Single lesson this week: Essay 1 Revision.
Watch the video and complete the activities assigned at the end of the video:
Discussion assignment: After reading the “viral argument” pages from Going Viral, find and link an example of a viral argument and an example of a meme within a discussion post in a comment to this week. Use this example to think through and explain the authors’ definition of a viral argument as well as the distinction they draw between a viral argument and a meme. Post your answer in a comment to this post.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/one-direction-wanted-twitter-feud-1817757
When I hear viral argument, this is literally the only thing that comes to mind. This happened around 2012-2013 on twitter, and I was around 11 or 12, but I vividly remember this. The author’s definition of a viral argument depends on how fast something is spread, how many people saw it, and/or how many people shared it. I think that this is a good example of a viral argument because the two fandoms were in a feud for a long time after this. When it happened, almost 4 million people saw the tweets/interracted with the tweets. People honestly still talk about this twitter fight today and still make jokes about it, which just screams viral to me.
Oh, and here is an example of a meme that came out around the time of the argument:
https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/653373858410396672/?nic_v2=1a2CiruEs
Hi Bianca, that’s an interesting example. I can see that it spread quickly, but I’m wondering what the message was. It’s hard to notice this in the short reading we read, but there was mention that a viral argument is a *message* that goes viral. This may be a generational issue but I don’t quite see the message involved in this widely-publicized argument between two bands.
It explains in the “viral argument” that “Therefore identiflying and measuring virality is made on the bases of (i) the human and social aspects of information sharing from one to another (ii) the speed of spread; (iii) the reach in terms of the number of people exposed to the content; (iv) the reach in terms of the distance the information travels by bridging multiple networks.” and with this link it shows you what is happening in the world and this information is spreading through the news, social meadia which ties into the assignment “viral argument” and shows how rapidly this news has spread.
https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/timeline-cardi…
To the author a viral argument is an event that blows up on the internet and causes a debate within the viral community. It is the cause of memes, the inspiration for their creation. Memes are used as a result of viral arguments, it is a way for people to express their opinions on the argument and show which side they are on. After this feud went down back in 2018, many memes were produced and went viral. People showed whether they were team Cardi or Nicki through these memes. It is obvious that someone who is team Nicki, or someone who wanted people to have a good laugh made this meme.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=vKjXaEP2&id=4F3A27E480DA219DE08D8A527DE494FAE473429C&thid=OIP.vKjXaEP2i47Dydya1Wy4BwHaHa&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgflip.com%2F2hk2cf.jpg&exph=500&expw=500&q=cardi+b+knot+memes&simid=607992744537882976&ck=E462180B77692CAA01C76EC12286D936&selectedindex=0&form=EX0023&adlt=demote&shtp=GetUrl&shid=fbb87c79-6b4f-4698-95f3-032abf78aabf&shtk=SW1hZ2UgdGFnZ2VkIGluIGNhcmRpIGIsbmlra2kgbWluYWosZmlnaHQsY2VsZWJyaXRpZXMgLi4u&shdk=Rm91bmQgb24gQmluZyBmcm9tIGltZ2ZsaXAuY29t&shhk=VYjxnjhp6l2HhX8EYEDem%2BRxfETrrSkn17hrdyoH2W8%3D&shth=OSH.kVRTgQ1fXfT4u%252BjyVNHE%252BQ
I’m super intrigued by your example, but my response is similar to the one I had for Bianca. This may also be because the first link you shared was a 404, but I don’t see what the message is that went viral. It seems like this is an argument–as in, a fight–that went widely publicized and inspired memes. What is the message that has gone viral?
Hi Jhazmine, I don’t see a link posted in your discussion. We’re looking for messages that go viral. Do you know of any examples?
https://nyti.ms/2STthjb
This happened in about February of this year, which train seat is the best and everyone had a different opinion and a reason why their thinking was the best. A virial argument depends on how quickly it spreads,the number of people saw it , where it reached, and how many people shared it. It is something everyone has an opinion on. I believe this is a good example of a viral argument because many people saw it and it became a viral tweet, it was shared many times on many different social media platforms and was even talked about on the news. The distinction made was ” Memes are defined as units of culture that spread from person to person by copying or imitation” it does not matter how far a meme goes for it to be funny and people do not have to have an opinion on it.
https://pin.it/6bZzImN
This is an interesting example. I think it also shows, along with the posts above, the range of ways of understanding the term “viral,” and the limits to authors Nahon and Hemsley’s definition of virality. Clearly, as the examples above have shown, virality is about widespread, multi-platform sharing, and for those involved it may create a sense of community or common understanding. I am delighted to see the memes that people produce and circulate to show their involvement in the viral media. However, Nahon and Hemsley are interested in statements and messages that go viral, and this is something that the examples show to be less important to a popular definition of virality.
https://thetab.com/uk/2019/11/11/woman-yelling-at-cat-meme-131352
https://www.wired.com/2015/02/science-one-agrees-color-dress/
A viral argument is something that people share to one another and it spreads fast in a short period of time through multiple social networks. A meme comes from a viral event and it becomes a template for people to make their own memes based on the same images. A viral argument is the viral event that causes people to have different opinions and that is how it spreads. I think the main difference in the reading is that memes go viral as a viral topic and viral arguments go viral as a viral event.
I agree that this is a viral event, but as a viral *argument* I can’t identify the message. It seems like there’s a trend in the responses to this discussion question to understand “argument” very differently than the way we have been discussing it in this class. I’m wondering why that is.
Viral Argument: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/style/mask-america-freedom-coronavirus.html
Viral Meme: https://www.yesmagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/reddit-wear-a-mask-1024×931.jpg
The author’s definition of a viral argument is an event that becomes popular because of how fast the information/event spread from person to person, how far it spread, and how much people in total knows about that event. The viral argument of wearing masks is viral because of the fact that masks are required to be worn all around the world, but there are people who argue that their freedom is onstructed when being obligated to wear masks. This argument is seen as a viral topic, which brings in the fact that a mem is not a viral topic, but a viral event. A viral event is more specific, the same as a meme is taking a viral topic and making some kind of imitation. Different memes all fall under the same topic but portray a different message.
A viral argument an event that blows because of how quickly it travels in shorts periods of time, and how much people know about it. At times a viral argument can cause a meme. The viral argument of “is water wet” is considered viral because it quickly traveled world wide. Things that usually go viral is because no one has a correct answer or either it’s very hard to explain. As I said before I think the difference between a viral argument and a meme is that the viral argument causes the meme.
https://www.memedroid.com/memes/detail/2528952/Is-water-wet?refGallery=userUploads&page=1&username=Hayman320&goComments=1
https://wheatonwire.com/2019/is-water-wet/
Hi Kenia,
Great job distinguishing between topic and event here. I appreciate your explanation.
The author exclaims, “Virality is a social information flow of process where many people simultaneously forward a specific information item, over a short period of time, within their social networks, and where the message spreads beyond their own [social] networks to different, often distant networks, resulting in a sharp acceleration” (16). I think that the author is conveying the term ‘viral argument’ as something that is widely known, shared, and discussed within the community that is the internet. They are bringing to light the way that virality is an important topic within the internet community because it depicts the ‘social aspects’ of the community and how this connects s multiple platforms together over this one deemed topic/ thing. With that being said, the term meme is looked at differently than something that is simply viral. A meme is something that is spread over multiple platforms that take shape in many different forms but still has the core essence of what the original meme was. Memes can be something that goes viral, but a viral argument or something that is just simply viral cannot be a meme.
Viral Argument: https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2020/03/23/how-effective-is-online-learning-what-the.html
Viral Meme: https://twitter.com/capsheroes/status/1306050721167663106
Nice work, Asia. This is a lot closer than other examples to using the term “argument” the way we have been using it in this class and the way it seems to be understood in Going Viral.
Viral Argument: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/may/16/yanny-or-laurel-sound-illusion-sets-off-ear-splitting-arguments
Meme associated with Argument: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/747175394403454578/
A viral argument is an event that gets spread over a vast amount of people in a short amount of time. I remember years ago a huge viral argument took place and was broadcasted everywhere. The Laurel vs Yanny controversy had everyone talking about it and many people even had actual debates on what they witnessed. The different opinions on what they heard caused it to become so viral. Memes are used as a reaction to these arguments and allow for people to showcase their opinions.
n example of a viral argument and an example of a meme within a discussion post in a comment to this week. Use this example to think through and explain the authors’ definition of a viral argument as well as the distinction they draw between a viral argument and a meme. Post your answer in a comment to this post.
An example of a viral argument is that schools are questioning whether or not students will become brighter if the classes have incorporated technology into them. In the text, it says how teachers can change plans more easily than before because websites have so many things like planners and stuff. However, only one person can use the board at a time in the comments of the website and it can be time consuming. Plus, the smartboards are not cheap.