Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Digital Identities and Flame Wars
We Didn’t Start the Flame War is a look into the negative aspects of the digital self. With the chorus lyrics as “we didn’t start the flame war”, but the verse lyrics as hate filled responses to posts by digital identities, this video shows how people interact in a negative way through their anonymous digital identities. The rise of Web 2.0 has exploded the social networking scene and the creation of digital identities. In their anonymity anyone can go onto a site where someone has shared something and comment on it in anyway they would like. In the “Identities” chapter of Born Digital the author, John Palfrey, explores how young people in the digital generation are representing themselves online on theses social sites. He explains that “there is more experimentation and reinvention of identities, and there are different modes of expression” (Palfrey, 37), in regards to Digital Natives as opposed to predigital generations. This experimentation and reinvention lead to people “trying on roles and looks and relationships that the might never dare to try on in “real space.”” (Palfrey, 44). The experimentation of roles in the digital, while no always bad, can be used in a negative way to hurt or offend others, as seen in the video. While being a depressing look at the negative aspects of the digital self, the pure observational humor of this video, along with the reimagining of a pop song allows the video to spread virally. The negative aspects of social networking are unavoidable but this video, which used social networks to propel its popularity, shows the good part, that of community sharing that is not available in any other media.
-Robert Geis
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I think this video demonstrates how the public forum has transformed from a non-hierarchical, inclusive place to share ideas for a common good into its digital manifestation where with a tiered system of hierarchy and snarky tone. No matter what site you post on, be it youtube, a blog, or 4chan, there is always a going to be someone there who is established in that community and is ready to project their ideals on you. This is especially true when you are unaware of social norms or customs that dominate sites like 4chan. The flame war phenomenon may not be due entirely to hate, but a response to people experiencing a level of freedom they have never known. Often times these commentators are rewarded for the level of creativity they show in their posts and experience a sort of power. This could be a huge factor in shaping online identities.
ReplyDelete-Victor Soto
The creators of this video have an intimate inside knowledge of internet culture, pointing to masculinity, exclusivity, and snarkastic tone as the main defining features of the young internet participants. The only females featured are the snorgtees models in the side bar ad , which are often lauded as sexually desirable by males on the internet, and a dancing "video babe" in Never Gonna Let You Down.
ReplyDeleteThe video references countless memes and common online practices, serving as a self-referential in-joke that only makes sense to those already included in the network and speak its code. Even little details such as the commenter's names and icon pictures are subtle nods to famous memes.
The featured comments are mainly crude, racist, and/or sexist in nature, pointing out the fact that comment threads for internet content often devolve into idiotic "dick length comparing" ham-fisted shouting matches where the filth of the insult slung dictates the winner. Especially the comment "No wonder girls don't come to this site" (a more intelligible variant on the ever popular "no wimminz on the interwebs") points out the widely accepted delineation of the internet as a masculine space.
Highlighting the consistent idiocy of comments across various websites (youtube, digg, etc), this video presents a more cynical view of the internet's promise of collective intelligence - the supposedly empowered voice of the people is revealed to be the piercing shriek of a 15 year old boy shouting "faggity fag fag!"
Previous comment by Se Young Kang
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