work" and set up how #brands are trying
> > to take advantage of that folk culture (and often failing).
> >
> > Some thoughts I have: A structured create-a-meme -- e.g. here's a
> > mission, create some memes about it (have the class review it?); a
> > treasure-hunt online?
> >
> > Would love any other ideas here or off-list, and my thanks.
> > Jesse
> > about.me/jesse.littlewood
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-- 
Crystal Abidin
wishcrys.com



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