Introduction

Technology, Media and Culture interrelate in many ways. Every so often, an event connects with the public in a profound and fundamental way, becoming what is known as a "media milestone" or "media touchstone" event.

These are publicly shared events or artifacts/products that bring a new awareness and understanding to how a medium is impacting culture; evidence that a new medium or technology has crossed a threshold of significance.

These events are significant social and historical markers, often making people aware of the medium itself and how it has impacted their culture. There can be many such markers.

They are not the same as a Cultural Milestone, though sometimes they do overlap. We are going to focus here on a fun subset of media touchstones, viral videos.

Explore

Though this short TED Talk is a few years old, the basic points about Participatory Culture and the broad traits that are shared by Viral Videos is still valid and useful. Keep this in mind for our section on the Internet and near the end of the course, Contemporary Culture.

Keeping mind what was said in the TED Talk, watch this clip. It demonstrates what the TED Talk states about the power of the trendsetters, gatekeepers, and tastemakers.

Watch Jimmy Kimmel Reveals "Worst Twerk Fail Ever- girl catches fire" prank.

The first "true" viral video, back in 1996, was a version of The Original Ooga Chaka Baby Video. The Animated Dancing Baby will be in the media history books!

In what ways does it fit what the TED Talk discussed? This is long before YouTube and similar platforms, how did it go viral? What had to exist and be in place? Watch the Original Ooga Chaka Baby Video here.

Now, check out a few of the latest Viral Videos and think about their appeal. What are the 3 or 4 main categories of viral videos? How do they "function" in culture and what do they say about us? The TED Talk you saw should really help with this.

Directions

Once you have heard and seen the clips, find an Internet clip that has "gone viral" that you think might qualify as a milestone or touchstone (something that raised awareness of the medium and or its influence) and provide it in your post.

By "gone viral" it is meant that the clip has many views/hits by the internet standards of the time it broke out, into the millions

. It also earned those hits in a relatively short amount of time. It doesn't have to be music or a tragic news event. Remember however, that we cannot go beyond a PG-13 environment, as the student manual makes clear.

The assignment is not asking you to find footage of a historic moment or a tragic event. The fact that clips can go viral is indicative of the power of the internet (medium), and the technology (computers, etc.) even though the content of the clips may be superficial.

How is this impacting our culture, not necessarily the content of the clips (though you can discuss that, it may or may not be significant) but just the fact that this sort of thing exists now.

Using the class materials for the week in addition to the media clips above, respond to the following question to frame your first discussion post.

Play around with your ideas and those of your classmates, but make it "constructive play." Explore and have fun.

Explain what your clip is and why you think it qualifies as a possible Internet media milestone/touchstone. Provide the link.

In what ways does your viral video relate to our clips of past media milestones? How does it relate to the culture at large?

Discuss the clip itself, its viral qualities and touchstone/milestone aspects. DO NOT get caught up in discussing the event it depicts.

Analyze the clip, not the event. For example, if the clip was of a skateboarding crash, don't make your post about the history of skateboarding or its dangers.

Make it about that particular clip and why it went viral as opposed to hundreds of other skateboarding clips that didn't.

Think about the interactions between technology, media and culture. Any and all aspects of the content of the video may be useful for discussion, but the event itself is probably most significant. Be sure to back up your opinions with the class materials for the week. Be precise and specific.