#meme I made that caters to a specific audience (also me)

[alphascorpiixx]

[ID: "hello person from x" meme. First panel G'raha Tia says "Hello Player from Kingdom Hearts Union Cross Dark Road." Second panel Player says "Hello G'raha Tia from Final Fantasy 14 Online." Third panel G'raha Tia wears the Crystal Exarch robe. Fourth panel Player wears the blue robe from khdr. End ID]

[whythehellnaut]

The secret brilliance behind Nickelodeon All Star Brawl‘s marketing

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the Nickelodeon fighting game after it was announced, progressing from mild interest to ironic excitement to unironic excitement for it.  So many jokes and memes have been made about it that they’re almost impossible to avoid.�� But when I thought about it, I realized that that’s exactly what the marketing team for this game wanted.  The idea of the game is so absurd that no one would expect it to exist, but they figured out a way to make absolutely sure that it would create just the right buzz to get people like me to take serious interest in it.

Watching the trailer again, I figured out that every character they picked to showcase in that minute and a half trailer were carefully and strategically chosen to cater to as many people as they could.  Even the order of their appearance had deliberation behind it.  Here are my thoughts:

Michelangelo comes first, establishing that the game is combat focused.  After all, who better to show off first for a fighting game than a character that has already appeared as a playable character in at least two of them?  Plus, the Ninja Turtles are the oldest characters in Nickelodeon’s library when you consider that they first aired in the 80′s, before Nickelodeon even started making cartoons.  This is a character that everyone recognizes, parents included.

Lincoln Loud comes next, a more modern character that adults might not know but kids will.  This is to quickly lure the kids, who have less patience than adults, into watching the rest of the trailer, assuring them that it won’t just be older characters like the turtles that show up.

Powdered Toast Man comes next to snatch up the other side of the equation, the adults/90′s kids who remember him from the original Ren and Stimpy show from 1991.  I’m not sure if it’s still airing as reruns on Nick today, but considering I hear very little about the show online, I’m guessing not.  This is a bit of a surprise to the adults who thought it’d be a kids’ game, so it lures those folks into staying for the rest of the trailer as well.

Sandy is important to show off early for a number of reasons.  Spongebob is popular among kids and Millenials, and is arguably the only property here as well known as Ninja Turtles, so they’re luring in more fans.  It also serves to imply that other Spongebob characters will join, as, even though Sandy’s passion for karate makes total sense for her to appear in a fighting game, you still can’t leave out Spongebob himself.  Showing her first implies more possibilities of characters to come, proving it won’t just be a festival of protagonists like Jump Force was.  It also shows off their female representation to keep women interested.

Patrick is just a fan favorite to get out of the way before the sponge shows up, so he’s only here to confirm that the game is going to be full of characters that people actually want to see.

Oblina was personally a shocker to me, as I barely remember Ahh Real Monsters from my own childhood, but I remember enough to know that she wasn’t the protagonist, necessarily.  I also know it’s relatively obscure in comparison to Spongebob or Ren and Stimpy, so they proved that they are willing to take characters from more obscure shows that the young kids won’t remember.  This solidified my interest as I could tell that they are doing more to cater to the 90s generation than just confirming Powdered Toast Man.

Nigel Thornberry is arguably their most important addition at the halfway point.  Outside of Spongebob characters and maybe Stu Pickles, I would say Nigel is the internet’s favorite Nickelodeon character to use for memes.  The marketing team had to have known this.  After getting some of the core audiences hooked, they now have the memer crowd invested, ready to spread the word about the insanity of this game’s premise across the internet.  This is exactly what happened, and why the trailer has 2 million views on Youtube right now.

Lucy Loud is shown off quickly to remind the younger crowd to keep watching, and to add a little bit more female representation.

Spongebob is shown off a little bit late, but since we were expecting him to show up, it’s just to make sure the casual fans who only know the big names stay watching.

Helga is an older character, but I recently saw a young kid wearing a Hey Arnold tee shirt at the supermarket, so I’m positive it’s being shown as reruns on Nick today, so most Nick fans of all ages will be excited about her.  Moreover, since she came immediately after Spongebob, who is a protagonist that was introduced after Sandy, a side character from his show, it gives an implication that Arnold will also appear.  Although he is not introduced in this trailer, it allows the fans to speculate that he will soon be showcased, perhaps in the next trailer.  Also, she’s the fourth female character shown, confirming that the game is being fair and inclusive to both sexes and not simply catering to male gamers, like say, Jump Force or Dragonball Fighter Z.

Reptar is another shocker, because although Rugrats is very popular and well known throughout the generations, he is a very, very minor character in the show.  He is literally a fictional character within a separate fictional universe.  The marketing team threw him in to show off that just about any character from any Nick property, no matter how minor or obscure, has a chance of making it into this game.  Again, this forces the fans to speculate about future announcements with even more creative thinking, as we now know that it won’t just be major characters joining the fray.

Zim is a well thought out choice because he caters to a specific crowd that I’d describe as the alternative niche.  That is to say, there are people who are fans of Invader Zim who don’t watch other Nick shows, so they are luring in the folks you’d expect to see at Hot Topic and the like.  It was an edgy show with a feel and fanbase unlike other shows of its era, so it’s important to use him to diversify the roster.  They also showed off Gir as his assist, and although that may deconfirm him as playable, it still pleases the fans, who often prefer Gir over Zim.

Danny Phantom is the only character that comes strictly from the 2000s era, so they are making sure to maintain the attention of the teenagers who watched that show as kids.

Leonardo seems like an odd choice to end on, maybe even anticlimactic, since they started with Michelangelo, but it makes sense when you think about it.  They couldn’t show just 1 turtle, or else it might imply that the game’s roster was small.  But if they showed all 4 turtles, they would have needed to leave two other characters out of the trailer to make room for them, and they didn’t want to make it look like a Turtles fighting game with guest characters.  So having exactly 2 turtles allows them to show off enough characters from other properties, while also confirming unofficially that the other turtles would appear later, since you can’t just have 2 of the 4 turtles in the game.  By leaving it open like that, they’re giving an implication that the roster is going to be huge.  So big that the turtles were just a small portion of it.  They end the trailer this way to leave the crowd speculating again: how many characters will appear in total?

The only characters that curiously don’t show up in the trailer are the cast of the Avatar franchise, who are quite popular.  However, one of the stages shown is clearly the Air Temple with Aang’s glider in plain sight, implying that Avatar characters will be announced later.  Another smart move to instill hope in the fans.

Finally, the Rollback Netcode announcement that came afterward solidified a very important group- the serious/competitive gamers.  For those who don’t know, rollback netcode is relatively new technology that speeds up online gameplay to cut down on input lag, which is super important for fighting games in particular, as they rely on strict timing more than other game genres.  It’s so new, however, that not all competitive fighting games use it.  Popular tournament fighters like Super Smash Bros, Tekken, and Dragonball Fighter Z have not implemented rollback netcode for their games yet, so of all games, Nickelodeon All Star Brawl beating them to the punch is causing a stir.  This is a sign that the devs are putting serious effort into making the game enjoyable online, which could potentially help its chances to be taken seriously in competitive settings.  Only time will tell if that truly happens, but it’s a sign of quality, nonetheless.

So ultimately, this short trailer and announcement manage to cater to dang near every crowd that may want to play it: Kids, teenagers, young adults in their 20s and 30s, parents in their 40s, men, women, memers, casual fans, alternative fans, and serious gamers, and opens up a ton of potential for speculation regarding new announcements.  That’s a fantastic way to start off and explains why this game, which for all intents and purposes should have been nothing more than a thought experiment that people joke about in the car with friends, has been trending so much for the past two weeks.  Congrats to the marketing team for what they put together.

[waywardrose]

On Babbushka

There is a group of well-known writers in the fandom who have been discouraged and put down by one of their own, Zannah - @babbushka​. It happens behind the scenes in DMs. It happens in posts and tags.

In DMs, she has started conversations with seemingly innocent questions. When she doesn't receive the response she was aiming for, she diverts the conversation to criticizing and humiliating the person. She has attacked writers for tagging—or not tagging—a post in a way she deems appropriate. She has gotten into arguments over how characters were portrayed and then tried to claim victimization when the other person wouldn't knuckle under.

She will appeal to her following to attack any fan or creator who has an opinion that differs from her own. She will encourage friends to send rude anons. Those same friends will also DM the target with rude remarks.

Several creators have stopped writing altogether because of their interactions with her.

We are tired of being discouraged. We are tired of being talked down to. We are tired of being bullied. Enough is enough. Under the cut we share our stories, let the chips fall where they may. It's up to you, the reader, to decide whether to support her.

We can only warn up-and-coming writers, artists, fans, and supporters of her behavior.

-

Hope - @callmehopeless

The Australian bushfires of the 2019-2020 season were nightmarish—for those living through it and those witnessing. As the season went on, cries for help increased. Joaquin Phoenix used the time during his Best-Actor acceptance speech at the Golden Globes to call for unity, action, and accountability. Regardless of what we may think of him, it was a thoughtful speech.

Hope, who is an Australian, found Mr. Phoenix's message encouraging and reblogged a gifset of his speech.

That morning, Zannah made a post about Mr. Phoenix's shady past and his association with a known sexual predator. The main reason wasn't because his speech was inappropriate or not timely, but because she didn't think he should be the one to get the attention over other actors who had spoken of the bushfires during the Golden Globes.

While Hope confessed she was scared of the bushfires, scared for her loved ones, Zannah was more concerned with purity. To Zannah it was about the face of the message, not the message itself. It didn't matter that Mr. Phoenix was amplifying support for Australia, what did matter was that he had done bad things.

It was virtue signaling on Zannah's part.

Still, this remains a complicated argument. Can a person who has done bad things actually have something positive to add to a cause? Should we listen to a problematic person if they share an insight? Does it reflect poorly on us to agree with their isolated statement? Will we be canceled, too? What about the bigger picture?

In this case, the bigger picture was hundreds of homes were destroyed in the bushfires and families were displaced. People died, thousands of animals died. And it was because of climate change. Mr. Phoenix called for his rich peers to examine their respective lifestyles and to give back.

Yes, Mr. Phoenix has done bad things. Yes, he has associated with people who have done bad things. His words resonated with people on Tumblr, and they reblogged part of his speech. He said something that gave Hope hope.

Hope was asked by a third party how they could help. She came back with a resource guide for those who wanted to send aid to Australians.

When it became obvious Zannah wouldn't silence Hope, Zannah decided to sub-post about the interaction. There, she accused Hope of being a rape apologist for reblogging a gifset and finding a little comfort in it. Zannah placed her ego before someone who was facing a very real danger.

Side-eying an actor is one thing, shaming a person you know for finding solace during a scary time is another. Hope isn't responsible for which voice got picked up. The only "colors" being shown here are Zannah's. She put her own concerns about being perceived as morally pure above actually supporting a friend.

I'll keep this brief - I knew Zannah for many years. And on one of the lowest weeks of my life, when my suburb was burning down and I feared for my family: she convinced me I was a rape apologist for sharing Joaquin Phoenix's speech asking for action on bushfires. In all my life, I never felt more alone. To add insult to injury, she then posted memes mocking me - something that has stuck with me to this day.

I've had dear friends quit the fandom because of her kinkshaming. I've had people I love message me distraught over what she's said.

Enough is enough.

— @callmehopeless

-

Rose - @the-wayward-rose​

This PM exchange started after I tagged my reblog of Zannah's fic Feast (Cameron Bistle x Reader) with cw: white reader. I had been on her taglist, and I wanted to show support because I liked the fic overall. For context, the reason for my tag is because of this sentence:

"But then you're blushing so pretty and squeezing his hand affectionately and reaching for the handle to the passenger side of his car, and then you're laughing when he swats your hand away to open it for you, and then you're beckoning him down as if to ask a question – only to place a chaste kiss to his lips instead."

This is from Cameron's point of view.

She asked the reason for the tag, and I explained it was because of the use of "blush" to describe Reader's appearance.

She misunderstood my premise. I did not mean only white people blush.

According to Merriam-Webster, blush means "a reddening of the face especially from shame, modesty, or confusion" or "a red or rosy tint."

It is an autonomic response, though. It happens in all humans for body cooling and nonverbal communication. The main problem with using it universally is that melanin obscures the appearance of said autonomic response.

Here's an example of three runners:

The two pale women, left and center, are pink in the face. They are blushing. The woman of color on the right is likely blushing, too. However, the melanin in her skin obscures the blood in her cheeks. She is not pink.

That's the pitfall of the word "blush." The observer can't always see it. We know what it feels like. We all do it. The face and/or neck gets hot. The use of "blush" is shorthand in narrative, and I understand that. Nevertheless, when writing to cater to a reader-insert audience of unknown heritage, writers need to consider describing with universal terms.

Again, she misunderstood my premise. I clarified by asking how Cameron sees the Reader blush under an abundance of melanin:

She sidestepped the physiological explanation to go straight for justification. She tried to legitimize "blush" as "perhaps [this]" or "perhaps [that]" when I stated earlier that blush by definition is pink or is to redden. That's the logic. A noncommittal, covering-all-the-bases, complicated defense diluted the conversation.

With her earlier "I have friends of color, hence I can't be exclusionary" statement, I wasn't sure she would get my point. I take full responsibility for not explaining, too. I should've asked for some time to gather my thoughts, but I didn't. Truthfully, I was unprepared, because I didn't think my insignificant tag would be an issue.

Also, I was confused why she was trying to police my blog.

Her replies came rapidly—before I could mention my confusion—and felt aggressive in the moment. Maybe that wasn't her intention, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

That doesn't take away from the fact that words have meaning. It's why we use specific words. It's not understood in the narrative that her use of "blush" could mean a bunch of things. If I had known, I wouldn't have tagged as I did. How is a reader of color supposed to know that? How does Cameron see Reader's blush if she has darker skin?

As writers, we don't know who is reading. Someone could be very pale or very dark. A person with medium-toned skin can turn a shade of pink or red. A person with darker-toned skin will not. We can't assume all readers are medium to pale. We need to develop better writing skills. We have to include everyone.

Readers of color > White-writer feelings

When I stood my ground, she doubled down, stating I made no sense in my tagging and that I lacked the ability to learn from her. She then diverted the argument, attacking a ficlet I wrote a few days beforehand—which had nothing to do with this argument. The Christian imagery in that ficlet was upsetting to her and "in such poor taste" because she headcanons Flip Zimmerman (BlacKkKlansman) is 100% culturally and ethnically Jewish.

Flip stated in the movie:

"I'm Jewish, but I wasn't raised to be. It wasn't part of my life. I never thought much about being Jewish. Nobody around me was Jewish. I wasn't going to a bunch of Bar Mitzvahs. I didn't have a Bar Mitzvah. I was just another white kid. And now I'm in some basement denying it out loud[...] I never thought much about it. Now I'm thinking about it all the time. About rituals and heritage. Is that passing? Well then, I have been passing."

By his own admission, Flip is ethnically Jewish, but not culturally. These are two separate things, and that should be recognized. While Judaism is ethnically and culturally entwined in ways that other religions are not, one does not equate the other. You can be one and not the other.

At the time, I didn't want her to sic her 3000+ followers on me. I wasn't going to argue further. I asked myself if the ficlet was important and worth anon-hate and realized, no, it wasn't. It was a throw-away.

And since I'm not culturally Jewish, maybe I had misstepped. And since Zannah is both culturally and ethnically Jewish, I asked for her guidance.

She flatly refused my request. I don't know how I was supposed to learn from her if she wouldn't teach me.

It sounded as if she wanted me to delete the whole fic. Like none of it was worth saving because it hadn't been Zannah-approved. I had gone against her headcanon, and the fic was too offensive to fix.

The last sentence was supposed to cover her back from criticism, and it placed all the responsibility on me. Obviously, she was above such petty concerns as someone else's blog or writing. Never mind that she had just attempted to get me to change my tagging system and rewrite my ficlet. On my blog.

Later, I figured out she was only criticizing and not offering a constructive critique. Her argument was not in good faith. It was retaliation for not giving her the obedience she thought she was owed.

This is the passage that offended her:

"It’s because of the way he fucks you. Like it’s confession—though he’s never been much of a church-going man. Every touch, every thrust, is a truth between you. Even when it’s rough and greedy. It feels like flagellation when you claw his back. He wears the sin proudly."

This is what I edited it to:

"It’s because of the way he fucks you. Every touch, every thrust, is a truth between you. Even when it’s rough and greedy. It feels like flagellation when you claw his back. He wears your marks proudly."

Yeah, I'm not pleased with the revised passage. It's lost its teeth, but I keep it.

The anonymous message(s) she mentioned weren't very anonymous, either. Unfortunately, I've since deleted the two messages. I had apologized to Anon for disappointing them. I said that if the fic was too much, they should unfollow and block me. I meant that in a self-care way. At the same time, I did not—and do not—owe anyone discourse. I don't have to explain my art when it doesn't hurt anyone. And no one was hurt by some purportedly misplaced religious imagery.

I have been silent about this since late January/early February. I was embarrassed. I had been bullied into changing my blog and my fic by someone who proclaims to never do anything of the sort. I had been a fool. Since this conversation with her, I have been blocked/blacklisted by third-parties, most likely at her behest, when none of this exchange had been necessary.

-

Kassanovella - @kylorengarbagedump​​

Zannah's followers have asked her about Kassanovella’s Fix Your Attitude. For context, it's currently one of the most kudo-ed fics for Kylo Ren x Reader on AO3. It had a bit of a renaissance earlier in 2020 because a TikToker wrote a song for it.

There is nothing wrong with not wanting to read a fic. If the subject matter doesn't work for a reader, they don't have to partake. Easy as that. So, these tags aren't a problem.

However, it led to this...

She lashed out, calling Kassanovella's fic a joke. A joke.

She implied her fics should be as popular as Kassanovella's because she works really hard on them. She admitted she's tied to the metrics. She implied she wouldn't be writing fic if not for the external validation.

Here's the thing about fanfic: readers like what they like. They don't care about a writer's effort. They only know what works for them. They comment and give kudos, reblog and like what they connect with. That is not under the writer's control. All a writer can do is try their best and concentrate on what they're passionate about.

To bash another writer's fic because it's popular is disrespectful. This whole bitter rant drips of entitlement and is an affront to Kassanovella.

Some time later, an incident happened in a chatroom during a streaming event for veterans by Arts In the Armed Forces (Adam Driver's organization). At least one fan brought up Fix Your Attitude while waiting for Mr. Driver to make an appearance. They were also disrespectful towards the other presenters by demanding to see Mr. Driver. It caused a big stink within the fandom, and Zannah had some choice words.

While mentioning the fic during the livestream was inappropriate, it was also inappropriate to throw all fans of the fic under the bus as she did in her tag. Sweeping generalizations and incriminations of a subset of fans certainly reads as if she resents those fans for a perceived slight.

Next, Zannah made an earlier disparaging comment about Kassanovella's fic, Little Bird. Unfortunately, that comment is lost. However, the messages supporting the comment remain. (For context, Little Bird is a Kylo Ren x Reader The Handmaid's Tale AU. It has been well received in the fandom, earning thousands of kudos on AO3.)

What an author wants to write about and sexualize is their business. Fantasizing about being dominated by Kylo Ren isn't cringe. It's a sexual fantasy. Some sexual fantasies can be disturbing to those who do not share the same kink.

Sexual fantasies are like ice cream. There's a reason why there are different flavors.

Also, "I will never ever be a person that tells an author what to do or not do" is an absolute lie. As evident in this post, Zannah most definitely tells authors what to do or not do.

Again, she bashes Kassanovella, claiming her writing isn't good. Her motivation for bashing Kassanovella can only be speculation. With Zannah's previously stated opinion of Fix Your Attitude, though, it indicates a certain level of negative emotions.

-

Anonymous

An anonymous person came forward with a case of Zannah policing their blog. Anon has a sideblog for their personal AU with Flip Zimmerman. They reblog gifsets and post headcanons. They were an enthusiastic fan of Zannah's and reblogged a few of the gifset she made. Anon tagged their reactions, and Zannah blocked them for it.

Anon went to Zannah and asked why they were blocked, because all they wanted to do was have fun and support fellow Flip lovers.

Anon was under the impression that because they were shipping themselves, and not Zannah, with Flip, she blocked them. Their personal AU doesn't align with Zannah's headcanon that she alone is married to this character and has his children.

While Zannah's reply may sound innocent, and perhaps it is, it also speaks to someone who has set herself up as the owner of Flip Zimmerman. (Wait until Spike Lee or the real Ron Stallworth hears about that...) It appears that if a fan does not comply with the Zannah-approved headcanon, where only she is married to Flip, that fan shall be blocked. If a fan uses tags on their blog that she does not approve of, that fan will be blocked.

Zannah's policing is disturbing. Going into a blog to look for something as a reason to block is disturbing. Any fan is allowed to use any tag on their blog how they wish. If the OP has said their post can be reblogged, how a reblogger tags is beyond the OP's control. To punish that reblogger for not behaving in a way she finds acceptable is uncalled for and unjust.

-

Anonymous

Backstory: Zannah does not view Ben Solo's arc in the Star Wars sequel trilogy as acceptable canon. However, she does view the story she created for Flip Zimmerman in BlacKkKlansman as completely canon.

This is not the first time she has been asked to clarify her position. Nor is it the first time she has avoided giving an on-topic response. A question asked in good faith should be responded to in kind.

If a creator doesn't want to address the issue, they can state that they don't. Deflecting from the question only muddies the waters. Fans feel dismissed. The creator feels hounded, and comes across as irritated and unapproachable. No one has a positive fandom experience.

There is nothing wrong with having a headcanon. What is wrong is Zannah mandating her headcanon for Flip on the whole fandom. As evident in this post, if a fan does not comply with her headcanon, they will be summarily blocked.

Also, there is nothing wrong with rejecting canon. Writers of transformative works have always done this. The problem is shaming fans who have accepted canon while not offering justification for that shaming. A creator saying they "can't help them" is the creator washing their hands of responsibility from articulating their thoughts when they themselves began criticizing the canon in the first place.

Again, this is a bad-faith argument. Creators can't ask for discussion and attention and then get mad when their viewpoints are challenged. Just because a discussion isn't going a creator's way doesn't mean it's an attack, either. It means people want clarification, and if one criticizes, they should be able to back up their criticisms.

-

While sharing our stories has been freeing, it's not our aim as fellow fans to cancel Zannah. We would hope she would take the opportunity to reflect on the damage she has done to the fandom. We hope we all can move forward with a more approachable and supportive scene.

No one person speaks for our fandom. The actions of one fan do not represent the entire fandom. Whether creator or consumer, you are welcome here.

[posted July 25, 2020]

[your-brilliant-lady-m]

South Korean music industry at a glance: an outsider perspective

I watched one particular AMV last week. The song used for the video was “I’m afraid” by Korean rock band DAY6. I was pleasantly surprised as someone who values lyrics in song first and foremost. The music itself was great. I’ll listen to their songs again. It’s a nice fit for my music taste. Naturally, YouTube’s algorithm decided that I’m a fan of everything Korean after 1 video and started spamming my recommendations with k-pop songs, documentaries and everything in-between. 

I watched a couple of videos, listened to some songs and discovered fascinating patterns. So, I went down to the comment section. And it was rather interesting experience, should I say? The concept of entertainment industry in South Korea simply begged to be explored more after this. I dug deeper and visited Tumblr k-pop tags and briefly glanced upon Instagram and Twitter. And, oh...

I am a big picture person and I enjoy both studying and creating systems. This one was particularly fun to explore. I discovered a lot of new things for myself. Perhaps, you can discover something new for yourself too or take a step back and look at this from a new angle. 

Disclaimer: it’s impossible not to offend someone on Tumblr, so keep that in mind. That being said, I do NOT intend to insult of offend anyone. It’s just a little research done for fun, because I love research with a purpose. This post is NOT A HATE post. No hate intended for fans, artists or other people involved. It’s meant to be a discussion, nothing more and nothing less. If it sounds like hate, it’s just my sarcastic sense of humour.

Content Warning: I mention suicide, death, depression, rape in a couple of sentences. There’s nothing major or graphic, but it’s there. 

In this long post I decided to share with you my opinion, a so-called outsider perspective, on the world of music entertainment industry in South Korea and people involved in it on different levels. I use the word “outsider” mainly because, that’s exactly what I am in this case, as someone who is in no way involved in k-pop community. I can’t name you a single band or their members. I don’t know any solo artist and can’t neither sing nor name you any song. 

And to be completely honest, I don’t think I will set my foot into k-pop fan-circles ever again after everything I saw. 

Think of this as “In this essay I will...” meme, except there’s an actual essay.

As far as I know, in South Korea “k-pop” refers to all music produced in SK, including solo artists, various bands, singers-songwriters. It doesn’t even have to be pop music. Koreans include in this definition all genres of music. However, around the world “k-pop” means primarily music made by idol groups and bands marketed for children, teenagers and younger people. In this post I use the latter definition, because that’s how most people understand “k-pop” in other countries. Therefore, my statements, opinions and conclusions here would concern only idol music. 

The music industry in South Korea is heavily influenced by culture and traditions of the country, just like all things are. And there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, different backgrounds are what makes people so interesting and unique. However, when combined with consumer mindset, desire to generate profit at any cost and fast-paced nature of modern life these neutral cultural elements could produce something concerning, and it can lead to disastrous consequences. 

1. Idol

These people are called artists, musicians, singers, bands, groups, performers. In South Korea and in Japan, however, people call them Idols or Stars. I’ve also seen Muses, Princes and Queens. Interesting, isn’t it? The terminology used to describe these musicians in South Korea is one of the key elements in this whole entertainment system. You’ll see why.

But who or what is an idol exactly? Let’s take a basic definition from Wikipedia.

“In the practice of religion, a cult image or devotional image is a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, person, spirit or daemon ... that it embodies or represents. In several traditions, including the ancient religions of Egypt, Greece and Rome, and modern Hinduism, cult images in a temple may undergo a daily routine of being washed, dressed, and having food left for them. Processions outside the temple on special feast days are often a feature. Religious images cover a wider range of all types of images made with a religious purpose, subject, or connection. In many contexts "cult image" specifically means the most important image in a temple, kept in an inner space, as opposed to what may be many other images decorating the temple.

The term idol is often synonymous with worship cult image. In cultures where idolatry is not viewed negatively, the word idol is not generally seen as pejorative, such as in Indian English.”

Cambridge Dictionary defines idol as follows:

And here’s the definition from Oxford Dictionary: 

This is a centrepiece of this tapestry. Surely, you have noticed by now what these definitions have in common. 

Idol = a cult image of a god, a deity 

By calling these musicians “idols” industry makes society and audience treat them in certain way, namely as gods. What characteristics do gods possess? They are beautiful, talented, funny, confident and graceful, blessed by eternal youth of immortality. Gods have no flaws, they do not bleed, they are above human concerns. They are an embodiment of perfection. They are stars, you could not reach. 

But real people are not like that. They can be sad and angry, insecure. People don’t have perfectly symmetrical faces. They can’t dance in sync without preparation. They can’t sing like angels at any given moment throughout the day.

What happens when idols accidentally reveal their humanity? What happens when people see, that they make mistakes and do stupid things, that they need to train hard to appear graceful on stage? 

I will tell you. And it’s not pretty. But, first, let’s look at other elements of this system. 

2. Y/N and Self-insert fantasy

Aside from the music, K-pop sells the self-insert fantasy to the audience. It’s carefully arranged to appear real, where the cracks are masked and every word is scripted. The reality is so vivid that one doesn’t even have to use imagination all that much, because all scenarios and decorations already exist. Countless interviews for TV and magazines, fan meetings, talk shows, reality shows made sure people are privy to all juicy details of personal lives and opinions of musicians. And also one word - merchandise. Some of that merch made me question my life choices. Some of it is, ah, creepy or has weird vibes. All of this provides plenty of material for people to work with. Fans can effortlessly imagine themselves beside their idols or even in their place. 

In a highly competitive society, where people throw themselves into studying and work since young age, forming deep and lasting connections with others is very hard, sometimes impossible. As a result, people long to have a group of close friends with similar interests, a loving partner who would cherish them endlessly. People want to be rewarded for their backbreaking efforts to succeed by the carefree life of fame and music, everlasting friendships and love. And in a way you can’t really blame them for his. 

Does this dream life sound familiar? We are looking at K-pop bands here. It doesn’t really matter if their members don’t always get along or that they can live in debt, that fame is fickle and adoring fans can tear your self-confidence to shreds. Audience wants the glamour of fantasy and the industry is more than happy to cater to these desires. 

Perhaps, knowing that even for idols this fantasy is sometimes unattainable makes the whole set up feel just a little cruel. 

3. Fans, stans and fandom culture

We’ve already established earlier that idols are gods in the eyes of people and listed traits they must possess. So, what else do gods need to exist? Worshippers. Because a cult is worth nothing without its followers. Gods need a group of people to worship them and spread their beliefs. The role of worshippers is performed by a fans in this case. 

Apparently, there is a running joke that girl groups need to win a general public popularity and boy bands need a big passionate fandom. It seems to be true according to my observations. 

In k-pop fandom people use the word “stan” to state that they like or support particular group. Now, I am sure everyone here knows that in other fandoms, dedicated to movies, shows, books and games there’s an important distinction between being a “fan” and a “stan”. What is it? 

A fan is someone who likes a ship or character, creates and/or consumes fandom content, supports certain ideas, discusses things they enjoyed and disliked, criticises canon. Stans, however, are a different breed. They engage in all typical fandom activities, but their support and enjoyment becomes obsession. Stans believe their favourite characters and ships are immune to criticism, that they are superior no matter what others say. Stans start shipping wars, send anon hate, death threats over fictional characters and hurt real people. Stans are considered toxic fans. And majority of normal civilised people don’t like them and try their best to let stans hang out in their echo chamber by themselves. 

In other fandoms and communities, to be a fan means to love, support and enjoy something, while to stan means to obsess over and hyperfixate on these same things. Words “I stan” rarely mean “I support” for most people, and if they do mean that, it’s only used in a joking manner (”We stan procrastination legend!”, “I stan our miscommunication kings”).

Everywhere else “stan” has only negative connotations, except in k-pop. But what has changed? What’s the difference? Why do international fans scoff at “shipper stans” and then turn around calling themselves “stans of X k-pop group” at the same time? Does it make you wonder? 

And this is another core theme of k-pop, in my opinion. In fandom where stan = obsession = support, you can see interesting patterns. 

Fandom loves their flawless gods. But watching them from afar is not enough for some people, because unlike deities in different religions, these gods live among us. People are very much aware of that. Industry has created a cult and laid the groundwork for worshippers to express their adoration in every way including personal contact. And who wouldn’t want to meet their god? Who wouldn’t want to know more about them or tell them how much you love them? In talk shows and fan meetings there is only so much one can do after all.

People desire to know more, to have more so much that their obsession transforms into concerning stalker tendencies. These crazy individuals follow idols, stalk them on social media, in hotels, research flight numbers, bribe security. Musicians were attacked and poisoned. I strongly suspect there were cases of rape that no one knows about. There is even a special term for these fans - “sasaeng”. 

Is there a definition for stalkers of actors or musicians in western world? No, I’m pretty sure there isn’t. They are just called “invasive/obsessive fans” or “stalkers”.

Also, there are sasaeng memes. Yeah, you heard that right. I enjoy some classy dark humour as much as the next person, but there is a fine line between normal and questionable. 

Back to the topic of stalkers. Do you realise how disturbing that is? Such behaviour is so common that there is a term for it. You create a fandom-cult, encourage people to worship k-pop idols as gods and then act surprised when members of said cult become fanatics and their adoration becomes obsession.

And it’s so easy to step on this slippery road. The system makes it ridiculously easy. Lines begin to blur. How much is too much? Where do you draw the line? 

While sasaeng fans engage in extreme real-life obsession, people online aren’t that far off, to be honest. I’ve seen it all: imagines, headcanons, fanfiction, real-person shipping, reactions. Real person shipping is a controversial topic. Some people support it, others don’t. I suppose I’m among those who don’t get it. I’m not exactly against it, but I find it strange. Mainly because it’s based on assumptions made by fans about personalities and behaviour of real people. 

Assumptions. Dear me! K-pop fandom has this thing with video compilations. I’ve never seen this phenomenon being so widespread in any other community or fandom. Basically people edit together a collection of short clips from talk-shows, interviews, Instagram stories, some YouTube videos, etc and then proceed to analyse every gesture, word, facial expression of idols and provide both audio and on-screen commentary. These videos and many other forms of similar analysis allow people to imagine what kind of personalities idols have, what kind of life do they live. It’s the source material for fanfiction, imagines and headcanons. 

But it’s not real. It’ll never be real. It’s an illusion, an image, a stage persona. They fall in love with a face and made up personality. And I think that when people create this content they can forget this. Fans can develop certain emotional dependence and unhealthy attitudes in the long run. In some YouTube comments even supportive and encouraging words sound whiny and obsessive. And semantics of being a “stan” of certain group or individual doesn’t help. 

4. Industry, companies and liars 

At last we arrive at the most important aspect of music entertainment industry - its creators.

Have you seen “The Road to El Dorado”? It’s one of my all time favourites. It has iconic characters, adult jokes that I didn’t get as a child and iconic soundtrack. I’ll quote “It’s Tough To Be A God” a lot here. 

In South Korea music industry is a factory, the production line to be exact. This kind of set up affects everything in the grand scheme of things. Companies and agencies play the role of training centres and record labels. And there are so many of them that a whole new scamming system developed based around fake idol agencies. It implies that there are people who fall for offers of these agencies and continue to do so. I suspect that victims must pay a fortune upfront before they realise their mistake. Are there any kind of legal protection against such scams? How can people verify the authenticity? Because a well masked scam can exist for a long time before someone discovers it and calls them out on their nonsense. 

As far as I understand legal companies work like this. After high school, which is often focused on performing arts (and private schools can get away with using talents of students for personal gain, which is totally not surprising), young people can audition for an agency and become an idol in training or idol-trainee. And passing audition is hard. But good recommendations can help, connections too. 

During training you don’t get paid. Only a few companies pay aspiring musicians. People can spend years in training and don’t debut. But rent, necessities, clothing and food (not that you need much of it, but more on that later) cost a lot. Where do you get the money to live then? Support from parents, one or two part time jobs at most and bank loans. Surprise! We found an unexpected (just kidding, it’s very obvious) party, who reaps benefits from the system. 

You need skill to be an idol. Natural talent helps too. The more skills you have, the cheaper and faster your training is. To level up your game you attend classes every month offered by your agency, which are not cheap (dance classes range from 400$ to 1000$ per month, sometimes more). There are four main categories in evaluation process: vocals, rapping, dancing and visuals. Idols are multitaskers, to have a chance on stage one must be perfect at everything. And people are ready to invest thousands of dollars into their kids training so that they could have a chance in entertainment industry. South Korea thrives on revenue k-pop industry generates every day.

Let’s pause here for a second and think about what kind of people come to these agencies. The answer is easy. People who have a dream, a desire, a real goal. You don’t wake up one day and decide to become a k-pop idol. Sometimes people get invited by agencies (after prior acting, modelling career or any other form of exposure). These people are usually very young. Some start straight after high school, some after university, but 25 years old is considered a late start. Compare that to western musicians who start singing at any age and still become famous. 

But why this age limit? Because idols are eternally young. So that in public eye musicians are remembered as 20 year old gods. People would listen to their music and imagine a young attractive face. Career in k-pop is short, it lasts 5-7 years, rarely longer than that. It’s even less than modelling or acting can offer. And professional sportsmen retire in their late 30′s. Some play longer, but usually, that’s it.

If you live in Los Angeles and say that you want to be an actor or performer, no one would bat an eye. It’s like saying that you want to be an engineer or accountant. Similarly, in South Korea becoming an k-pop musician is a real career. Because part of the self insert fantasy that the industry sells is the idea that anyone can be an idol. It’s easy after all. Anyone can pass auditions and become a trainee. A trainee with no guarantee of debut. But one should never underestimate the power of idol-dream. After all, idea is the most resilient parasite.   

“My friends started training in kindergarten. They have wanted to become idols since young”

“A lot of young kids get interested in Korean music” 

A 6-year old child sees the performance of k-pop group for the first time on TV. Let’s say it’s a girl. She is enraptured and decides that she will be like that too someday. She grows up, while being part of the fandom, just like all idols are in one way or another and whose fan-obsession transforms into desire to succeed. Her parents spend time and money to find her tutors, to fund dancing and singing classes. Perhaps in high school this girl decides to fix the shape of her eyes and make nose straighter. She trains hard and passes the auditions in her dream agency. And during training this girl faces the reality of behind the scenes life in music industry.

“Why are you crying? I’m not even pushing you”

“How many times have I told you? The rest are doing it perfectly”

“She is dancing like an elementary school student“

“I watched your performance as a spectator who bought a ticket to your concert. I want a refund“

“You make my ears hurt. I don’t want to listen at all”

“Listening to you was tiring”

“I’ll kick you out instead. You won’t debut”

“I thought I was going to die. That’s how determined I was” 

While I do understand that keeping a high quality standards in media industry is important, there are more productive and healthy ways to motivate someone to improve and be more passionate, you know? Constantly insulting people with sadistic glee and putting them down at every opportunity or calling them ugly to their face doesn’t do much. 

Do you think that children know about this? Do they know about soulless teachers and belittling managers? Do they know about friends who are really your competition, so you shouldn’t get attached? Do they know about living in debt? Do they know any of this? No, I don’t think they do. 

Children dream about the stage, about the sea of lights and crowds who chant your names. They want adoring fans and photoshoots. They want to appear on TV and magazine covers. Teenagers want the thrill of performance, they want to share their music and dancing with others. 

“I don’t know how many times I cried alone”

The truth is cruel. But they won’t give up easily even if it means sleeping 4-5 hours and consuming no more than 500 calories per day. Because giving up means that your whole life was a lie. One can’t afford not to be good enough. Giving up means admitting that all efforts and money your family invested into your dream were in vain. It means losing face before your family and friends - a fate worse than death. Imagine living this idol dream and building your whole future around it and then being told that you’ll never debut because of the circumstances outside of your control or something minor, like face shape or 1 kg of weight that your body refuses to lose. It can break you. Especially if you are like 18 or something. 

5. “And who am I to bridle if I'm forced to be an idol If they say that I'm a God, that's what I am”

“I don’t think there’s anything a tough as being a trainee in Korea”

Once you are a trainee at the agency your personal life does not belong to you anymore. You can’t go out without permission of the agency. You phone is taken away. Your diet and weight are monitored. Bad habits are not allowed (no smoking, drinking or drugs). Oh! I think I found the good thing in the system! Unfortunately, it won’t last. Trainees can’t date or meet with family without permission of agency. Dating is very taboo. Even established idols can’t openly date. 

Why is that? Because gods can’t belong to anyone. Their lives are property of the fandom. Because openly dating idols destroy the self-insert fantasy. There was a former idol girl who dated another musician. She was called a whore by her fans, her loving and adoring stans. You might know who I am talking about. Would you call an American actor or singer a prostitute for dating someone?

Trainees sign the contract. And how can a young person straight out of school or university know much about what makes a good contract in entertainment industry or what makes a good contract in general? Even if you do understand the terms fully you would still sign it because if you have come so far, you can’t let your dream slip this easily. There isn’t a choice. Not really. If you want to debut, you will agree to anything.

What about life after debut? You have to pay off your loans. And company takes 60-70% of your group’s earnings. Artists themselves get 30-40% and split it between themselves. K-pop groups have from 5 to 10 members or more than that. Each person gets less than 6%. Idols are not filthy rich. They are not. These earnings are practically nothing compared to the work you have put into this. 

Idols are musicians, who often don’t even write their own songs, music or create choreography. But if public doesn’t like the song and musical number the company created, they blame idols for the failure. Such an amazing logic we see right here. But people say that sharing music is the best part of idol life. But whose music? 

Models on catwalk are not there to demonstrate their physical beauty, they are blank canvas for works of clothing designers. Same with k-pop musicians. They act like puppets in a way, whose faces and voices are used to show audience someone’s music and songs. Some groups do write their own music and lyrics and it’s nice to know that. But those, who don’t are rather unfortunate. It’s a nice tool of psychological control and pressure for an agency. They can hold it over group and use the following rhetoric: “We gave you everything! Why can’t you follow the simple instructions” or “Where would you be without us? It’s not even your music!”

I called k-pop industry a factory. That’s true. Dozens of people become trainees every year. These talented young people are fully prepared to do anything to achieve their goal. They are ready to practice until they collapse, starve themselves and pour themselves into every song. Companies know that. Tell me why would they value their idols as individuals, as people, as human beings if they always have a replacement? Why bother with mental health of their artists if next year they could have a fresh set of people, who are younger and prettier? Why try to improve relationships inside groups if you could fire any member and replace them within a month or two?

In western countries famous bands have different stories. Some were friends since high school, who played in bars and during festivals and then they were noticed by some representative of label company, who offered them a contract. Some groups were formed by like-minded people who bonded and decided to share their music with the world. There are many stories, but ultimately the have one thing in common. Bands in the West often form themselves. These people had time to bond, connect, discover each other, solve some disagreements and learn to work around their differences. 

K-pop groups are formed by their agencies. They are their property in a way. Company selects the best and puts together these total strangers, appoints the leader with marketable face and personality and then expects them to work together like a well-oiled machine. No one has time to bond during training, because other people are you competition, not friends. And then you must learn to work as a team and be best friends on camera for the audience to support the self-insert fantasy. It’s no wonder that k-pop groups don’t get along sometimes. And every member knows that they are replaceable. It doesn’t help in forming connections. Groups can’t just terminate contract and go to work with another agency. I heard it happens sometimes, but it’s not a done thing. Unlike in other countries where bands just sign the deal with a different label and release their music under their name if they don’t like the old conditions. 

“It's tough to be a God But if you get the people's nod Count your blessings, keep them sweet, that's our advice Be a symbol of perfection Be a legend, be a cult Take their praise, take a collection As the multitudes exalt Don a supernatural habit We'd be crazy not to grab it So sign up two new Gods for paradise”

But is it really a paradise?

Idols are expected to act cute, to match personalities created for them by fans or media. They have to act according to the concept of their group. They have to be a symbol of perfection: skinny, single and with a face perfected by surgery. They are allowed to mess up, but only in a cute way. They can break down and cry, but only if it’s “aesthetic”.

Weight issues are a separate topic. Sometimes I wonder whether managers in companies understand how weight loss or human body in general works. To be honest, I think that scales in agencies are rigged. And only managers know that. I know it can be done from personal experience. Some beach resorts tweak their scales and make them show 4-6 kg less than actual weight, so people wouldn’t get upset if they gain some. There is no way a girl as tall as I am (173 cm) could weigh like 47-50 kg and be able to perform complex choreography on stage and sing without being out of breath, visit the gym on a regular basis and generally function as a normal human without fainting every other day.

“I developed a lot of eating disorders”

“I think I consumed about 300 calories today“

“Someone, please, trim the fat off her arms”

If you grow up thinking of idols as gods and then, when you become one of them you think that you must act as one too. But being an easily replaceable god is a heavy burden. The industry, companies and audience want you to be perfect, to always be on your best behaviour. And the thought of not being good enough or divine enough terrifies you, because stans have no mercy (black ocean concept is the most stupid thing ever by the way). This kind of pressure can destroy even the most resilient. And it does. 

Almost everyone knows that situation with mental health in South Korea is not the best to put it lightly. In many ways it’s a cultural thing. But in k-pop mental health issues are treated with even less care. Gods are not supposed to be depressed or suicidal. They are not supposed to have fears or insecurities, can’t be upset or angry. They try hard to be this deity, this image. So, even when they realise they need professional help or even a friend to talk to, they either won’t seek said help or reach out only to be met with silence. Some agencies disapprove or forbid therapy altogether. 

Sometimes fandom becomes self-aware.

“Don’t forget that idols are people too!”

“Your favourite idols are running out of breath just to keep you entertained“

“They are humans, who have feelings!”

Oh, but here’s the thing, my friend. The industry doesn’t want you to think of them as people. Companies and media repeatedly reinforce the idea that they are not people, they are your idols. And strangely enough, the audience supports this idea. People continue to call them idols, developing worshiping tendencies in the process, imitate them, scrutinise their flaws and triumphs. Because, you know, only “real and ordinary humans” can have flaws, not “idols”.

So people who say “they are human too” and people who say “wow, this concert was amazing, but vocals in the beginning were so off-key, I simply can’t” are one and the same.

This thought process would have been funny if it wasn’t so disappointing. But that’s just my observation.

And here’s another thing about sexualisation. I said before how appearances are everything, marketable face and body could drastically improve your chances to succeed. Companies know about this too and concepts and aesthetics of groups are designed accordingly. Girls are dressed in skimpy outfits, their dances are unnecessary suggestive, they wear heavy make up and try to have “mature” vibes. Boys don’t avoid such objectification either: suits, tight pants and dress shirts along with make up and hairstyle to give audience a promise of the things to come. Grown adults are not supposed to lust after 15-17 year olds. You can’t just create a sexy stage persona for teenagers. Do you remember my earlier words about creepy merch? Yeah. All of it neatly plays into the self-insert fantasy and encourages obsessive behaviour. 

This happens in western countries too. In some way that’s understandable. Beautiful and sexy image with a hint of innocence attracts more people and sells, because it caters to one of the base human instincts. But some things make your skin crawl. 

Sponsorships are another topic. Some k-pop bands seek out sponsors to provide financial aid and cover expenses, when earnings are not enough. Sometimes these sponsorships are fine, perfectly civil. But sometimes it’s a prostitution. Girl groups receive money and provide sexual favours to their patrons. It’s a way for the group to gain financial support and even find new opportunities in the industry. Companies can encourage such deals. Let that sink in for a moment. 

6. “Any advice to those who want to become a k-pop idol?”

A lot of former idols and trainees have similar responses to this question. 

“I don’t want to discourage anyone, but think twice”

“You only see the glamorous side, but don’t see all the hard work that goes into it”

“It’s not what you think”

“They think ‘Since I am good looking and can sing and dance really well, maybe I should become an idol?’, but there is much more to it“

“They think it’s something that is easy and will keep their family set for life financially”

And this implies that most people don’t know what kind of lifestyle k-pop stars truly have, despite the amount of information available online about “behind the scenes” proceedings.

7. Moving on

I am a practical person and every decision I make is subjected to scrutiny. And after seeing everything I can't help but wonder whether idols believe it's truly worth it. What keeps the industry alive is the idol-dream, the wilful ignorance of its reality and youthful idealism, the beautiful naïve belief that it'll get better, even if it never does in the end.

Sure no one would ever admit it out loud, because it's one of those things you never say on camera, no matter how sincere you have to be. It's the matter of professionalism after all, and idols have it spades. And also, because admitting this would equal admitting that you spent your best years doing something you both loved and hated, admitting that this was a mistake.

When you grow up in a society where appearances matter the most, where saving face and being polite is more important than staying true to yourself, where individuality is tolerated only to a certain point, it takes a lot of courage to admit that you need a break. I greatly respect those who decided that idol lifestyle is not for them and moved on.

8. Conclusion

To sum up, I hope you enjoyed my small research and this perspective, since you have read it all the way to the end.  

You have noticed that entertainment industry is an intricate system and its every component makes sure nothing changes. Companies have power over idols and audience, fandom has power over idols and their careers, and musicians themselves have fame and their music, but not always the promised fortune or happiness. 

It’s important to understand the big picture to draw your own conclusions and encourage positive and heathy attitudes in fandoms. Being open minded and allowing people to make mistakes and live their lives the way they want to is a part of being a decent person. People don’t owe anything to others. Art is about sharing your thoughts and feelings, promoting ideas and spreading beauty. It’s not always about money. And I think that this is what k-pop lacks as an industry. It turned dreams and human need for self-expression into business. Here everything is turned into a product. Everything idols touch can be sold, sometimes literally. Industry created problems, which can’t be solved anymore, because doing so would topple the system. And I find it tragic. Trapped in an endless chase after perfection creators of k-pop forgot that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. 

If you take a look at comment sections and posts on different platforms, what will you see? What kind of things resonate with audience? What makes people laugh and cry? When people start to appreciate the substance?

“Everyone needs to hear this song in their darkest moments”

“Thank you for your music!”

“They always deliver! These guys can’t make a bad song!”

“It inspired me to write again!”

“Their songs brought me and my sister together once again”

“This is what happens when you let groups write their own music - they make incredible things”

“They really are legends of k-pop! I love that they are not afraid to show their inner strength”

“Stay strong! You rock!”

I believe that the answer is quite simple: when it’s real, sincere. It’s all about the message you choose to send to your audience, because only superficial things cause obsession. When you say that the sparkly façade is all that matters, then that’s the only thing people will ever care about. Your audience will never give a damn about the meaning behind dancing, music or lyrics, if you tell them that performance is more important. No one would praise WHAT k-pop idols sing, instead they would prefer wasting breath to criticize HOW they sing or look or move. 

I dare the k-pop industry to prove people that it’s not just about looks or perfection, or laser shows, or being a branding machine. Prove to your fans that k-pop artists are also passionate people with big dreams and talent, who love every moment of their job, who live and inspire, who are human just like us and whose humanity is real!

Do it, you cowards!

And now, I’m finished. I can hear the raging crowd of k-pop fandom in the distance, which means it’s time to hide. See you some other time! 

[sundaynightbombers-blog]

TONIGHT WE DINE IN THE BASEMENT; OR, IF A CGI WOLF IS KILLED WITH A REAL SPEAR, IS IT MURDER?

            Have you ever watched/read/listened to something you knew was bad, but did so purely because of how popular it is or was at some point? Ever gone on a disco bender to try and travel back to the seventies, mostly because you can afford only used records and not cocaine? Hosted a French new wave marathon because you keep hearing how wonderful Jean-Luc Godard is, despite him only having maybe three good movies? Gone to one of those hip small art galleries to see what’s new in modern art, except you don’t why that woman is birthing raw eggs?

            In this article, I’d like to detail my findings from a recent excursion into a cultural phenomenon years after the fact: I watched Zack Snyder’s 300.

            Background: 300 is based on a 1998 graphic novel by controversial-and-not-in-a-fun-way cartoonist Frank Miller (see Sin City and The Dark Knight Returns). The film, released in 2006, directed by Snyder, and starring Gerard Butler (who is not a terrible actor, let’s be real here), was in fact stupidly successful at the box office with an international gross of $456 million against its $60 million budget. However, critics were completely divided, and this days the film is considered not very good.

            Total disclosure, it is a bloated, tan-coloured, man sweat-flavoured lemon of a movie.

            But why was it such a big deal? Well, I think we can blame the 80s. Specifically, 1982’s Conan the Barbarian. See, Conan was also a massive success upon release, especially among young adult males, similar to 300. Both films were adaptations of successful works within geek culture at their respective times, both made by well-regarded creators, and the fan hype machine obviously had a role in both films being hits. But I think there might be something else, something more… sociological, going on.

            Consider: Both films feature a main character who embodies absolute masculinity. They both contain things like honour and respect, all amongst manly men, as emotional cores for the audience. These are films that explicitly tell male-orientated stories, something I’d argue rarely happens. A lot of films that’re made for male audiences are less blatant about it; there’ll sometimes be female love interests, themes and ideas that aren’t absolute in how they addressed from a men’s perspective, and are typically trying to appeal to wider audiences (usually). Movies are about making money at the end of the day, so they need to throw a wide net. These movies? Their net is shaped like a scrotum and carries enough testosterone to power a brigade of Interceptors down a highway.

            Now, it’s extremely easy to say that most films cater to male audiences, and I will not deny that. There is truth to it, but in the case of Conan the Barbarian and 300, these films are so grossly direct in who they’re trying to get to see them, it’s kind of amazing. Neither film came out at a time when their genre- swords and sandals- was popular, they were not Oscar bait or major blockbusters, and frankly should’ve seen minor success, let alone become flops. But no, these films soldiered on (literally) and ended up being cultural touchstones for their respective generations of men. They presented male-oriented stories in a way that appealed directly to them. They gave them characters that personified a sense of masculinity that, I would argue, young males secretly desired. They wanted father figures that, in their mind, could treat them like a real man treats his son. It gave them something they didn’t get.

            But is any of this a good thing? I dunno. I know some will say it isn’t, some will say (not quite as loudly) that it does, but frankly, I don’t think it really matters. Check it, Conan is now a mere cult film that only appeals to fans of Robert E. Howard or Arnold Schwarzenegger. 300 is basically a joke these days. A too-little-too-late sequel in 2014 confirmed that it had absolutely no staying power, Snyder’s career has gone on to achieve rather abysmal depths (side note: I feel Justice League is somewhat forgivable; he understandably and rightfully left due to a personal tragedy, and I think the film was doomed regardless of his involvement or not), and Frank Miller is seen as a senile old man who had a pretty racist/batshit-insane phase in the 2000s that completely ruined his winning streak. Hell, the graphic novel 300 has become his last masterwork. All that is left in the film’s wake are countless hours of ‘this is Sparta’ memes buried deep in the recesses of the internet, as well as a mediocre and forgotten PlayStation Portable beat-em-up.

            I want to end on a few small notes. Firstly, as much as I disliked 300 (no, really, it’s pretty godawful), I did get sucked into it at the end. When the 300 Spartans are dying on the battlefield, and Michael Fassbender grabs Gerard Butler’s hand, and they have an exchange expressing their mutual respect for each other, it kinda got me. The climax is effective, not gonna lie. Also, the blue screen work is sooooo fucking bad, it’s actually distracting.

            Finally, what about the book 300? Well, it’s not bad. I kinda dig it. The real kicker is that, Snyder recreated the graphic novel shot-for-shot, and in the process diminished the effectiveness of those scenes. You also see Frank Miller do what he does best one last time, which is made more sad as it makes you remember why Miller was so highly-regarded as an artist; 300 came right before the abysmal The Dark Knight Strikes Back, but it wouldn’t be until the immensely offensive Holy Terror that his reign would ultimately end. Basically, everything after this has never reached those heights in the 80s and 90s. This is his last masterwork, and it’s kind of a fitting one to end on. Didn’t give me much insight, but as a fan of comics it was not without merit.

            Too bad we got a shit movie out of it.

 ~M.C.

[shirlleycoyle]

Pornhub’s Content Purge Has Left Fetish Creators Wondering What’s Next

Before the purge that disappeared more than 75 percent of content on the platform, Pornhub hosted a lot of videos and photos that weren’t humans having sex. There were full-length movies, memes, and video game playthroughs that you might see on a non-adult site like Twitch, but there was also a ton of animation, 3D renderings, audio erotica, music videos, fanfic from furries and bronies, and stop-motion animation like LEGO minifigs fucking. 

Pornhub became a dumping ground and safe harbor for a lot of stuff, and a lot of these creators didn't necessarily want to upload a photo of themselves to a huge porn corporation's database in order to get verified. They were just throwing things on the site for fun, to share with others in their respective communities, and the wider world. Compared to a site like Milovana (an adult message board and the birthplace of Cock Hero, videos of which are mostly gone from Pornhub now) or the furry fan art forum e621, Pornhub was a way to reach a more mainstream audience. With last week’s action, a lot of that stuff is now gone.

For victims of abusive imagery and non-consensual porn, as well as anyone who's had to deal filing takedown requests for pirated content uploaded to Pornhub, the removal of unverified content is a positive: between Pornhub's new policy for only allowing content partners and performers in the model program to upload and download, and the retroactive suspension of all this content pending review, the platform seems to be making long-overdue changes that sex workers and victim advocates alike have asked for. But by applying a blanket solution to a complex problem, it's caught small, independent creators from niche communities in its net. 

Several creators told me that Pornhub's damage-control scramble has created issues for verified users, locked many unverified creators out of their own content, and left many more wondering whether there's even a future for indie and fetish works on the site.

“It was a betrayal”

In a month when sex on the internet is being attacked from all sides—from Instagram's new terms of service, to TikTok kicking sex workers off the platform, to payment processors leaving Pornhub—some creators are concerned that losing one of the most popular porn sites in the world as a platform is another blow against fetish and outside-the-mainstream content on the internet as a whole. 

For a lot of creators, Pornhub's melting pot was a source of inspiration for artists, Lifty and Sylox, hosts of the Furry Frequencies podcast, told me in an email. "Many of the videos that were uploaded onto Pornhub from the furry community were sexual videos of furries partaking in sexual acts in fursuit," they said—which could include videos of furries in fullsuit with “strategically-placed holes” performing solo or with one or more partners. "Some furries perform with just their fursuit head, handpaws, and feetpaws to provide better nude content. An unverified, but significant amount of this content catered to specific fetishes of the furry community, such as feet fetishism or watersports." 

"Furries won't abandon PornHub immediately," Lifty and Sylox said, noting that more creators will likely migrate to Onlyfans or communities like Furaffinity to post content. "Changes like this tend to take time before the effects can be measured… PornHub's status as a repository for one-stop furry porn content will eventually diminish significantly." 

It's not just illustrators and furries who have lost Pornhub as a platform in the last week. Audio erotica creator Goddess By Night told me that she lost all of her content—about 40 videos. She's been making audio erotica for five years, and in the last two she'd made a business out of it. She makes Gentle Female Dominant and Dominant Mommy-themed stories, as well as Futanari role play and other kink-related fantasies.

"Most of my work is a niche within the adult entertainment industry, and Pornhub allowed me to reach a broader audience, so it’s a pretty significant loss," she said. "However, my community has been incredibly supportive and intend to follow me to the next platform(s) I choose. I don’t plan on returning to Pornhub because of this. It was a betrayal, especially to the loads of creators they explicitly welcomed after Tumblr’s ban two years ago. I know some creators who lost work that they may never get back because Pornhub didn’t offer a grace period."

Each of the creators I talked to, whether they were verified or unverified, said that they weren't given any warning before Pornhub's content suspension took place. Pornhub used the word "suspension," not "deletion," and told Motherboard at the time of the suspension announcement that this meant content would be "removed pending verification and review." 

Creators whose content was removed saw a message in place of their uploads that explained the video was "flagged for verification" and invited them to apply for the Model Program or Content Partner Program in order to re-enable the videos, or wait for the new verification process to start in 2021.

They were locked out of their own content at that point and were unable to even download it from the platform.

When Tumblr removed all NSFW content from its platform in December 2018—similarly for allegations it hosted child sexual abuse imagery, but also to appease Apple—the social media platform gave creators about two weeks of notice to get their stuff off the site. Pornhub's announcement came at 7 a.m. EST on a Monday and went into effect immediately. By the time most people saw the news, the suspensions were underway, and more than 10 million uploads were gone by 9 a.m.

This is especially bitter news for creators who, in 2018, took Pornhub up on its invitation to move to the platform from Tumblr.

"Amusingly [Pornhub was] very happy to take advantage of the Tumblr refugees back when all that went down, inviting us to upload all our galleries there," adult content illustrator IzzyBSides told me in a Twitter message. "I think most of us on Twitter know we're living on borrowed time, people have backup accounts set up and occasionally plug them to their followers letting them know to follow it in case their main account randomly disappears overnight."

Because the mass suspensions were meant as a broad solution to get unlawful, abusive content on the site under control, allowing users to download their content would miss the point of stopping the spread of any abusive imagery. But the move also meant that a lot of content that wasn’t abusive and fell well within Pornhub's terms of service was removed in the process. People didn't have the chance to choose whether they wanted to pack their bags and go elsewhere. If they want to recover their own content, they'll have to play by Pornhub's verification rules, which have yet to be announced and won't start until sometime early next year.

One animator who asked to remain anonymous told me that they lost about 20 videos, "including story animations, which I loved very much …This was sad for me as the videos were deleted without warning," they said, but added that they luckily had a backup of their videos saved to their hard drives. "However, I didn't have any income from Pornhub, so it's okay, the videos are saved and I'll just move them to another site." 

That illustrator wasn't verified, but even being a verified user didn't save some people from the purge. Pornhub's policy changes were intended to skip over verified accounts, but some users still saw their verified content taken down.

“Sex workers are under attack everywhere”

Another confusing aspect of Pornhub's cleaning spree is the effect it has had on verified creators and performers. Many have reported on Twitter that some of their verified content has been disappeared, seemingly at random, even while other uploads have stayed online. Others in the comments of Pornhub's own verification policy page say that they were verified, but now they aren't. From the outside, there seems to be no consistent reasoning for this. 

Before the policy changes, there were three types of verification, according to Pornhub: Content partners, users in the model program, and verified users. The last category is now gone, and only uploads by models and content partners remain. The users reporting verification issues were likely in that last category—verified based on the old standards Pornhub used, which involved sending Pornhub a selfie with your face and holding up a sheet of paper with your name written on it. Those users are all now unverified. But inconsistencies remain.

Riley Cyriis, a performer who's been verified on Pornhub for more than a year, told me that most of her free videos and around 40 of 120 paid videos were removed, along with 20 videos she had set to private, only viewable by her. 

"My best guess would be certain tags, like 'teen' or 'daddy,' but it's really just a guess," she said. "The majority of flagged videos were my most successful ones ranging from 200k to 700k views, so maybe it's just how they came up? My profile is pretty obviously made by a real person and I listed my age publicly."

She wasn't using Pornhub as a main income source (although many performers do), so she's planning to focus more on other platforms like Onlyfans and Manyvids. 

Pornhub has said that it will restart the verification with new requirements in 2021. But the gap is a long time to wait if you're losing an audience and relied on the site for income. Many performers have already lost significant income due to Mastercard and Visa's decision to drop Pornhub. Performer Mary Moody said in a video about the payment processing news that she was making enough money from Modelhub to cover rent each month.   

And the verification process, which still hasn't been clarified publicly by Pornhub, could bring up new issues for anyone who wants to get their content back. IzzyBSides said that they'd received verification rejections before Pornhub's content purge, because their avatar—a fire sprite—obviously doesn't match their real-life face. The reason Pornhub gave for their rejection the last time, before the content suspensions, was that their avatar didn't match their verification photo. "We need to see your face to confirm," Pornhub's customer service email to them said. According to Pornhub, this method of verification is now outdated.

It's unclear how verification will work in the future, but Pornhub has said that identification of some kind will be part of the process. There are obviously many reasons that not everyone would want to use their real face as their avatar on a porn website.

"I'm not sure how I'm supposed to get verified with those sorts of requirements," IzzyBSides said, adding that performers who wear masks or keep their faces cropped out of videos would be excluded from verification on these terms. "It would force anyone experimenting out of the closet."

I asked performer Dylan Thomas how a verification system with even more strict requirements for identity could impact trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming content creators and performers. He said Pornhub could avoid excluding these groups by consulting with, and hiring, them to help create the new system. 

"Some of us with intersectional experience in both creative strategy, the digital space and sex work would like nothing more than to serve our community and get everyone back online, generating income and having an enjoyable, safe and sexy time," he said. 

How Pornhub’s new verification policies and process will unfold in practice is yet to be seen, but by including the voices of people who use the site, it could avoid future mistakes—just as it could have avoided this month’s backlash—and listen to the sex workers and content creators who've been asking for things to change for a long time.

"Pornhub was blatant about their disregard to what appeared on the site. But sex workers are under attack everywhere," Cyriis said. "Aside from the payout issues caused by Visa/MC, YouTubers and celebrities are flicking onto our platforms and basically doing whatever they want with no real financial repercussions. The consequences fall squarely on the shoulders of sex workers who built these platforms."

Pornhub’s Content Purge Has Left Fetish Creators Wondering What’s Next syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[perahn]

Translation Meme Extended

So I loved that snippet of Andraste’s Cupcakes I Google Translated into Tajik and back again so much I decided to do the whole story. Some of it got disturbing... but I laughed so hard.

An elderly woman is weak. He was traveling long and unbearably, and he was abusive, even in Tehran, the best in Kirkwall, with the help of the washing machines and shining candles for the company. The girl should be better. She had a long white coaster with a long sauce. It's back in its shop. "They ... the cup of dust from the stomach to the stomach." He throws it into the rock and the trunk and brought it to the eye. After a cup, a young woman is standing at the door. It was so beautiful that 100 bridges strengthened each hundred sheets that filled hundreds of clips (the dot at the end, but her beauty was very encouraging for her suicide), and reading a few days reading them more and more even after hearing this verse, he was still beautiful. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" As he was speaking, sunshine, colorful colors, tables and more. The old woman who saw in a coffin came up before she arrived at the coming of the arrival of a newcomer. "Thursday," she says. "I'm sorry," a beautiful girl repeats, went to the woman's table and went back. "I have had many problems ... out of the house." "You should not be careful, girl," she said. "I do not love the husband." It was very sad and pleasant, but he did not ignore to see his daughter, who later looked at the picture. In addition, he left his husband to the oldest, and Flemeth hoped to get the girl on his side. I know, "But we should not talk about him, no matter what the Bible says, Ace, Flemeth - about the fifth, how are you?" An elderly woman is hit. "Planning and hatred, rape, and one of my daughters sent me back in a few years, I am proud of him." "Did I ever say that you have a specific relationship to your children?" Flatt opened - then a tea took tea, because it smashed her throat. "No, this is amazing, girl, I'm stealing girls, and I only have one goal: save your sons, boys, flesh, blood, and scars, and I have lost them but not safe, but soon." "You said before," Andraste noted, giving thanks to a woman who offered flowers to her. The server fell back into the cabin, and it was temporarily blocked. "I just realized why you are proud that one of the girls who tried to kill you was to kill you." "Because I taught him, and what he taught Urunelli, he had to remember him and his brothers and remember the dragon." Flemeth burned the pulp from the air through the air and recommended that he would live and listen to his deepest voice. "When you understand your children, you realize that if you are 18 years old, you have the ability to do it." There was a glass of thunder. "I'm not talking to you!" And you have to drink it. "I'd like to say that sort of thing about him, but I'm convinced that there is a complete mood of spirit, of course, we are not too long, I'm convinced that I can test him a little test do it. " The director became a long distance, as the light and the light could endure. Many of these are closed as their signals. Fleming rested his skirt over his dreams. "Men can do, girl, two-thirds. If you have any doubts, try to talk about Herel, then Melhol and others are aware of it." Andraste was there when he was on a yellowish cupcake. When Kort and his crew were destroyed, he looked at how he went to the Flemings of the ancient Flemish. - But it would be nice to call Alvin's books. If they were released, he was with Flemeth, when he wanted to worship another man. It would be nice to get out of the house too much. Bronze Bungalow, when her husband had been sacking, was very bitter, and he had been working so much since he had killed him. He wanted to move on to something big, but he said that the Black Friday is like the sixth gold. Bronze Bungalow had a very small problem for them, and it ignored the solar side of the sun, which they never had to worry about. They came to the fence of the wall, but it was just waiting. And at least they did not live in Timber Hut. "Kill your mouth, my daughter, I do not eat spoon." Fleming is covering his own taxi.

"Sorry, just think." If you think you are thinking about ideas, you may even know the knowledge. Andrare wore her hand. At the same time, she was covered with a semi-catering spell, with little results. "Save your children for girls and guys, Save Flemish, I do not need it". "Yes, of course, no, your argument is in perfect order." She was scared. "Please do not remind me that this did not apply to all plans." He converted the cake into a cake with a lot of colors that made his tooth. "But at least I had a reputation, even the Tevinters even rejected you." Fleming laughs. "This is my way, I love my daughter, that I love my privacy, and I want to hear that" Flet Wallet! or "Asha'elelar branches!" all the time. " "You have one point." The scent has dried up. "People swear by the parts of their body that they are more suffering from violence. You know, I hear that knickerweasels" Andrey "is another day? I do not believe what knickerweasel should be perfect " Flemeth snickered. "What?" ... I am not even one of them! If they could, they would take care of me at the high school events! "You have not succeeded successfully," said Flemett. "Men are easier than they are ... knickerweasels, if they have them." Another glitter from the thunderstorm. "When I see it, I'll believe it," Flemet replied. And that's not a call. " Andraste was inspired by the idea, and then tried to color the color of the blue clothes. Their words were covered in a couple of cups of tea and pearls, and Andrack remembered why he had agreed or agreed to these meetings - Fleming when he chose him, and some old ways he knew his husband never no it was. That was not enough, but then Flemeth was older and never had a man. Finally, the door opened again, and four arrived there. Men have not been sufficiently exposed in the desert, tragic, and complete teashop, but what they have suggested would be better if they get somewhere else. It can be eyes, green gold, and completely like Flemish, or the unknown force of power they have joined to them; it could have been the way they were white hair and unhealthy faces. About its reflection, it was possible that all of them were wonderful. "Facts" "Happiness, sons." And they greeted them. The strongest person who wants to see you again - or something like that was a bit difficult - Dimo, an old god of Sindhie. Who, of course, could not say anything. André once saw that he was wrapped in his legs; he did not save his voice. He just fucks it with the mouth and grabs with "Howe". Dressed in the hairdresser's clothes, grenades and dresses on his head, Zazikel, Chaos's dragon. Andrei said: "Suicide of Turkish," Zazikel replied. "Grow the dots of green vegetables!" His servants, Andrare, believed that why Tevinter was never in the war at War. "Sister," he told another man, who is easier than anyone who asked for it; The God of the Jews caught smoking. All over. He offered to take the courage to lower Andreas. He felt that the heat was far away from him and he died before the death. As innocent, he was probably not ... but not in danger. "Unfortunately," she says with the expression of the sheep. His area filled the hill with smoke, because he was listening to the voice of peace of the people, waking up the fire, and sheltering Zazikel with the exodus. Fleming only lost to the boy with such anxious expressions of love and love, which was completely uncertain. "This is a dream because we have passed through our short conversation." Andrey also said that "although the former slave himself was himself, he was very difficult. The slaves of the slain were drowned. "Did you see this city?" "Uh ..." Flemeth arose out of his chair and looked at it empty. "I have nothing to do with money." Andraste has already left a bit of money on the table - twice as much to search for tea - and rejected the authenticity of the woman. The robots were about to mourn her when they walked out of the store and gifts of Andreysat and, despite all that, they jealously envy her for everything that is morally and indefensible to ill-treatment and ill-treatment. They were together happy with the family that had been separated (probably enjoyable) and finally found one another again. One family

He wanted. She wanted the pedestal of a small footwear about Bronze Bungalow, the joy of the small sounds in Flood. She wanted them to punish them with a rush of food for breaking the dishes, and she wanted to find some food and fuel, not what they could break, but she wanted it. One of the questions that she trusted in her husband. Andraste through Kirkwall focused on the audience, featuring special attention to pairs and families. In the summer of summer, both were still, but everything he was looking for was not there. He went to Dinara, and came to see him, and by the biggest figure he could represent. The spiriter thought that how it seemed to be, like a war or resistance, was probably inevitable. He did not want to have a little idea about functional clothes. It was anxious to have a young brother who had a haircut that covered him on his wrist. There was a gap that could not close her eyes. "Why?" He repeats himself in his or her brain. His example. Why is it so? His example. Looking for enthusiasm for her sexual organs is completely happy. It was just ... it was ... "Sebastian!" a woman with a high voice, a low voice, a smirking smile to a frustrating, near the nakedness, her late Andrade, a man with her and a dove behind them. "Tomorrow is a few expeditions available for prostitution around the globe," said the man. "So sad, where are you?" "I want it to be fun," she said. "They say," the man said, and then turned into a number of promotions. They were locked up at the entrance to the locker before the woman's wedding. She saw in the chapel that was called Hawke and sat in the camera. That was all there. Then a piece of frightened himself and exclaimed that he tied him to the shackle and closed it and covered it with a few roses. And he felt astonished by his surprise. Three eyes with a special expression, and all the women needed for selection. Of course, he is learning what he needs. The air dispersed one of the sky, which was a few minutes before the cloud, and the thunderstorm of light was running one minute, but Andrack did not listen. He had a plan. Epilogy "Well done, No, Isaiah, again I admonish you, when you repent of your sins, and do not show partial desire to the flesh. "Oh, are not I hated your body?" Ismellar flowers. But I know, but I am here another. Sebastian ... "she slowed down her voice, suddenly disappeared from her sense of torture." I had a vision. " Every clause that talks with him, with regret before he is entrusted to him. "Why did he tell me this?" "This was Andrare's meeting." "Well, I did not want to know that!" "Oh, right now the skin has skin?" He thought about this. "Tell me that he is poisoned in the pages of the book. This woman who wants to fight for something she wants to do, needs others, with caution, with a sword ..." Some days have really been spoiled. "Hey man, please tell your servant and this unfair harlot that distracted the bride ..." "You need to learn about him," said Esau. "That was where it was, Andraste came to me in my vision, and she asked me to help me with magic." It was a bit broken. "I advise her to give her advice - alcohol, skin and regular drink, then I told her that if she helped her, she might have a handshake, and she said she would remember it . " "Isabella ..." he was healed. "Oh, I'm almost forgetting, he wanted me to pour out my past message, then shuts off his shield and you want to close it." Sebastian buried her hand in her hands. "But this is not the real truth I am here ..." "I'd like to see Andrare, I have chosen the light of Oscars, and it's a beautiful shining light and a magic spirit. How will I be my sister?"

[rodianvivica]

Week 5: Media Ratings and Target Marketing

Week 5 blog: Media Ratings and Target Marketing

Soo, I started the week 4 blog and gave up, so I am now here trying to tackle this one now. On October 3rd, (spooky season), the focus of our week was uses and gratification. I am just going to start by saying this was a long week for me, I had a paper due the day before, and I was still not fully recovered from the damage that it had inflicted on me sooo, that being said it is safe for you all to assume that I did not do the reading. I went to class don’t get me wrong, but the readings were definitely not a priority for me at the moment. No need to worry, I am going to get them done before I write this entry (maybe) and let you know all about this topic. We started with the idea of public opinion and audiences as agents. Now I am not sure about you guys, but I wasn’t too sure what this meant so I had to reference back into everything to see exactly what this meant. So, using a mix of my ideas and the ideas of the textbook, I have come to a reasonable conclusion. Actually, scratch that, I just did a little more digging (aka pressing command F) and I think I actually have it this time so this 3-page thing might actually work. In looking at public opinion we discussed how the doxa is important. Now let me stop right there, I know for a fact that you do not know what doxa means and neither did I to be honest, (hence the command F in my lecture notes). Doxa is the popular belief that was fickle (not too sure about this word I would have used unsure or something) and unshaped. This means, in layman terms that it was something that everyone believes but doesn’t have any concrete evidence to back up. Now, if I am to give an example of this I feel as though the best one would be talking about celebrities. When people speak about celebrities they speak as though they know them, when in reality, they do not have any evidence or proof of what it is that they are saying. More specifically this can apply to a family like the Kardashians. There is a popular belief that the family is rich despite the fact that no one in the family has a talent or skill. People really say this like they know the family and they lived with them. There are not actually any hard facts or evidence (I know that evidence is an extra choice of words here, but I am trying to prove a point) that they have no talents. This (at least to me) is a good example of what doxa is. Now, I am going to get into the idea of the audience as agents, and no not secret agents before you guys get all excited. What this means is that, an agent, the audience wants information, people make choices, people vote, and they make decisions. With knowing all this information, companies try and cater their content to that of what the audience wants so that they can make more money. When you actually think about it, they are not just gathering information so that they can give you the best content, they also want to make sure that they are maximizing their money making. Take television as an example, when there is a new show that comes out on TV, they air the pilot episode, it is from the pilot episode that the network decides whether or not they want to keep the show on their channel. Now think of this, have you ever been watching a show and you are really in love with this show, and then all of a sudden you hear that the show has been cancelled. At this point you are like “what the heck!” why would they cancel this show I watch it all the time. The reason for this is that the network found that there is not enough ratings coming in on the show. From their perspective, they are like this show is not bringing in enough viewers and we can probably put an even better show at this time slot so that we can make even more money! Now you’re probably thinking (and me whenever a show that I love gets cancelled) if they care so much about the audiences would they not try and find another solution so that the people that actually do watch the show are able to keep watching it. Sadly, that is not the case here, almost everything in this life in about making money, so if your favorite show is not bringing in the big bucks for a television network, it is probably going to get the boot. There are some questions that we talked about in lecture that I want to talk about with you guys, ( not all of them because I only need one more page and I am trying to hit three) the first question that we discussed is, “ what is our choices” (as a result of target marketing – as indicated by media ratings) are not really choices?” This is an interesting question because we do have an idea that we are in control of the choices that we make and that we are not influenced by any other outside forces. When you really think about it we are really bombarded with a lot of marketing on social media in particular. There are certain television shows that you would have probably never watched, but when you keep seeing it on social media and people keep telling you about it, you might feel a little bit inclined to watch the show. An example of this is would be the movie “Bird box”, I didn’t even know that this movie was a thing until I saw the memes all over Instagram and Twitter. I felt as though everyone was advertising the movie for Netflix. Seeing all of the memes on my social media, I felt as though I was missing the inside joke and I wanted to be a part of the joke, so I ended up watching the movie. You can look at this and say that even though I do have a choice on whether or not I watch the show, I was getting a lot of outside pressure that influenced me. The next question is, “what if ratings and marketing have made the planet unhappy?”  We also talked about this in seminar, and it was a spilt decision. Some people said that no it does not make the planet unhappy because this is what companies have to do in order to make profit and to see how they can move forward in order to maximize their profits. Others argued (aka me) that it does make the planet unhealthy. This was argued because if a company’s main priority is getting ratings, the quality of the content may not be the same because they are too focused on getting ratings that they lose sight of the content that they are producing. So, I guess that it can be argued either way, but it does lean a little more on the unhealthy side seeing as though money is their main priority and not really the audience. These are the only two questions I am going over because I am hitting my three-page mark.

[titusmoody]

When Squaresoft made Final Fantasy 7, they had not yet figured out how to animate 3d characters in a way that conveys emotion. Mostly, they used  prerendered models that looked really impressive (for the time) for static shots, and just lingered on their careful framing. 

Oddly, the jagged polygons used for most of the game were much more expressive than the technically impressive 3d models. Final Fantasy 6 relied on a handful of pixel art animations for each character that could be reused for a variety of situations, and it’s clear that this was the approach the staff was most comfortable with. While the polygonal models were pretty wonky-looking, even for the time, the fairly limited set of animations were all up to the task of conveying character animations effectively.

In the next couple years, a lot of RPGs tried to replicate the success of FF7 by including prerendered videos, but they generally shied away from animating characters at all. At most you’d get silhouettes, or hand-drawn art. As a result, the games made in ‘97 and ‘98 that were the most expressive were the ones still using pixel art. 

-

In 2005, I was 15 and miserable. I felt like anything I tried was a lost cause so I didn’t bother trying. Authority figures saw that I appeared completely unmotivated and decided that what I needed was pressure and additional consequences, but in reality I was already feeling so much pressure that their efforts only exacerbated my learned helplessness. On top of that, I really, really wanted to connect with someone romantically but didn’t yet have anything close to the interpersonal skills necessary to make that happen. I also was not in the mental state where I could learn new skills, so the situation just perpetuated itself and I spiraled out of control a little. Then one of my friends loaned me a PS1 and two games: Final Fantasy 7 & 8. 

Now, it’s worth noting that in 2005, the internet existed but was not ubiquitous in the way it is today. A teenager today feeling the way I did would have immediate access to thousands of people’s perspectives in the form of tweets and memes regarding weird nihilistic feelings as well as the entirety of friendzone and manic pixie dream girl discourse written in a way to be appealing specifically to 15 year olds. I did not have any of this. Counterculture music was the only form of art I knew of that catered specifically to people my age, and it didn’t appeal to me at all. As far as I knew, I was the only human on earth experiencing the feelings that I was

-

Now, imagine you are of the people making big, high-level decisions for Final Fantasy 8. You’ve seen that polygonal models are fairly cheap, very expressive, and familiar to your staff of veteran developers. CGI is extremely expensive, but effective for static images, and gives your brand a feeling of prestige. With that in mind, it’s time to watch my favorite cutscene in video game history:

this one

So, obviously, the actual people who made FF8 decided that the best course of action was to force your staff to fit a decade of improvement at character CGI into two years. God damn, that first shot of Squall’s face is years ahead of FF7. 

-

Meanwhile in 2005, I played through the beginning of both FF7 and 8 at around the same time. I didn’t know anything about animation or how games were made, but I did know that FF8 came out only two years after FF7. I thought that 7 “felt” a lot better to play, but I ended up spending a lot more time with 8 initially because of that one scene. Obviously, the developers put a lot of effort into improving their craft, and the thing that they tried so very hard to improve at was telling a story that was appealing to me. This was the first work of art that felt like it understood me and wanted me to be its audience. 

I mean, there’s a girl who’s interested in the main character, so that’s a good start. Then, when the guy is terrible at dancing it doesn’t bother her, so that’s even better. On top of that, when other people are inconvenienced by the guy being bad at things, she sticks up for him and isn’t bothered by the fact that someone else is inconvenienced. And when he tries to give up after failing, she doesn’t let him, she drags him back to try again. All of that blew my mind. And to really hook me and keep me playing, she just gets distracted and goes off to do other stuff as if she didn’t just change this dude’s whole worldview. Jesus. I’m not gonna bother to point out the “problematic” stuff here, I see it and you see it and we all hopefully know better now.

Playing FF8 didn’t solve any of my problems. It did show me that not only did other people understand my problems, they decided that my problems were worth taking seriously. So seriously, that they learned how to use expensive and challenging new technology to properly communicate with me. I needed that.

[annieholmes97-blog]

What is the importance of design in politics within digital culture?

Within the digital culture realm, politics plays a major role. Whether this be through the use of political memes to make statements and express personal opinions  or through campaign design that is used online to promote or demote parties, policies and politicians to a broad, digitalised medium. Political design is something we see online everyday in our everyday lives whether it’s realised or not. Political campaigns rely on sophisticated marketing techniques which draw on impactful design as party’s work on trying to promote their candidate in a positive way whilst also seeking to exploit the opposition’s weakness. This is achieved via various design approaches and is illustrated over several decades by campaigns in the U.S and Australia. From eye catching posters to jingles and slogans, political parties rely heavily on design to portray their party’s messages and promote themselves to the public. Design and branding is an integral part of politics and plays an important role in campaigns. Digital culture is harnessed in this way as politics uses it as a platform to put their own design branding out there to audiences they hadn't been able to reach prior to the digitalised age that we’re currently living in. I’m a designer who would like to one day branch into the world of design in politics particularly on digital mediums as I believe it is the only way to access such a large audience and make an impact. I’ve done thorough research on this topic of and am speaking from my own experiences online with design in politics as well as information I have sourced online.

Within political design and branding there has been numerous accounts of iconic and unforgettable campaigns throughout the years. From Barack Obama’s ‘Hope’ poster to Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan, design divulges into the good, bad and ugly of politics. All of these campaigns are ones that took place online and really had the most effect online. It was hard to scroll through Facebook or other social media platforms back in 2008 without coming across people uploading images of themselves in the Obama ‘Hope’ poster filter to express their opinions on the up and coming U.S election that was taking place at the time. This is an example of impactful and good design that really used digital media to it’s advantage. The focus on Obama’s identity and his simple promise of hope showcased to the consumers/voters of this design that they could put their trust into this man. Shepard Fairey himself states that “Most campaigns rely on photographs because the moment you do something that is a graphic interpretation where any artistic license has been taken, I think a lot of people are scared that it’s going to be perceived as propaganda” (Fairey. 2009). This statement supports that graphic design and graphic interpretation in politics is always growing and evolving but also has a heavy focus on the notion of identity within design online. This successful campaign by Obama is notable because of this unforgettable poster that went viral during 2009, which makes you wonder how his campaign might have gone if it wasn't for this poster by Fairey. The ‘Hope’ poster went viral on social media and was one of the first political posters to ever do so. Politics, design and the online world are three things closely tied and held together occasionally by the notion of identity. Political campaigns and the expectations for them were changed forever after this bold poster became famous and circulated the digital world. Fast forward to the most recent U.S election where ‘Make America Great Again’ was gaining traction online because of the controversy it stood for. This slogan, and the Obama poster would not have been made without designers and other creatives who really established a name for the campaigns in the online world reaching bigger audiences world wide had not been achieved before prior to politics coming to the internet. Both of these designs were successful against the oppositions campaigns which leads us to believe that good design really does play a vital part of politics.

Design and design trends are forever changing, which brings us to how design trends within in politics are also forever changing. Social media is a predominant part of our society that designers must make room for when they are designing logos, posters, slogans and other political branding related design. As discussed before, Obama’s ‘Hope’ poster went viral online and all over the world thanks to the help of social media. Designs and political campaign branding can now be put on a platform that is more easily accessed by millions of people world wide. Taking advantage of this platform is essential in todays political branding world in order to spread the campaigns message to a broader audience that it could never reach offline. Taking a look at the last U.S election, it is obvious that the use of social media is essential in the latest political game. This can be seen via Hillary Clintons logo that suggests the idea of moving forward with its democratic colour palette. The logo was made for a new digital age and according to Jacob Little from Fiasco Design “…Brand identities have to be shifted, repurposed, resized for social media and fit into a number of different conventions with ease.” (2016). Taking advantage of social media is essential so designing specifically for it is a huge part of political branding and has been for the past several years. A good design will cater to the needs of social media as supported by the statement from Little. Clinton’s website and other social medias are designed in a contemporary way to portray her modern ideals that she was trying to get across to her audience. Her website features an array of images, so much so that it looks like it could fit under the category of a ‘blog’, appealing to the current day’s online trends of blogs and people’s popular usage of photo media online. Although Clinton was unsuccessful when it came to winning the election, she still had good design and branding that ticked all the necessary boxes to potentially be successful in the current day where digital culture is essential for success.

Design is persuasive. It is used in advertising to make people want to eat a certain food, dress a certain way or wear a certain type of lipstick. The same design techniques apply to politics, as it works on trying to convince people of a certain way to vote. Not only does design have the ability to promote a particular personality and candidate but it also has the potential to get people out there voting. This can be supported by the digital world where the persuasive designs are being placed online on websites and social media platforms in order to convince people or persuade them of certain things. An example of this is the most recent plebiscite Australia had which was for the Yes or No vote for same sex marriage. All over social media people were posting ‘vote yes’ with pride designs which got people enthusiastic to vote ‘Yes’ in the plebiscite or to just vote at all. I believe that the resounding yes vote wouldn't have been achieved without the help of digital culture and social media that really lets people express themselves to a broad audience. It is essential as a design practitioner interested in political design that you are up to date with current affairs and keep a consistent message when designing for these issues and events for the digital world. The consistency of the ‘Yes Equality’ website and branding was essential in keeping its message straight and persuading the people of Australia to vote yes in the upcoming marriage plebiscite. It received positive feedback and was increasingly prominent on social media during the lead up to the results and voting.

Design is a tool being used in every aspect of politics, from the little guys protesting and designing their own posters to share at protests or over the internet all the way up to the major political parties in each country. Design and creativity is being used as a common ground for people from different political backgrounds to express their opinions to others which is achieved via using digital media as a platform to express these opinions. I personally began designing political based art back in 2016 in my first year of uni as I took to Instagram to share a photo of an illustration I had done for International Womens Day. I found that expressing myself through art and design and uploading it to a social media platform such as Instagram was a great way to express myself to my friends, family, followers and who ever else would stumble across the piece on my page. I liked that combining digital culture with my love for design in politics meant that there was a way for me to share my expressions and for people to physically see what I stood for. The success of individuals and candidates in the political world comes down to the designs of branding that they put out to the public. I think this can be heavily tied to up and coming designers who put themselves out there on social media to get notice and gain traction, especially in regards to controversial topics such as politics.

Design plays an integral role in politics and this is supported by digital platforms that allow political designs to be exhibited to a large, broad audience. Social media is also something that needs to be greatly understood by design practitioners such as myself in this field as it as a platform that needs to be used now a days as designs would not reach a such vast audience without the help of social media. The individuals designing their own protest posters or political posts to share online need to understand good design as well although they do not have to design as professionally as the big parties but they do need to have an eye catching design that can convey their message just as well as the more professional and clean cut government branding that we see exhibited on governments/political parties websites and social media accounts. As a graphic designer in third year Visual Communication Design, I love the way politics is interpreted online visually as everyone has different opinions and everyone expresses these differently but with the use of the internet it is easy to share these visual opinions which can help people gain new perspectives on politics. I hope this post enlightened people on how important design is within politics especially in regards to the way it is used online. I hope to one day be designing viral political campaigns as successful as Shepard Fairey’s ‘Hope’ poster for the Australian political online world. I end my post with a quote from An Xiao Mina who discusses the importance and effectiveness of memes in politics, which is something I think can be heavily linked with design in politics, “With rich visual language and a culture of creative remix and communal participation, meme culture has provided an outlet for new forms of public conversation and community building.” (2014) Rich visual language plays a significant role in the designs we see for political culture online.

Bibliography

Gambino, Megan. "Shepard Fairey: The Artist Behind The Obama Portrait." Smithsonian. N.p., 2009. Web. 1 June. 2018

Little, Jacob. "How US Election Campaigns Are Designed." Digital Arts. N.p., 2016. Web. 1 June. 2018

Launder, Mimi. "13 Wonderful US Election Posters Designed to Inspire People to Vote." Digital Arts. N.p., 2016. Web. 2 June. 2018.

Lysakowski, Lukasz. "The Design Of Political Movements – Freecodecamp." freeCodeCamp. N.p., 2017. Web. 2 June. 2018.

Mina, A. (2014). Batman, Pandaman and the Blind Man: A Case Study in Social Change Memes and Internet Censorship in China. Journal of Visual Culture, 13(3), pp.362-375.

[topicprinter]

Hi /r/Entrepreneur, it's Pat from Starter Story again, where I do interviews with successful e-commerce entrepreneurs.Here is my interview with David Lombardo, the founder of ATC Memes/RadarContact.com, a meme website and e-commerce store. David is also a redditor, I found him on here!TLDR:He found a super specific niche, and capitalized on it.Built up an FB page to 181k followers, Instagram to 63k followers.He quit his job as an air traffic controller to focus on the business.Built an audience first, then built a business around it.David is grossing $34k/month and recently quit his job to go full-time on the business.BackgroundHi, my name is David Lombardo and I am one of the founding members of a website called ATC Memes.ATC Memes originally started as a social media site that was geared towards air traffic controllers sharing stories and joke images known as ‘memes’.Over the years, the concept evolved into an online store called RadarContact.com, where we sell many unique and niche types of merchandise catering to those who are involved with or have an interest in the aviation industry.My backstoryEver since I was a kid, I have been interested in aviation. For most of my youth, I was obsessed with video games; specifically simulation games. I was borderline addicted to Microsoft’s Flight Simulator and the online WWII dogfighting game Fighter Ace. It was these two games that really got me into flying. I thought I wanted to be a pilot, and it was all I dreamed about.I decided to attend Purdue University, which was a great mix of all of my interests. I majored in aviation management, but I still had a social life and was involved with music. I had a band, and I also ran a music venue with the same band simply called ‘The Venue’. My classes on the other hand, were aviation based. It was as great balance.After graduating, I returned home and taught music for a few years. I had many students on both guitar and drums. I had eventually applied to become an air traffic controller, however. To make an extremely long story short, I was finally hired by the Federal Aviation Administration in 2014, attended the training academy in Oklahoma City, and was assigned to the New York Center, which is located on Long Island, New York.One night after coming home from an evening shift at my new air traffic control job, I sat down on my computer and sent a message to an old friend who had started a page for air traffic controllers to share funny and silly images known as ‘memes’. At the time, the page was pretty small but doing well for what it was.“Hey man, long time no talk. Do you mind if I add some content? I can help you moderate it?”“Sure.”How I accidentally made my first meme.One night, when helping someone mix a song on Cubase, a digital audio workstation program (remotely via the internet), I had a website called ‘LiveATC’ open in the background. I was actually monitoring the frequencies for a sector I was to be trained on in the coming months and trying to memorize as much chatter as I could for frequencies and restrictions pilots received. However, when I played back the song I was mixing, I realized that I had inadvertently recorded the LiveATC transmissions. I played it back and put it through a whole effects rack worth of stuff, and the result was that the audio of the pilot's chatter sounded totally weird, almost ‘fake’.Suddenly, a huge idea hit me with a spark of inspiration I had not felt since the days of flying that plane over Saratoga Lake; I would create my own ATC transmissions. And these wouldn’t be normal ATC, they would be intentionally hilarious. I envisioned scenarios that air traffic controllers could relate to, and make them ridiculous.In the weeks to come I wrote a few basic comedy scripts during breaks at work based on events I had experienced and in the evening recorded it using a few microphones I had around my apartment. In using my recording techniques I had learned in the years prior, I was quickly able to re-create very realistic sounding recordings.I made these assuming that people would know they were fake. In uploading some of the recordings to Facebook and YouTube, however, it became increasingly apparent that some people (even those who were aviation professionals) had no idea if they were in fact real or not. People began to share them, tag their friends, and comment on them. In one week, the ATC Memes page went from 8,000 fans to over 40,000. People also began to submit more and more of their own creations and memes. People were also sharing the memes, which also helped create buzz and a more social effect for our page. We were viral.Building our social media meme accounts and starting to sell products.After a few months of establishing ourselves on multiple platforms (including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, a blog, and others), my partners and I decided to try to monetize the page. At this point, we had over 140,000 followers and a very loyal following at that.We designed and sold some t-shirts, and then some stickers, but nothing was significant. It was beer money. However, like the realization with the audio I had months before, on one evening in Winter 2016, another idea came to us, women’s apparel.For many years aviation apparel had been pretty popular like shirts with aircraft references and airplanes on them, but it was all mostly for men. Women were (and still are) a minority in the aviation world. I am not entirely sure where the idea came from but one day I realized I had a huge PNG image file of the New York airspace on my desktop and I decided to upload it and see what it would look like on women’s leggings, of all things.Within hours we had sold over $2,000 worth of these leggings. Suddenly I realized we had a lot of work to do, and this was only selling the products with the New York airspace. We wanted customers to have the option of every inch of airspace in the world. We also began offering custom products.Sales are still going strong, and we have also added a variety of different products. We offer lanyards, hats, bags, phone cases, skirts, ties, shoes, dresses, and even blankets! In late 2017, we changed the name of our store to Radar Contact, a phrase that better reflected all of aviation and not just ATC.Product validation, and expansion to new products.To be honest, the product came together itself because the idea of having authentic airspace printed on clothing was a very specific and strange niche.The market research required was already encapsulated within our own fan base. That is to say, we just had to post a few mock images, and gauge the reaction from our already loyal fans.This is perhaps one of the single biggest advantages in the modern world of social media. There is little risk of doing some basic market teasing and testing if you’ve already won over the attention of the audience through other means, memes in our case.If we had tried to do it the other direction (that is, sell something before building the rapport of an entertainment page), I don’t think it would have worked; or at the very least, it wouldn’t have been as successful. People want to establish a relationship with your brand and in 2018, sometimes this means they want to get to know the people behind the page. Entertainment (specifically humor) on social media offers a sort of social bond that blatant, old-school marketing cannot achieve. It was the glue that established the framework for the entire business itself.We have since expanded not only the types of products that we offer but the designs of the products as well. We sell many types of apparel not related to the airspace map line of products, but they continue to be what we are known for. As for manufacturing, everything is done via on-demand printing through an online platform, and our suppliers all painstakingly worked with us to ensure that the quality was impeccable. We rejected some mock-up designs because they weren’t what we envisioned. We wanted everything to be readable, down to every little number and letter on the map.How we attract new customers.We have experimented with many marketing techniques and avenues, but the most effective method by far is good old viral social media.To this day we all continually work to try to have great comedy content to ensure authentic traffic to the site. We also keep our fans involved by sharing submitted images of them wearing our clothes and sporting our stickers, lanyards, ties, etc. This builds an absolutely huge community and sense of camaraderie between users.I have also found an incredibly positive response from live video. In the past year or so this has become a vital asset for many online marketers with now nearly all platforms offering some form of live video feed for pages. I usually “go live” to talk about recent aviation news, recent memes/videos we’ve made, and of course our new products.The results are mind-blowing. Sometimes we will make over 100 sales in a 15-minute live video broadcast. One time one of the partners went live on a flight and a fan was sitting a few rows behind him on the same aircraft! There are countless awesome tips and tricks for creating the best live broadcast possible that you can find by just doing a Google search. However, the secret to a good live broadcast is energetic and consistent interaction with the fans. Period. People want to be heard and live platforms allow you to listen to a virtually limitless number of people all at once. That’s a marketing superpower.With respect to a more traditional advertising route, Facebook Ads has proven to be valuable in the information it provides, especially with the Pixel algorithms which have helped us realize what types of ads work and which do not.Google Analytics has also been absolutely essential to understanding the impact of our marketing and the overall aggregate behaviors of our users, sometimes in real time. It's also fascinating to see A/B comparisons. For example, we have found that things as trivial as the color of a button can have a substantial impact on the conversion percentage.A lot of it comes down to just experimentation. But before experimenting, it's import to build a customer base first. It’s better to build a base of loyal fans that you can experiment with to see what works as opposed to experimenting without any real dedicated influence. Follow the rules first, start small, and then have fun.Finally, never discredit email. Our email list, gathered from our conversions, is one of the most responsive part of our business structure. It’s a good idea to immediately begin to build an email list. It’s authentic traffic that is “your control”, as an air traffic controller might say!Would I do anything differently if I could go back?It sounds incredibly cliché, but I wouldn’t really have done anything differently, not in this business and not in life.One thing I wish I knew ahead of time was the challenge of handling sizing issues of the clothing. Sizing, especially in the world of women’s apparel and online apparel, can be notoriously tricky. We offer exchanges on all of our sizes and our returns are under 1-2%. Still, it becomes a logistical nightmare if 30 people all of a sudden want another shipment. These are things we never thought about. So I would recommend having an accurate sizing chart and that you confirm is “true to fit” by inquiring with your customers.Finally, get used to criticism; it’s going to happen. It’s easy to be subjected to criticism because people hide behind a computer. It’s a rush to get thousands of positive reviews but it’s equally a rush (albeit a negative one) to get a one-star roaster that calls you and your business worthless. But don’t always respond to it.You have to choose your battles wisely and being in small business is all about which battles to fight. Whether you’re directing a battlefield or designing stickers, the idea is pretty much always the same; minimize your moves and use your energy to achieve goals and values.Do not jump at your rivals, especially in the beginning stages of a business. It’s best to lay as low as possible. Don’t intentionally rock the boat for a cheap thrill when the energy should be used to propel you and your business closer to your goals. Finally, it’s important to remember that the harshest critics can be total jerks, but some can offer some decent advice if you see past their cynicism. Conserve your energy for the stuff that matters. Also, for the love of god, conserve your money. Fighting battles can be really, really expensive.Lessons learned.I have learned that you can always sell more product. It’s increasingly difficult to maintain people’s attention; especially in a world full of ever-increasing distractions. We had the attention of our fans though and that was entirely due to our memes and community. All of us were involved in aviation so we also had the knowledge of the industry.Having said all of this, I have learned through many experiments that just because you have a lot of attention doesn’t necessarily mean your fans are all going to want to share your products to their social circle. The most difficult part of this process was promoting products and still trying to maintain our status as an entertainment page. However, by marketing to our current followers and integrating the products into references and jokes already established, many people caught on quick. Our fans were enthusiastic, and nearly all of them were already aviation professionals and/or enthusiasts, so this meant that news of the merchandise did in fact spread like wildfire.Sometimes, if a web community pushes conversions too hard, the reaction can be less than favorable (“you sellouts!”), but I have found that if you are tasteful and careful, the results are actually the contrary. Most people, so long as you are making relevant products and offers, are genuinely pretty curious. They want to know more.I would say the most important thing is to start small and conquer a small niche before expanding; set realistic goals. Also, and perhaps most profound in my realization, is that there is really no such thing as a wasted talent if you put it to use, however humble. ATC Memes would not have been the same if I had not gone into air traffic control, and it certainly wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t spent the time as a 16-year-old kid messing around with electric guitar sounds. The audio was a fundamental part as to why this page became as successful as it did.Customer service is also absolutely imperative. If you sell a lot of product, I have learned that you’re going to be dealing with a lot of issues. There is no way around this. However, by planning ahead and being ready to answer questions at a moments notice, you’ll help your brand tremendously. Set up auto-responders to let customers know you’ll get back to them ASAP.; set up contact forms; get a P.O. box to accept returns and snail-mail, etc. We also purchased a phone number which forwards to our cell phones. Customers are almost always surprised when a real live human answers. This in itself has led to countless conversions. Don’t overlook the human interaction! It’s rare in 2018.Also, I try not to obsess about success and trivial matters like gossip and opinion. Our society is way too concerned about achievement, success, failure, and the matter of others. Rather it’s exponentially more important to stay true to your values instead of focusing on blatant achievements to compare yourself to others. As far as I’m concerned, anyone who wakes up and strives to be just a bit better than yesterday is already successful. It has nothing to do with other people and everything to do with yourself. This is as true for life as it is for business, and it cannot be stressed enough. Compete with yourself fiercer than anyone else!Finally, but certainly not least, I am very lucky to have found good partners to run my business with. The guys I work with at ATC Memes are unbelievably creative, passionate, and truly gifted people who are always open to authentic communication and downright real discussion. They’re also funny as hell, and great guys to hang out with.Leaving the FAA, and how the future looks for us.In 2017 I made the tough decision to leave the FAA. Ultimately, I could not see myself doing that job for the rest of my life and knew that if I didn’t want to become handcuffed to it, I had to act now while I still had time to build a new career. I think a lot about the future of social media and how it has had such an undeniable effect on society. I often wonder what the next few years will bring as more businesses harness the power of the platforms and more players get into the game. There is most definitely an art to it, as millions compete to be heard, seen, and understood on a virtual stage.Still, while it’s important to stay relevant, it’s just as important to disconnect now and then to focus on the things in life that really matter. Instead of focusing on “keeping up with Joneses” focus on what makes you and your business unique. You’ll never be as successful living in something else’s shadow as you will be if you dare to be different and cast your own shadow. Spending time nourishing my creative outlets like music and writing comedy is important in keeping our business unique and interesting to our fans.In terms of networking, we will be doing interviews and making appearances at popular aviation events. I also hope to keep expanding the brand to new and exciting locations, including doing more B2B with companies (like airports and flight schools) that will stock some of our products.There is a lot of potential growth and with that comes the promise of new relationships with amazing people, which is perhaps what I enjoy the most.Tools I use.While we’ve experimented with a lot of different tools we have never used any automation tools. Most of the tools we have used are related to business promotions, organization, CRM, audio, and video.The main e-commerce platform for our store is predominantly built on Shopify. We have also used WooCommerce. The software/products I am currently using are:ShopifyMailChimpLinkedInTrelloSalesforceGoogle AnalyticsFacebook BusinessWordPressXMindBasecampSlackAdobe PhotoshopAdobe PremiereCubaseWaves VSTEvernoteBooks I recommend.This is honestly one of the hardest questions of this interview. I have had so many books and people influence me. Two books that have had a recent and significant impact on me are Peter Thiel’s ‘Zero to One’ and ‘Everybody Lies’ by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz; the latter had me actually re-reading certain sections in an effort to get more out of them, something I rarely do. While I find a lot of non-fiction literature to be fluffy, even superfluous at times, nothing within these two books seems to be without value. Every word is helpful.Some works have had an influence on certain parts of my life specifically. For example, the Stephen Dubner ‘Freakonomics Radio’ episode on The Upside of Quitting helped encourage me to quit my job at the FAA.In a similar reference, Kashdan’s ‘The Upside of Your Darkside’ helped show me that it is ok to have self-doubt and anxiety, in spite of a world always telling us that negative emotions are somehow bad (spoiler alert: they’re not).The Miguel Ruiz classic ‘The Four Agreements’ helped explain to me that great works, at their core, are quite often paradoxically inspired by stark simplicity, and ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ was a near perfect description of how things aren’t always so black-and-white. This idea of balance between extremes is also perfectly summed up in the classroom scene in the 2001 film ‘Donnie Darko’. While some of these references can be taken as obscure, they are fundamental to business and creative works.One of the most influential works of literature I have ever encountered in business and in life is undoubtedly Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’, published in 1999. It is a book that inspires creation and curiosity and reinforces the idea that no matter who you are or what your circumstance is, you have a story. Don’t waste it. You may be surprised to find out how many people are willing to listen if you’re willing to create and bring your stories to life.Advice for other entrepreneurs.The most important advice I can tell anyone is to just be yourself.It is also important to have some sort of rapport with your customers. Again, start small, and work your way into new avenues of adventure. Don’t try to take on too much at once. The riches are in the niches.Also, don’t be afraid to want to learn more. I constantly find myself worried that I don’t know enough, and I think this perpetual state of heightened anxiety actually has been one of my biggest assets when it comes to critical thinking and learning.Enjoy your success! But don’t get too comfortable. Never stop learning, and never stop growing. Good luck, and most of all, HAVE FUN!If you have any questions, drop a comment!

[noelle-is-decaffinated-blog]

Music Festivals and EDM as an Audience Member

Throughout my time studying audiences in COMM3P18, my personal definition of an audience has changed. While previously I understood an audience to be a group of people who are addressed and presented information, I now think of it in a much more complex manner. An audience to me is not only a group of people, but we are a group that is able to interact with the media we are given, who is able to interact with one another and is able to make autonomous decisions about the media we involve ourselves with. My view on audiences has also changed because I have realized that they are not limited to a theatre. Every day we are exposed to media and messages online, on our phones, even on my walks to the bus I become an audience member to the various advertisers whose billboards I see on the way. The fact that we are consistently thought of as audience members and are addressed as such on a daily basis makes it so that we are exposed to much more content than we realize. Targeted advertising on Facebook and billboards on busses expose us to messages and ideas, and live events in our modern age treat us as audiences in more ways than one. The evolving nature of the audience has made events such as concerts and music festivals extremely interesting to analyze given the complexity of a modern audience. Music festivals such as Digital Dreams and Veld feature multiple stages where concert-goers can move between multiple venues where different sub-genres of electronic and dance music are played. The division of the audience is unique to festivals like these and offer a unique look at audiences, as we are able to study a large culture, as well as the smaller subcultures and audiences within it.

To begin to analyze the complexity of audiences in live electronic dance music (EDM) audiences, the subculture as a whole must be analyzed. I will be using my own examples of how I became exposed to this culture and became a part of the audience in order to explain how the community functions online. The core of electronic music is based on remixed songs, where consumers of the music will become a prosumer. In lecture, we discussed the concept of prosumers; members of an audience who actively create their own content while also consuming the content provided to them. This concept of the prosumer can be applied to all producers in the genre. All large-scale artists started off with a small Soundcloud account and got discovered by posting their remixes of popular songs. The popularity they gain from these remixes allows them to grow into a much bigger artist capable of creating their own content without the use of other content. Audience members in online social media groups such as the popular Toronto Rave Community (TRC) take on the role of prosumers as well.  These individuals will post their content to these groups in order to get feedback from others who enjoy the same content as them, creating a unique community aspect within the audience. TRC is a perfect example of an audience as mass and also provides a space where this audience can be directly addressed by peers. People in these groups will post anything from their own personal remixes (making them a prosumer) to memes or funny videos relating to their favourite artist. The variety of content provided creates a space where audience members can interact with different types of media. I have multiple friends who are members of this group who all have different interests. Thanks to the variety of content, I am able to share music-related content that we are all fans of but that is specifically tailored to their niche. Typically, I will tag my girlfriends in funny videos or memes but will tag my boyfriend in more serious posts featuring news articles about the genre and new song releases. My sharing of content is also segmented since each of my friends have their own individual taste in music. I’ll share trap and rap music with my boyfriend who prefers that subgenre but will exclusively share upbeat and summery songs with a friend of mine specifically interested in that niche genre.

The community aspect felt within the EDM audience is felt across all social media channels, as individuals who identify as fans of the music will interact with it on all kinds of mediums. Fans will follow their favourite DJs on social media websites such as Twitter and Instagram as a means to further connect with the audience, and many of the DJs being prosumers are active in interacting with the audience as well. Even Facebook, which is considered by many to be a more personal social media form given that you select your friends, contains a lot of artist-audience interaction. The Facebook group TRC has over 60,000 members, and a significant portion of those members are elite and established artists in the industry such as Skrillex, Dillion Francis and Deadmau5. These artists enjoy interacting with their audience, as they are able to receive feedback on their projects, and get a sense of what their audience wants, and even post funny videos of them for their fans. As explored in course readings, millennials tend to be more trusting and accepting of online personalities who are interactive with their audience. Ben Waiske explores this idea in the context of journalists and concludes that when online persons seek to interact with and include their audience in their discussion, the feeling of connection between the two becomes reciprocated (pg. 12). Another author who analyzes the connection between millennials and online factions is Jayoen Lee. In his research, he concludes that individuals who recognize a journalist (or artist, or social media page) will have preconceived notions about said person that will influence their impression on the shared media (Lee, pg 325). 

The effects that digitization has had on this community has been profound, as many of the EDM events hosted historically were underground. With the current state of the internet, events are highly advertised on social websites, making social media a huge factor in how audiences interact in this community. That is not the only effect that digitization has had on this market, however. There have been arguments made that the process of digitization and the expansion of the internet and its capabilities has led to an audience that is highly fragmented to the point where the term audience has become outdated (Agirre, Arizzabalaga & Espilla, pg. 133). Audiences can no longer be defined as just liking electronic or dance music since the genre has become so diverse. One audience member might love electronic house music, but another might be more of a fan of future bass; both these audience members would be considered members of the EDM audience, however, they have found a niche in the market that they are generally more interested in. Typically, people see the hyper-fragmentation of audiences as a downside of the modern era, but large live events like Digital Dreams are able to capitalize on the fact that their audience has multiple interests. 

The success of these festivals can be partly attributed to the audience’s belief that the festival gratifies their needs. People choose to go to these festivals for many reasons, but much of the reasoning behind audience attendance is that their needs are gratified when they attend the festival, whether it be social or entertainment needs. As Sullivan explores in the textbook, the only way that a user’s needs can be gratified is if they are able to identify their own needs (pg. 122), and while being present in these online communities, audience members are shown media that prove to them that these music festivals will gratify their needs and make them happy. There are, however, other factors that may push an audience to attend a music festival instead of enjoying the music on their own terms at home and in online spaces. While the social media sphere allows members of this audience to interact with one another and talk at length about their favourite songs, there are certain aspects of the live performance that draws fans from all over the world. Through analysis of the attendance at the FIFA world cup, authors Kim, Cheong & Kim attempt to define the reasons why people prefer live events over televised. The main conclusion that they came to is that the cheering atmosphere present at live events allows for better enjoyment (pg. 391), and in the case of music festivals, high audio quality and stunning visuals are also a high selling point.

The two years that I went to Digital Dreams, the festival hosted 3 different stages, each catering to a certain sub-genre of the electronic genre. There was the main stage which was the biggest and most aggressively advertised. Artists present at this stage typically are ones who produce more mainstream music, and they tend to be more elite and well known than the artists who are performing on the other stages. Artists who perform on this stage have included DJ Snake, Tritonal, and Deadmau5, all of which are highly popular and well known within the audience. The main stage is also the largest of the three stages and tends to yield a much larger audience. The other stages can be considered niche stages since their music is more tailored to specific subgenres. The second stage is the Bacardi Bass Tent which is a small stage enclosed in a large tarp tent, which helps to contain the sounds and cut back on sound interference from other stages. The music at this stage is specifically tailored to the audience that prefers bass-centric genres such as hardstyle, dubstep, trap, and drum and bass music, and the tent helps to intensify the bass in these songs. The third and final stage is the Echo Beach stage which is a waterfront stage with a beach where artists who specialize in slower house music perform. Each of these three stages tailors to different niches of the overall audience. What is interesting to note about these niche audiences present at the festival is how differently each subgroup acts at each stage, and part of that can be attributed to the genre of music being played. The audience at the mainstage tends to favour more of a concert style experience. While the audience is still standing, singing, and dancing together, the majority of the focus is on the artist. This can be seen in heavy contrast to the behaviours seen in the Bacardi Bass Tent, where the audience interaction can be likened to that of a mosh-pit. Given that the music at this stage is extremely heavy, the dancing and audience behaviour reflects that. This can be linked to the idea proposed by Agirre, Arizzabalaga & Espilla, claiming that audiences will behave differently according to the content they are being exposed to (pg. 143). Being exposed to aggressive music leads to aggressive behaviour by the crowd, while calmer music leads to a calmer, more stoic audience. The link between content and behaviour proposed by the authors displays the segmentation present in the audience, however, the segmentation has proved to be a bonus for the EDM community. With more niche genres developing, the community will continue to expand, content will continue to be produced, and festivals will continue to be able to give audiences diverse experiences.

Works Cited Agirre, I. A., Arrizabalaga, A. P., & Espilla, A. Z. (2016). Active audience?: interaction of young people with television and online video content. Communication & Society, 29(3), 133-147. doi:10.15581/003.29.3.133-147 Kim, K., Cheong, Y., & Kim, H. (2016). The Influences of Sports Viewing Conditions on Enjoyment from Watching Televised Sports: An Analysis of the FIFA World Cup Audiences in Theater vs. Home. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 60(3), 389-409. doi:10.1080/08838151.2016.1203320 Lee, J. (2015). The Double-Edged Sword: The Effects of Journalists Social Media Activities on Audience Perceptions of Journalists and Their News Products. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 20(3), 312-329. doi:10.1111/jcc4.12113

Sullivan, J. (2013). Media Audiences: Effects, users, institutions and power. Sage Publications Inc., New York, NY. Waiske, B. (2013). Framing News in 140 Characters: How Social Media Editors Frame the News and Interact with Audiences via Twitter. Global Media Journal -- Canadian Edition, 6(1), 5-23.

[tiaraklowery]

Self Assessment

1. In this course, what have you learned about yourself—as a writer and a researcher? How might you apply this learning to future writing situations (in your major and/or future profession)?

2. How have the course assignments and in-class discussions influenced your understanding of the course themes: technology and writing, and digital literacy?

3. How have you come to read and write differently when encountering writing in different digital and visual genres (i.e. websites, digital stories, memes, a comic book style textbook like Understanding Rhetoric)?

4. How does your portfolio address 2-3 of the course objectives? You’ll need to refer to specific pieces of your writing as you address these objectives. Choose 2-3 from the following course objectives: 1) Research Writing as Situated Process (Students will recognize and act upon the ways research varies according to the situation.) 2) Research and Evaluating Sources Rhetorically (Students will evaluate reading strategies for invention, rhetorical engagement with sources, and critical dialogue.) 3) Research Writing Within and Across Genres (Students will recognize the role genre plays in determining research forms and practices.) 4) Research and Writing as Rhetorical Action (Students will understand research as itself a rhetorical action.) 5) Research Writing as Social Practice (Students will analyze, reflect on, and respond to the social nature and consequences of research beyond the classroom.)

1. As a researcher, I have learned that I can easily get carried away with my own theories and questions. With the final extended inquiry project, I found myself developing question after question to be researched before realizing that I was more involved with my own research than I originally believed that I would be. From this I also realized that I am more of a researcher than I thought I was. I assume that I thought that I was not much of a researcher due to the drab projects that I had between elementary and high school, but now that college has provided me with a wider span of topics and presentation methods, I am far more involved with my research. This proved to be a very beneficial change within me, because it allowed me to become more dedicated and thorough with my research instead of being more detached as I have been with prior research projects.

This learning will definitely assist me with future writing situations in both my major (Writing and Rhetorical Studies) and my potential future professions. While I do not have a specific profession that I would like to work in, I know that I want to do something related to writing on a website or consulting for different writing agencies. Due to how expansive technology is and how writing is unavoidably involved in technology, I know that these skills will help me in the future. This course gave me the best foundation to build upon as I continue my collegiate journey.

2.The course assignments and in-class discussions have influenced my understanding of technology and writing along with digital literacy by showing me how to more effectively be a writer within technology. For this information, I primarily credit Alex Reid’s blog post titled “Introducing Composition Students to Blogging.” This is a text that I constantly referred back to in order to remind myself of how writing through technology truly has a whole different process than typical essay writing. Although standard essay writing does have aspects to consider like audience, purpose, and genre, it truly is a different playing field when it comes to technological writing. For instance, instead of merely just considering the genre of voice that I would be taking on, I would now have to consider the genre of medium that I would use to express my writing and the genre of my voice. I would now also have to consider a wider spectrum of audience that would be reading my material on the specific genre that I chose (which would have to correlate to the medium that audience may primarily use). It gave me a lot more of a deeper thought into what goes into writing through technology and truly simplified the process so that I could create my own works effectively.

3. I have come to read and write differently when encountering a medium such as “memes,” because now I realize that there is more to a meme than it seems. The foundation of such ideas that I have of this is based off of the Maggie Collins text titled “The Enthymeme: An Analysis of Sexist Advice Animals.” This text made me understand that in some cases, there are hidden connotations to even the simplest of internet memes. Take for instance, the overly attached girlfriend meme. Although that meme is a pure joke that does not show how one expects someone to act normally, it does show the perception that people may have about people who are a little too clingy. It is also in some ways teaching others what should and should not be done in a relationship, and how certain actions will be taken as a joke and criticised as opposed to others. This article and lesson during the lecture was a big lesson on how even through jokes we could potentially be teaching one another what is acceptable in society and what is frowned upon. In many ways, this made me think deeper about the responsibility that comes with posting any sort of content onto social media and websites. Even with posting jokes or facts found on the internet, there has to be a moment of thought where the content creator must evaluate the validity of the content, the connotations of the content, and the portrayal of the content. If we allow ourselves to blindly quote sources or post content without deeply evaluating the content itself, then we run the risk of potentially being insulting towards others without intending to do so.

4. My writing this semester has achieved the goal of understanding how to research and evaluate sources rhetorically through the ways in which I have articulated different sources both found and given, and then have understood the underlying messages behind them. For instance, in a thought piece done about studies involving education and technology, I read through the data in an attempt to understand how genuine the research is and to see if the research is written in such a way with a bias towards a certain audience. While I did find that the research was fairly negative about technology in the classroom, it did show me how audience will instantly affect the findings out research.

When it comes to research writing as a social practice, my portfolio addresses this objective through the thought piece on memes, and even through this self assessment itself. The thought piece of memes goes into a short analysis about how memes can greatly affect our mindsets, and how the relatable nature of memes can contribute to a sense of satisfaction when reading and creating them. Also, it shows how very niche memes can cater specific feelings to a memes that go farther than a typical joke.