For something fun, hands on, and creative, consider using the site https://imgflip.com/memegenerator to have students create their own meme then share it with the class. I've had success doing a brief (10-15 minute) discussion on popular memes, then uploading a photo of the school mascot doing something silly to imgflip and having students add their own captions. They typically come up with inside jokes about the school, which can lead to a discussion about how memes require some level of shared knowledge or common assumptions. Also, it's a good exercise to show how memes are built on a common idea or piece of content and that creativity can thrive within prescribed boundaries. -----Original Message----- From: Air-L [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Liz Crocker Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2015 6:05 PM To: Jesse Littlewood <jesse.littlewood@gmail.com> Cc: List Aoir <Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> Subject: Re: [Air-L] Ideas on in-class activity on memes? It could be fun to focus on one particular meme per group and have them do research to see variation acceptability and change over time. They could look at submissions for sites like reddit (/r/adviceanimals being an obvious suggestion) to see what gets upvoted or downvoted and see if they can tease out what aspects make that particular form successful or unsuccessful. Are there in-jokes that index in-group belonging? Pop culture references? What is too tame and what is too obscene? How does timing play a role? Are current iterations of the meme the same as earlier ones and how can they chart those shifts over time? It would be easy enough to pull in some theory or levels of analysis you've already used in the course. Then, once they think they've figured it out have them create a reddit account, make their own meme, and post. They'd probably have a blast seeing how their experiment turns out. Maybe even offer some Halloween candy or a bonus point for whichever team's meme does the best. I look forward to seeing other suggestions! Liz Crocker Graduate Research Assistant Division of Emerging Media Studies PhD Candidate Department of Anthropology Boston University On Wed, Oct 28, 2015 at 12:20 PM, Jesse Littlewood < jesse.littlewood@gmail.com> wrote:
I'm a lurker here (and only part-time lecturer) and trying to overcome my own Afraid to Ask Andy <https://i.imgflip.com/t9h5b.jpg> I thought would throw this out: my social media <http://exp50.com> undergraduate course has time for an in-class activity around internet memes. Given ~45 minutes, what would you do to have students explore how/why and impact of internet memes?
I would say the goals are to drive the "folk culture" aspect of memes, digging into what makes them "work" and set up how #brands are trying to take advantage of that folk culture (and often failing).
Some thoughts I have: A structured create-a-meme -- e.g. here's a mission, create some memes about it (have the class review it?); a treasure-hunt online?
Would love any other ideas here or off-list, and my thanks. Jesse about.me/jesse.littlewood _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
_______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/