aspectabundgaze

[aspectabundgaze]

It's Just Memes, Myself & I!

Do I like memes?? Heck yeah! Who doesn't like them? Ah, memes, my digital best friends in this oh so very vast online landscape. I gotta admit to you guys, got this soft spot for these pictures, short videos, gifs (geef or jeef, potato puhtatoe, same thing, okay?) that I often see on Tumblr, Twitter (I refuse to call it by its new name) and occasionally Instagram. Truly makes me laugh, giggle, and even chuckle. Now according to Merriam-Webster, a meme is an amusing or interesting item, often encapsulated in a captioned picture or video, that spreads like wildfire across social media. I enjoy in the feeling of silliness  they bring to my screen, offering that soft tiny bit of happiness it gives from the turmoil my daily life also gives. But I am here to talk about political memes. I find myself walking on this fine line. While I'm not the biggest politics fan out there, I understand the power these visual anecdotes hold behind my screen. These type of memes serves as picture-perfect companions to complex political narratives, like pictures or drawn illustrations you’d found in a book or descriptions next to artifacts in a museum. Even when politics gets a bit too serious or complex for my taste, these memes become a show how digestible snapshots, allowing someone like me to sort of decode the intricate storyline of the political realm with a touch of humour and feeling that media being relatable.

Personally, I grew up with memes, especially in the late 2000s and early to mid 2010s. But one thing I noticed from reading comic strips from newspapers like The Borneo Post is that it has made me realize that memes and politics go WAY back. Like I said in my previous statement, memes showed up to be this dynamic and engaging medium for conveying political information, creating a wedge between laughs and frowns without trying so hard. By making complex political issues into concise and relatable formats, let’s not lie to ourselves and say that memes aren’t making politics more accessible to a broader audience. Their effectiveness lies within engaging with younger people, taking advantage of the presence of social media platforms. The share this on my timeline quality and viral nature of memes contribute significantly to the rapid dissemination of political messages, creating dialogue and discussions among diverse groups of people. However, like what Spider-man’s Uncle Ben said “With great power comes great responsibility”. It is a reminder for consumers to approach political memes critically, verifying information for accuracy and being mindful of potential biases embedded in the humor. 

Mortensen, M., & Neumayer, C. (2021), states that using memes are considered to be playful appropriations are used to move and demarcate frontiers in various political, cultural, and platform-specific contexts. Memes, as a form of playful appropriation, challenge and regenerate populism, carving out spaces for new identity to be formed while creating a sense of togetherness when things seemed tense. Playful humour in politics involves the creative appropriation of contexts at the intersection of the political and the humorous, allowing for a critical approach to political issues through creative expression. Mortensen & Neumayer also talked about the downsides of memes being used in politics, as it can also be a took contributing to the normalization of racist, sexist, discriminatory jokes and in the wrong hands, could be used for extremism to flourish. The constant playful appropriation of contexts and the contrast of new frontiers allow memes to effortlessly travel between subcultures and wider media environment (Mortensen, M., & Neumayer, C., 2021).

Like I said again and again, memes are amazing, it can be used to contribute to discussions about political issues in a productive way but I've seen it gone down in a Oh. Ma. Gawd. WHAT? kind of way. It has this potential to oversimplify things, causing people to not really understand the bigger issue. And sometimes, I've seen people make memes related to politics and human rights and used it to make a mockery out of the struggles and hard work people put into solving or easing the problems. You might be wondering, why is everything so repetitive. It is repetitive for a reason. With the main purpose to explain how memes = good but also memes = bad. You can make a light joke with a meme about a movie, a fashion show, maybe history but politics? It also depends where you are too. So before I end this post, let’s just say that it’s good to find humour and relativity in memes when it comes to politics, but don’t depend onto it too much that it becomes your sole source on understanding political issues.

References

Mortensen, M. and Neumayer, C., 2021. The playful politics of memes. Information, Communication & Society, 24(16), pp.2367-2377, viewed 29 November 2023

Meme definition & meaning', Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, viewed 30 November, 2023, <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meme>

[aspectabundgaze]

Crowds that are funded = CrowdFunds

I love creating content. I also love putting out content for my 162 subscribers on YouTube, if it is still at 162 subs. I can still manage it on my own. But what about content creators who are growing and aren't really sponsored by certain brands? Now if you asked me and my opinion, crowdfunding can be an effective tool when it comes to helping building a community for the creative minds. Platforms like Patreon, Ko-Fi helped artists, graphic designers, beginners or professional filmmakers (who aren't tied to a huge distribution company, singer-songwriters, chefs, bakers, and also content creators to not only help fund their projects, or continue to keep their brands alive, but to also allow them to connect directly with their audiences/subscribers, and build a community around their work. 

Before we get into the question does crowdfunding actually help content creators or those in the creative industry, let's get a little into what crowdfunding is. In an article translated to English originally published by Greek author Zorica Golić in 2014, Golić has states that crowdfunding has become this alternative financing option, especially for projects that struggle to obtain loans from traditional sources like banks or investors. Dannberg, T. describes crowdfunding is a form and part of crowd sourcing, and the typical user of a crowd sourcing platform is described as a middle to old, middle to upper-class, highly educated, married white man with high-speed internet connection.

Other than being a platform to help fund content creators, these crowdfunding platforms also serves as something that motivates creators and contributes to a sense of community. Additionally, crowdfunding helps build a sustainable fan base by connecting with backers, turning them into long-term supporters, as stated by Dannberg, T., 2017. But with it’s positive look, it also has this negative outlook to it. Now with the attention of social media, it has brought not only the interest but also scrutiny when it comes to crowdfunding as stated by Chin, Jones, McNutt & Pebler, 2014. Furter explained by Chin, Jones, McNutt & Pebbler, this draws criticism on duped funders, projects done by celebrities and movie studios whose main motive is to continue on exploiting their fans and audiences into funded projects they themselves can fund.

Examples I can see from my own personal observations The Try Guys, Watcher, while both were part of Buzzfeed, people associated with the company like Eugene Lee Yang, Zack Kornfeld, Keith Habersberger (Try Guys), or Ryan Bergara, Shane Madej, and Steven Lim (Watcher) eventually branched out and started their own companies. As someone who used to subscribe to The Try Guys' patreon, these crowdfunding sites allows fans to view scenes that were not included in their uploaded content on YouTube, early access to more videos or videos scheduled for release from days to a week ahead, or ability to have their feedback and suggestions taken by these content creators for their future content. Another example would be PBS Eons. People who subscribed to their Patreon would be given a shoutout at the end of the videos, but it depends on the rankings of contents they chose to subscribe. But these businesses had already gained a number of exposure, fans and followers that getting the financial support for crowdfunding wouldn’t really be an issue. So take a look on Jon Widegren. Widegren planned on traveling across the United States to really enjoy as well as getting inspiration from burger joints he visited. Widegren spent 3 more months in the States before returning to Stockholm and got to work on he’s new project, Flippin’ Burgers, which was a success thanks to crowdfunds.

In conclusion, does crowdfunding helps the creative industry and community? Yes. Yes it does. I’ve seen it help my friends who were art students who used Ko-Fi, Patreon to help fund their budget to fund their art supplies. And it has also helped me as a writer. I get paid to write certain stories on platforms like Tumblr for fans and in turn, I would be given small donations in my Ko-Fi account to help me financially and my research for any of these stories I’ve been commissioned to write.

References

Golić, Z., 2014. Advantages of crowdfunding as an alternative source of financing of small and medium-sized enterprises. Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Istočnom Sarajevu, (8), pp.39-48, viewed 26 November 2023.

Dannberg, T., 2017. Advantages and disadvantages with crowdfunding:-and who are the users?, viewed 27 November 2023.

Bennett, L., Chin, B. and Jones, B. (2015) ‘Crowdfunding: A New Media & Society special issue’, New Media & Society, 17(2), pp. 141–148, viewed 26 November 2023

‘Flippin’ burgers – sthlm’s best’, Truck Stop El Bulli, viewed 28 November 2023, <https://truckstopelbulli.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/flippin-burgers-sthlms-best>

[aspectabundgaze]

Activism : The Play, Scene II

Activism has always been around for such a long, long time. However, not a lot of people are aware of how people back in the days used to use their voices or influence in the acts of activism. Which brings up to the question I have in mind, "What was activism like in the days of Ancient Greece?" "Now I know they have protests too, but did they incorporated it into their entertainment? Entertainment has always been a tool to advocate for changes. Right?"

I've always been a huge fan of ancient Greek history, mainly mythology but sometimes, I do dabble into their philosophical and political sides. To answer my own question, I've decided to do a slight dive on Aristophanes.

First thing's first, what is activism? Nolas, S.M., Varvantakis, C. and Aruldoss, V., 2017 defines activism as an act that could be driven by the intentions to challenge social norms, practices that holds back and oppresses, suppresses identities that does not conform to the values of a society. Now activism can happen anywhere and any time, from a playground where both genders can play together without being judged for being a girl or a boy, a dinner table where discussions from studies, work, world issues can happen. Nolas, Varvantakis and Aruldoss, 2017 have also stated in their papers activism can also be a response to changes and events within the society, such as the rise of new social movements and the need to do a dive in onto political participation in the face of unexpected political outcomes. So how does this relate to Aristophanes?

Now according to an article published by Columbia College, Aristophanes was an ancient Greek playwright and comedian who lived in Athens, he was born somewhere around 446 BCE and died around 386 BCE. He was best known for his comedic plays, wrote roughly around 40 plays, where only 11 of his works survived to this very day. The reason why I found that his work is related to activism, particularly political activism is because his plays were known for its satirical and political nature. He incorporated humour, an exaggeration towards contemporary issues, philosophy and social trends into his work, making him known as one of the first people to be a public relations activist. Using political satire was one of the Ancient Greek's way to perform activism and public relations. (Bisbe, M., Molner, E. and Jimenez, M., 2019).

An example that can be taken from Aristophanes' play called "Lysistrata" written in 411 BCE that depicts the Peloponnesian war between the Athens and the Spartans. As known with his knack for satire and comedy, he wrote this as a portrayal of a fictional attempt by women from Ancient Greek to end the war by withholding sexual privileges with their husbands in order to stop the war until a treaty was signed. Albeit the play talking about a woman's needs with her spouses, the dialogue. talked about how men who focused on the war has been nothing but wasteful of the tax payer's money that women and the society contributed to, going back to Aristophanes' way of addressing the the financial effects of war, showing the frivolous nature of war and also the effects of wat on families.

Another example would be one of his well known plays "The Clouds". The Clouds was written as a political and philosophical satire on Socrates and his institution, which is also known as "The Clouds" Aristophanes used humour and exaggerated language to caricature Socrates' methods of inquiry and the perceived consequences of philosophical education. For example, here is a small dialogue from the play I read.

SOCRATES

Well now! what are you doing? are you reflecting?

STREPSIADES

Yes, by Posidon!

SOCRATES

What about?

STREPSIADES

Whether the bugs will entirely devour me.

SOCRATES

May death seize you, accursed man!

He turns aside again.

The play suggests that the pursuit of abstract knowledge and intellectualism can lead to moral and societal corruption, as The Cloud is about a man named Strepsiades who enrolled himself to Socrates' institution in order to avoid getting caught for his financial debts instead of trying his best to work things out and ethically clear out his debts. And in my opinion, activism doesn't always have to be something we do as a form of protest (physically done with marching), or an online post, or a drawing or photos but it could also be done in a form of writing. A script, a play, a book or a poem.

Refences

Nolas, S.M., Varvantakis, C. and Aruldoss, V., 2017. Political activism across the life course. Contemporary Social Science, 12(1-2), pp.1-12, viewed 22 November 2023.

Bisbe, M., Molner, E. and Jimenez, M., 2019. Public intellectuals, political satire and the birth of activist public relations: The case of Attic Comedy. Public Relations Review, 45(5), p.101790, viewed 23 November 2023

Foley, H.P., 1982. The" female intruder" reconsidered: Women in Aristophanes' Lysistrata and Ecclesiazusae. Classical Philology, 77(1), pp.1-21, viewed 19 November 2023

The Internet Classics Archive: The Clouds by aristophanes’, The Internet Classics Archive | The Clouds by Aristophanes, viewed 24 November, 2023, <http://classics.mit.edu/Aristophanes/clouds.html>

[aspectabundgaze]

Fandom : The Activist

When it comes to acts of activism, in my opinion, nobody is as driven as the Kpop fandom. Kpop fans have been known to use their platform (on social media) and the influences of their own selves as a whole to support various social causes. These fans would leverage social media to raise awareness, raise funds, and coordinate efforts for issues like human rights, climate change, and mental health. Kpop fans are known to be as charitable as their idols as they've organized online fundraisers to support charitable causes. But first things first, what is activism? Liberties, 2023 states that activism refers to an action that is used to challenge those in power to bring change and benefit society for the greater good whereas Cambridge Dictionary defines activism is an act of advocating for better rights, or simply the use of direct and noticeable action to achieve a result, usually a political or social one.

Activists challenge the status quo by use their voice to bring about social, political, economic or environmental reform. There is no single way to conduct activism, any collective action which draws attention to an issue constitutes activism. (Brooks. E, 2023) While traditional forms of activism include demonstrations and protests, activists can also resort to non conventional forms of activism if earlier efforts show no results or is ignored by the majority, such as protesting online, signing petitions and sending it to respective organizations that support the cause and more.

An example of this would be the "Match A Million" campaign done by ARMYs in showing support for the Black Lives Matter movement. This particular campaign was done by ARMYs matching Kpop boy group BTS's $1 million donation to BLM within 24 hours. According to Forbes, 2020, BTS had expressed their support for the Black Lives Matter movement, writing on Twitter/X “We stand against racial discrimination. We condemn violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together. #BlackLivesMatter.” Soon it started a chain of (financial) support from ARMYS from all over the world. ARMYs began trending the hashtag #MatchAMillion, encouraging the fans to donate what they can. The fan led charity group named "One in an ARMY" created a website and a specific page that redirects fans to a page where ARMYs can donate, which is known as ActBlue card, where it tracks donations mades by fans, allowing fans and donors to split their money between 16 groups, such as National Police Accountability Project, Black Visions Collective, Unicorn Riot, Black AIDS Institute, BLACK LGBTQIA+ Migrant project and more, where again, fans can split donations to all groups or donate specific amounts of donations to the groups individually.

Second would be ATINYs. Fans of the Kpop boy group ATEEZ created a campaign on behalf of The Polished Man campaign in 2020, donating over $30,000 as stated in their website. The Polished Man is a campaign devoted to helping violence and abuse against children, with the money donated by ATINYs to help and support trauma prevention and recovery programs towards children who were victims of violence, neglect and abuse, according to KpopMap, 2022.

In 2020, November 11th, the Philippines was hit by a typhoon, known as the Ulysses typhoon. According to user @lenirobredo on Twitter/X, who is also the 14th Vice President of The Philippines, Filipino fans of YG Entertainment girl and boy group, BLACKPINK and TREASURE, known as BLINKS and Treasure Makers, respectively, came out to help with the cause by donating copious amounts of canned food, rice, noodles, and diapers to those affected (Leni Robredo, 2020).

(Image sourced from @LeniRobredo on Twitter/X)

So what does this tell us? In my point of view, Kpop fandoms engaging in activism may and can serve as not only a noble cause but a good PR/Image control for the idols, a potential marketing strategy for a Kpop idol. From my personal observations, especially on social media, Kpop fans can be rather hostile towards rival fans, thus impacting the image of said Kpop idols in a bad light, especially when it becomes a topic in Korean forums. So when fans engage in activities such as donating rice on behalf of the Kpop idol, or come up with campaigns like ATINYs or ARMYs, their actions paint the idols in a more positive light.

References

Brooks, E 2023, ‘What is activism: Definition, types, role, examples, importance’, Liberties.eu, viewed 16 November, 2023, <https://www.liberties.eu/en/stories/activism/44871>

Rolli, B 2020, ‘BTS Army matched the group’s $1 million black lives matter donation, proving the positive power of fandoms’, Forbes, Forbes Magazine, viewed 19 November, 2023, <https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrolli/2020/06/08/bts-army-black-lives-matter-1-million-donation/amp/>

Activism | english meaning - cambridge dictionary, viewed 20 November, 2023, <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/activism>

[aspectabundgaze]

is blogging still a thing?

short answer? kinda. and you wont believe that tiktok does play a role in it.

its not a 'no' because i cant go disgracing tumblr when i've been using it for almost 11 years.

okay. before we get right into it, a brief introduction to what the hell is blogging.

so, blogging. sounds ancient, doesn't it. well, it did started when we barely knew anything about the world. according to many other websites, has been defined as something that has been posted, where writers (or anyone else for the matter) can share their opinions on certain subject, mediums such as writing, photography or things that could be self-publishing online on a website, like tumblr. most people don't know that posting on your twitter, whatsapp statuses and instagram stories are considered microblogging.

see, the thing is, people think that blogging is dead when platforms like tiktok and instagram are thriving. but actually, said platforms are the reason why blogging is still relevant.

how come tiktok is the reason why blogging is still a thing?

well, when you blog, its basically just you posting about your day, what you eat, what activities did you do and so forth. it can be whatever you want it to be. there are various reasons as to why people are on tiktok. we were there because of covid.

sorry, shouldve put a trigger warning for that.

while most of us signed up to tiktok when ms rona ruined things for us to join trends, share knowledge etc, others would share their similar interests. i remember being on anitiktok, and lord, when i look at the old videos, they were sooo cringey. but hey, at least we've made the most out of it during the lockdown.

other than that, the most notable side of tiktok would be... drum roll please!

booktok.

so, what's the correlation here? how did tumblr and tiktok became the reason why blogging is still alive and breathing? what does booktok has to do with blogging?

booktok. for starters, is when users are to talk (sometimes they recommend) about books, rant about them, shit talk about how awful the story is (even goes as far as side eyeing the authors [*cough* im looking at you, colleen hoover]).

booktok is meant for people who are into reading. i mean, isn't it obvious?

so, yup. okay, not everyone knows that people go to tumblr to read self-published works of fictions. yes, reading a fanfic on someone's tumblr account on this website is still considered looking at someone's blog (and appreciating them like i do, i've been a loyal fan and reader of several authors on this site). people publish their works here is still considered as blogging because blogging can be anything.

tumblr started and has always been a site where people are able to blog whatever they want, in whatever form (text, gifs, arts, etc). as a result, users as able to look (and appreciate by interacting with the posts by liking, commenting and reblogging) at one's works because it also acts as an archive.

blogging can go from posting lifehacks, tips and advices for people to use as aids as well as to guide them so that they can relate, making them form an online presence.

so when i tell you that the reason why people are still blogging (and interacting with the blogs) because of tiktok, i meant it.

okay, so i mightve made a mistake. to clarify, booktok isnt the only reason why people are into blogging. anime fans, tv series fans like supernatural, movie fans, comic fans, animated fans like atsv fans (specifically miguel fans [aka me]) are the reason why people go to tumblr to blog.

(i love brooding older men sm yall hes so sexy)

people from all walks of life, specifically if their background is them being a fan of some type of media, is bound to use tumblr to either write a blog (in forms of fanfics/drabbles/oneshot etc) or to interact with them.

and that, ladies, gents and enbies, is the reason as to why blogging is still a fighting tooth and nail to stay alive. its the reason why people still use tumblr to blog. its the reason why tumblr is the place fans go to, to blog and do whatever they want on this app/site. sure, they go to wattpad or ao3 (hell, maybe even fanfic.net if that site is still alive), but tumblr is one of the platforms (arguable the easiest one to navigate) to use for blogging and such.

and that concludes my opinion. blogging is still fighting for their life, even in the age of tiktok and whatever theyre doing over there (pretty much its vlogging, you know a video type of blogging)

(my right wrist hurt as we speak and i kinda went beyond the word limit so forgiefe mac or whatever it is they say in old/archaic english to be pardoned)

oh! if they ever would shut down tumblr, i would simply off myself cus what the hell am i gonna do? ಥ_ಥ

[aspectabundgaze]

✎... 𝘽𝙇𝙊𝙂𝙎 𝘽𝙇𝙊𝙂𝙎 𝘽𝙇𝙊𝙂𝙎

Merriam-Webster defines "blog" as a website that contains online personal opinions, replies/comments/feedbacks, videos, pictures posted by the writer. Now although the very first blogging site could be traced from the year 1994, by a journalist named Justin Hall, it wasn't really seen as one since it was simply listed as a personal homepage. (Rioja, A. 2020)

"Is blogging still relevant when Instagram, TikTok and YouTube have been on the rise?"

Okay~ so... a quick intro on what these three holy trinity of vlogging, pictures and short videos are, TikTok is a social media platform that allows you to post short videos from 15 seconds to 3 minutes long, some going as far as 10 minutes. Because it allows you to also post stories, it is considered Instagram "lite" by some. People post fan edits, original skits, repost of other viral content from other platforms, and it has gain a lot of traction during the Covid-19 pandemic. Instagram is a platform for sharing photos, videos with anyone, as long as there's engagement, your content will get views and likes, it is the same as YouTube, although YouTube had been around much longer.

To answer the question, if you ask me, blogging is still very relevant in 2023. So many people, from writers, students, teachers, fans, business owners to organizations continues the usage of blogging sites. To think a few, other than Tumblr, Twitter or now known as X, Facebook, and Weibo, which is the Chinese version of X (Twitter), Cyworld, a now defunct Korean blogging platform, are some of the microblogging platforms these people used to share tip bits of their lives, brands, engaging with their audience through replies, likes, reposting and sharing their content, and obviously it is also used to improve their online presence. Now other social media platforms like Douyin, TikTok, YouTube has gain a significant amount of popularity, but written content and blogging remains an essential part of online communication, branding and marketing.

According to Rheingold. H, 1993, "Virtual communities are social aggregations that emerge from the Net when enough people carry on […] public discussions long enough, with sufficient

human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace” so that is what blogging actually does, it helps us form our ideas and create a safe space for the rest of us to show sides that other platforms would judge us for. For example, in my opinion, blogging platforms like Tumblr or Twitter, aka X can be a space for me to express my interest, particularly horror movies, movie analysis, movie reviews, anime, cosplay, fanarts where in spaces like Twitter (X), I get to make personal comments and engage with my mutuals with their replies through my Inner Circle without having other people who are not my followers or close friends seeing it. Comment sections in sites like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, while it can be private, it is only private if the post is private so when you leave a comment on a public account, people still get to see your comment and visit your profile, so it doesn't really offer that sense of anonymity like Tumblr or X (Twitter).

Other than that, blogs can be totally customizable to your likings! I'm personally a Royalcore type of person, therefore Tumblr or Wordpress offers me the freedom to customize my username, my layouts, the fonts I can use to make it more aesthetically pleasing. And again, blogging is still around and will always be around because people love sharing thoughts, love to tell their tales in an intricate manner with their writing style to engage with their followers. And getting responses from people who visit your blogs, and/or proceeds to follow you afterwards is actually a huge boost for a blogger's self esteem.

In conclusion, a person who blogs, is called a blogger. Some do it on a daily basis, some do it on a weekly, monthly basis or whenever they feel like it. It is still so very common for content creators and influencers, take TikTok food and lifestyle content creator Emily Mariko who updates her newsletter/blog on her lifestyle to updates on her engagement, wedding, and more for her followers. So. Is it still a thing? Yes. Yes it is!

references :

A brief history of blogging - Sean MCB, viewed 28 September, 2023, <http://seanmcb.com/projects/bhob/brief_history_of_blogging.pdf&gt>

Alejandro Rioja 2020, ‘The history of blogging and its evolution [+infographic] from 1994 to 2020’, Alejandro Rioja, viewed 28 September, 2023, <https://alejandrorioja.com/history-of-blogging/>

[aspectabundgaze]

𝖂𝖊𝖑𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕳𝖊𝖑𝖑𝖔

✧ꕤ﹆⋆ 𓂅

the name is lilith. a quarter of a 100 years old. i am not aligned with the binary as i go by she/they.

this blog is strictly for writing my assignments and to also monitor my writing blog (i shan't tell you what it is!)

lastly but never least, my opinions are for my work, my grades. no copyright infringement intended. ♡

✧ꕤ﹆⋆ 𓂅