Reading and Writing in a Digital Age

Many unpredictable things happen in the internet, and it is curious to see the impact or chain of events. Dayum Drop’s auto-tuned song, Marilyn Hagerty’s fame, and Antoine Dodson’s fame were definitely unintentional, which made me think about how much of being viral comes down to skill and luck and whether or not being viral is a good thing.

The Dayum autotuned song got popular and was entertaining, much more than the actual Daym Drop reviews. Going viral from just that shows that people cared more about being entertained by the autotune than reviews in general. And while it may be expected, Daym Drops may be more recognized just for that. It can still be seen as a mainly positive thing, as the increased recognition is welcomed and better than nothing. Marilyn Hagerty’s fame is welcomed and not expected, but did she really desire the attention? Things just happened and she may have followed along with it. The newspapers said she is “baffled” by the attention, and she won’t know how long it will last. It could be for the best, yes, but you never know. In Dodson’s case, he became most famous from the actions of the Gregory Brothers. People were making their own version of the song after, and the original issue became lost or pushed to the side. Dodson may have tried to handle it well, but is it as good as it seems? If the attempted rape did not occur, there would be no fame, and nothing would have happened. There might be a different incident with the same culprit and nothing would have gone viral. I suppose being viral may be better than nothing, but the main issue of the incident was still lost. All of these incidents can be seen for the better because of the entertainment for the public, but ideas may be lost or other negative consequences.

Many people don’t take things seriously on the internet. Going viral can be great for laughs, but sometimes it is unnecessary or goes too far. It will be entertainment for some and not for others of course, so why not enjoy it for what it is and acknowledge its consequences and purpose. You never know when something going viral could lead to more unexpected, exciting things in the internet.

It never occurred to me, when the exact moment was that Internet based media came to be. I would be willing to bet my money on the guess that someone out there in the world had originally striven to post something of true meaning, phenomenal incites in hope of generating positive public response. Unfortunately, the true success of it all ended up being something negatively viral. Based purely on what I’ve noticed about media sites and public comment, such as any well known news organization, or even YouTube, negative publicity spreads like wildfire, whereas positive publicity becomes extinguished and forgotten 48 hours after the incident had taken place.

To support this kind of idea, you can take the Dayum video as an example. Prior to revision by the Gregory Brothers, this food critic, no matter how unrefined in quality, did not receive nearly as much publicity as it did as an auto-tuned song parody. The intent, I would assume, is purely good natured and humorous. I doubt that the Gregory Brothers knew the individuals in the video personally before completely revamping their video and somehow, through humiliation, caused for major publicity. I don’t think it was malicious of them, if one were to base purely on intentions; however, in the end, it could be racially based ridicule that results from this kind of viral revision of the content.

The twists of the revisions made through virtual media can also turn the attention from the product to the presenter. In instances such as Marilyn Hagerty’s Olive Garden review, the focus landed not on the restaurant, although I’m certain that Olive Garden did exceptionally while for a time afterwards, but on the critic herself. The public chose to focus on what seemed to be more interesting: the fact that the woman commenting was old, rather than what she had intended to put across: that the restaurant was good. The revisions of media focus, especially when these articles or videos become viral, skew the perception of the audience. The intentions and end results become like a game of Telephone, and it becomes accessible to every with an Internet browser.

Personally, I wouldn’t call these viral videos “A Gift from the Interwebs.” In fact, I find them to be the exact opposite. Where in the responses and covers, interpretations and criticisms did people actually address the real issue at hand? Did anyone take the Five Guy’s food review seriously and decide that maybe they should try the seemingly delicious burger and fries out? Did the residents of North Dakota flock to the highly praised new establishment to try the signature endless salad and breadsticks? Did the residents of Lincoln Park and viewers of the news actively search for the criminal who endangered the well being of Antoine Dodson’s sister? Absolutely not. In every single one of these examples, the Internet was responsible for completely diminishing the original purpose of the review, news story, and blog post.

The media exists to entertain. There is nothing wrong with that. However, when a ‘meme’ completely eliminates and almost dismisses something as serious as rape, I can’t help but feel angry. When did spending time on one’s computer trying to figure out how to change someone else’s voice, add a song to it, and maybe a few funny captions trump the seriousness of the issue at hand? I think these videos are just another way to demonstrate how far gone the values that we hold as human beings are. It stunned me to read that people responded negatively to little old Marilyn Hagerty’s blog post on Olive Garden. Again, people lost sight of what the intent of the post was about. All she did was comment on how great this new Olive Garden was. Of course people have to find something negative to say and penalize her for being excited. Who cares! Leave the lady alone! She’s thrilled to have her salad and breadsticks and Fettuccine Alfredo so let her be! Why is it such a concern to other people that she lives in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere America? It shouldn’t be. But again we see the responses deviating from what they should be focused on.

The misrepresentation of the African American community also bothered me to no avail. We all know that stereotypes exist out there. Not only for the African American community, but just about every ethnic group in the world. The creation of these memes, especially in response to the Five Guys burger review and the Antoine Dodson news report seemed to me more cruel than funny. Sure, when we first see them we chuckle here and there, but what do these videos say about us as a culture? About the way we’re portraying and in turn interpreting people of these ethnic groups? I know for sure they’re not helping our nation in a positive manner. Racism still exists, and for decades we have tried to rid our country of ignorant ideas and misperceptions but the creation and horrifying popularity of these videos makes it seem like we’re taking two steps backward instead of progressive steps forward.

Videos, memes, blog posts and all other entities on the Web can shed a positive or negative light on the society in which it originates. Sadly, I think these “Gifts from the Interwebs” make us look like insensitive, cruel, and in some cases ignorant individuals.

Personally, I’ve always thought of viral videos as Internet “junk food”; their purpose strictly for entertainment. Although I myself enjoy watching viral videos, I rarely come across one that has a powerful message. I think as humans, unfortunate as it may be, we tend to group things in boxes. I know that I group viral videos as separate from other so-called works of media. I place documentaries and creative films on a higher pedestal and viral videos in a more mundane category. I have come to realize, however, that maybe I am wrong. The amount of views that these videos receive seems to be solid evidence for their effectiveness. I think that the medium of comedy and entertainment can be used for a greater purpose; a purpose that’s main goal is not to entertain, but that employs entertainment as a means to effective communication. I, like many others I suspect, remember the viral videos I watch, but for what purpose? Aren’t they simply worthless devoid of any real value? Personally, I have always found it difficult to see the value in activities without obvious benefits. Of course people need something to break the monotony of day-to-day activity, but can the activity be more productive or enriching?

I must admit that I had never heard of Daym Drops or seen any of their videos. I find it ironic that they are critiquing fast food, which is known to be not of the highest standards. This too may be a personal bias against fast food. I did read the Olive Garden review about a month ago, but I really never quite understand why it went viral. I found her review to be good, but not very entertaining, and I was amazed that it captured such great attention. Atoine Dodson’s video I found to be slightly amusing, but it did seem to have racist undertones. The concentration of the media on the crimes of the poorer areas of cities reinforces fear and stereotypes of the citizens who live there. Although the media would never admit it, I believe that they pander to their audiences in reinforcing harmful views and ignorant opinions. I’m afraid many watch viral videos, laughing at the people who star in them as opposed to laughing with them.

We live in a world of entertainment, where fun often washes over the controversial matters of race, gender, and overall representation of oneself. In the particularly case of three individuals, Daym Drops, Antoine Dodson, and Marilyn Hagerty who had attained fame through the internet, people were entertained by the parody of the former two and the genuine praise review of the latter. It wasn’t because any of the three’s original story or situation was rather extraordinary – Drops with his Five Guys burger review, Dodson with his encounter of a rapist, or Hagerty with her review of Olive Garden. All of these events – praising Five Guys burger, confronting a rapist, and admiring an Olive Garden restaurant – happen quite often every year. What really drove those particular individuals into fame was because, as Ben had emphasized in his post, that we can laugh at them, that we can get a little bit of entertainment and joy from sharing them to everyone we knew. The context of the rapist was completely forgotten as something dangerous, along with that line that Eyder Peralta claimed in his article, “A Gift From the Interwebs: A Brilliant Auto-tuned Burger Review,” to be brilliant – “You bite the fry, the fry bites back: that’s how you know you have an official french fry” –, and what Hagerty really specified in her review. What was remembered was two hilarious auto-tuned video, Dodson with his funny expressions and Drops with his “dayum, dayum, DAYUM” chorus; and, a very kind elderly who had seemingly not been to many restaurant franchises before to be fascinated to the extent expressed in her review. All three of these people’s age, race, or backgrounds were irreverent to overall entertainment. We had already forgotten those things about the three individuals while laughing to our satisfaction. Formal news is boring while parodies are enjoyable. The information and the original messages of Drops, Dodson, and Hagerty’s story had lost their way to the people, and were readily replaced with glee.

How does a video even “go viral?” Who deems it funny, or provoking, or even entertaining? We live in an age of distraction. From watching the Dayum and “Bed Intruder” videos, and reading Hagerty’s review of Olive Garden , it became eminent to me that in this day in age, we will watch anything and everything for entertainment. Yes, it takes talent, skill, wacky ideas, and a creative mind to add such a twist on a mundane hamburger, as Dayum did, but do we really find watching a blurb on hamburgers funny? Do we really let our brains process the lyrics to the song, or the words of Hagerty’s review and think of what they’re actually saying? Or, are there underlying messages, hidden in these works, for us the viewer to investigate? Are we laughing at the juicy hamburger, or the crispy french fry, or are we amused by the stereotypes shown in the clip? (Americans and obesity, the fast food obsessed country that we live in)

Watching the Dayum clip as well as the Antoine Dodson video, and reading the “newfound celebrity,” Hagerty’s review of Olive Garden, to me demonstrate a flaw in our society today. Yes, I am unable to deny the talent that Dayum and the Gregory Brothers posses, I know that I would never dare post a video on youtube and even more so watch it go viral, but I believe that there are underlying messages that can be taken from the four pieces of work. We will take anything these days and make fun of it. What happened to the days when comedy wasn’t filled with mocking others? What happened to taken matters seriously? I think it is fair to say that with the incredible power that the internet and specifically youtube posses, and the wonders that is does to hidden and talented individuals who deserve to be in the spotlight, comes the danger of a mocking sensation that could corrupt the minds of our youth today.

As I read “A Gift From the Interwebs”, I could not help but notice how our modern world can twist and change almost anything into a form of entertainment for the masses. The three original pieces the article discusses are all meant to be informative with two concerning food reviews and one about sexual assault. Clearly, Daym Drops videos are intended to entertain but they only became famous with his work being altered and put to song while Marilyn Hagerty and Antoine Dodson speak about informative and serious topics. When Marilyn Hagerty wrote her review of her nearby Olive Garden, she had no intention to entertain, merely to inform on the enjoyable experience she had at the restaurant and recommend it to her readers, bringing a serious and mature style to her writing. Instead of being respected, however, Hagerty is mocked. Perhaps even more offensive is the response to Antoine Dodson, who speaks about the attempted rape on his sister. In any other case, this would be a serious news story but Dodson’s stereotypical depiction is used to provide entertainment with the actual story of his sister almost completely being forgotten.

The Internet has greatly altered how the public sees the three pieces, almost poking fun at each individual. Although each individual enjoyed their new found “fame”, with Daym Drops gaining more YouTube followers, Marilyn Hagerty appearing “on all the major news networks”, and Antoine Dodson eagerly creating a Twitter and Facebook page to further his fame and his story, I can only wonder how often this is not the case with the Internet. Antoine Dodson, Daym Drops, and Marilyn Hagerty all broadcasted their own individual messages using the Internet, yet when their works were ridiculed and viewed as entertaining, they each took their fame in stride. These individuals should be praised for their cavalier attitude but I can only imagine how many people’s works have been the object of ridicule that were not fortunate enough to positively use their “15 minutes of fame”. Everyday, more of our lives become shared through the Internet and I fear for the day when no single work of Internet users is safe from being made fun of solely to provide a few laughs.

In recent years, media has transformed in its capacity as a news source. Media formerly focused primarily on applicable political issues such as tax concerns, budget cuts in the public school system, and other significant problems. With various media platforms now dominating the market such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, one would think that important news such as the Colorado movie theater shootings would spread to more people and thus have a more profound and informative impact on people everywhere. Most unfortunately, these media platforms have instead brought to the forefront news of Justin Bieber’s visits to local neighborhood places and Lindsay Lohan’s repetitive and highly unsuccessful visits to drug rehabilitation. This seemingly important news has also graced the covers of magazines everywhere, which has lead to even more people wasting their time with the world of entertainment rather than investing themselves in the improvement of this stagnant and even regressing country. While it cannot be denied that the work of the Gregory Brothers and Antoine Dodson is humorous, in these current, shameful political and financial climates, laughter must be put aside in favor of the greater good: restoring this temple of tolerance (the United States) back to its former glory. It is with great hope that during this crucial election year, the American people put aside the relatively insignificant issues of Justin Bieber’s supposed fatherhood and rehash the golden age that this country has so enjoyed in the past. Only when this country and the people that live in it are politically and economically strong should we return to the humorous works of the auto – tuning industry.

I think the placement of Marilyn Hagerty’s Olive Garden review against the upbeat “Oh My Dayum” video was a smart choice. We live in a world in which everything is so auto-tuned and high tech that even a guy reviewing a burger in the front seat of his car can become a hit song. Marilyn Hagerty, however, lives in a small town in which the opening of a chain restaurant was a huge sensation and inspired her to write a sweet and heartfelt review. What makes her article so special is that very few things on the internet can be considered sweet or heartfelt these days, yet this woman manages to pull of an adorable Olive Garden review? This creates a distinction between what one person may find amazing to which another may be completely indifferent.

As well as geographical, a generational gap is something to consider when regarding “internet fame.” In the CBS interview,  Hagerty admits that she had no idea what the term “viral” meant before she went viral herself. The Gregory Brothers, on the other hand, most likely put out this video in the hopes of going viral. The main impression I got from this is that nearly anyone can go “viral” on the Internet, even an 85-year-old woman from North Dakota who can’t get enough endless breadsticks.

The American media desensitizes us. We experience, on average, up to 5,000 advertisements per day (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/business/media/15everywhere.html), advertisements which use stereotypes and persuasion to get one to not only do or buy certain things, but to think certain things too. Advertisements are not the only problem, however. One can eat breakfast while listening to news reports about car accidents, muggings, murders and the like, and then drive to work without even a thought to the safety of automobiles or of the areas in which we travel, work, and live. Not only do we not worry about ourselves, but we also will often forget the majority of the aforementioned news broadcasts within the hour– consciously, anyway.

I think that the NPR article “A Gift from the Interwebs” exposes many issues in our media-driven culture. The Antoine Dodson interview is a perfect example: we hear about a rape attempt in the projects, then, instead of actually looking into the issue or expressing any concerns or thoughts about it, we laugh at the auto-tuned parody video. How many people actually took the video seriously? How many of us even believed that the rape attempt had actually occurred? When I heard someone singing “hide your kids, hide your wife and hide your husband…” for the first time, before I had seen the video, I thought it was absolutely hilarious. However, upon watching to the original video, Antoine Dodson’s recorded antics meant so much more. While Mr. Dodson has since used his fame to raise awareness about the dangers of living in the projects, that activism campaign has failed to capture the attention of the vast majority of people who have seen the the Youtube parody of his interview.

Daym Drops, the Youtube fast-food reviewer, has become the victim of a related yet distinct issue. The “Brilliant Auto-Tuned Burger Review,” as NPR describes it, took the video of an average Youtube poster of relative obscurity and turned it into a viral hit. The question is, to what extent is Daym Drops’s newfound celebrity gratifying or fulfilling, or, most importantly, deserved? Yes, he made a very enthusiastic fast food review from his car, but why does it matter? Well, the answer is simple: it doesn’t. Within the next 12 months, the name Daym Drops will fall completely off the radar of the average American media connoisseur– as Marilyn Hagerty put it, “One of these days, I’ll go back to being the little old lady on Cottonwood Street.”

The question is, why were Daym Drops’s and Antoine Dodson’s original videos auto-tuned in the first place? I would suggest that it is because of the stereotype of the “ghetto” black person, the working-class, poorly-educated, unsophisticated image we are constantly exposed to in the media. These two videos, along with others like them such as Shocantelle Brown’s “I Beweave Hair Salon” video (which went viral among the community of young NYC metro area gay men) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSB-5Nnw9rU), reenforce these negative stereotypes, and so placate and gratify the mass consumers of mainstream media.

The real question is “Who has actually benefitted from these videos?” The Gregory Brothers– three white guys from Brooklyn– certainly profited (monetarily at least), but what have they done to enrich the world? My answer: “Not much.” Having spent most of my childhood in a very white/Middle Eastern suburban Orthodox Jewish community, I’ve seen what negativity these videos can spawn in the ignorant and closed-minded. Discussions that were sometimes tacitly and often explicitly racist would crop up whenever these types of videos would be discussed, and it disturbed me greatly– not just because the discussions were abhorrent, but because of what they reflected about the community I grew up in. (I found that observation– that the young Orthodox Jewish community was just as racist as a standard WASP community– quite amusing; one of the things the Orthodox Jewish community prides itself on is its separation from mainstream culture.)

What does this have to do with Marilyn Hagerty’s Olive Garden review? Marilyn Hagerty belongs to another group often cruelly misrepresented in the media: she is a geriatric woman. Old women in the media are usually portrayed as sassy, flippant, or outright rude. They are represented as senile, broken and disabled, which is often not the case. And what was done when this modest lady from a small North Dakota town wrote a simple, gracious review of an Olive Garden? It bought her instant fame on all the major talk shows. Logical, isn’t it?

No, it’s not, and that’s exactly the point. American media plays upon stereotypes and heuristics. Its tool is sensationalism, and its effect is a scrambling of priorities and thoughts in the minds of the masses. The future efficacy of the news to actually inform people is in great jeopardy. If we do not alter what media we can consume and our reasons for consuming media, our society will continue on its path to cultural collapse.

– Ari Himber –