Remix As Information Utility
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Nora Kittie Geiss wrote an interesting post on the Interbrand blog, a reminder of what brands can learn from remix culture. This passage stuck out to me:
Even more than subconscious re-cutting, I'd say that deliberate conscious remixing is also a way of discovering meaning in a sea of information. Remixing can be more than just a personal expression, it also acts as a utility that helps us separate the signal from the noise.
A couple weeks ago, Alex Leavitt wrote an incredibly comprehensive exploration of the Hitler's rant remix meme on the Convergence Culture blog. The remix takes a critical scene from the film Downfall about Hitler's final days at the end of WWII (more info here on KnowYourMeme). By now you're sure to have seen one of these pop up somewhere, most recently this one where Hitler responds to the iPad announcement:
In this particular version, the creator identifies the important shortcomings of the iPad, e.g. no camera and it's stuck with AT&T. It both expresses the disappointment that so many Apple fans were sharing on blogs and Twitter, and it also clarifies and pinpoints what's important about the new device's tech specs. For the right person, you could just watch this remix instead of Jobs' official announcement, and you'd know most of what you need to know about the iPad.
The reason why this Hitler scene has become the king of remixes (arguably), is that it's such a perfect vehicle for expressing outrage - and outrage is a really good way to communicate shared values. If we're outraged about the same things, then we probably care about the same things.
We use these Hitler remixes to communicate shared values with our interest communities. We use it as a way to point out what's important to us. And both the creation of the remix, and the sharing of the remix, strengthens bonds between individuals who appreciate its point of view.
Each individual’s experience is its own unique remix. A constant intake of information and content; a subconscious “re-cutting” that sorts what’s important or interesting from what doesn’t matter; a prioritization that defines what each individual remembers, commits to, talks about.
Even more than subconscious re-cutting, I'd say that deliberate conscious remixing is also a way of discovering meaning in a sea of information. Remixing can be more than just a personal expression, it also acts as a utility that helps us separate the signal from the noise.
A couple weeks ago, Alex Leavitt wrote an incredibly comprehensive exploration of the Hitler's rant remix meme on the Convergence Culture blog. The remix takes a critical scene from the film Downfall about Hitler's final days at the end of WWII (more info here on KnowYourMeme). By now you're sure to have seen one of these pop up somewhere, most recently this one where Hitler responds to the iPad announcement:
In this particular version, the creator identifies the important shortcomings of the iPad, e.g. no camera and it's stuck with AT&T. It both expresses the disappointment that so many Apple fans were sharing on blogs and Twitter, and it also clarifies and pinpoints what's important about the new device's tech specs. For the right person, you could just watch this remix instead of Jobs' official announcement, and you'd know most of what you need to know about the iPad.
The reason why this Hitler scene has become the king of remixes (arguably), is that it's such a perfect vehicle for expressing outrage - and outrage is a really good way to communicate shared values. If we're outraged about the same things, then we probably care about the same things.
We use these Hitler remixes to communicate shared values with our interest communities. We use it as a way to point out what's important to us. And both the creation of the remix, and the sharing of the remix, strengthens bonds between individuals who appreciate its point of view.
1 Comments:
One of the interesting elements of the remix culture is that it manages to both be very individual and personal AND tap into the shared interests and concepts of community - each remix is a unique expression of an individual spoken in the "language" of the masses.
These two themes crop up continuously across the sociological landscape, and they would seem to be at odds, but remixing demonstrates how the two can work together.
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