The main takeaway from this reading was the idea that published pieces are malleable forms of communication that are meant to be retold and restructured. In fact, these pieces are most effective when they can be “remixed” because it is human nature to try to reimagine and create new ideas from older ones. A successful piece is one that many people use to try formulate their own idea. To this end, it is important for an author to think of their work almost as a spark to start a larger conversation.
One of the first mechanics of piece to consider is its delivery. Whether it comes in the form of a brochure, magazine article, editorial, or video is important because these each have different methods of dispensing information. Some formats are easier to digest than others. It is important for an author to decide which of these formats best allows for communicating the data. For one of my pieces, I chose to create a brochure. These are limited in space to display information so only the strongest arguments can be made or only the most damning statistics can be included. This can also be a blessing, however, as most readers are only looking for eye-catching statistics that they can regurgitate later.
Another thing to keep in mind is amplification. Because of social media, anything can become viral and rack up millions of views. This is something that came to mind when I wrote my editorial. The most successful articles I have read on Facebook have very similar qualities. They are usually hosted on a well-known site, such as NPR or The Atlantic, and call out that our political climate is heading for the apocalypse. I chose to try to replicate these ideas in my editorial. Another idea I thought about was the way I collected my information. All the statistics I presented were taken from other articles I read while doing research and then recomposed to fit the needs of my editorial. I only retained the best figures and points so the next person reads can repurpose them to suit their needs.
As they say, “Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.” Remixing ideas has been a staple in today’s day in age from songs in music to memes. Everyone on the internet has at some point remixed a meme to favor the situation they are in. As you said, the most important part of this remix is to be able to spark a larger conversation. It is interesting to look into how people deliver “remixed content.” Some can view this as not funny and plagiarism and some could laugh hysterically and admire this “new” content, just as your title suggests. In the Twitter-run world we live in today, most of the spectrum will probably lean toward laughing. Look at all of the meme Twitter and Facebook accounts that infiltrate your timeline every day. I am sure you always toss a retweet or favorite when you see a funny meme. Chances of that account producing that “original” content, very low. However, they use this platform to deliver this to you. Not all of “remixed” ideas are on social media. There are some other forms depending how it could positively affect your audience. Now one can POSSIBLY, and a use the word possibly lightly, argue that social media is the best possible way to amplify an idea. You seem to greatly understand this idea. I think that social media can be super beneficial to a campaign. I was not able to incorporate it into my campaign, even though I wanted to. I really like how you set up this blog post. It was very well written.