The world made meme: public conversations and participatory media

272 Pages·2017·16.155 MB·English

by  Milner, Ryan M

The World Made Meme
The Information Society Series
Laura DeNardis and Michael Zimmer, Series Editors
Interfaces on Trial 2.0, Jonathan Band and Masanobu Katoh
Opening Standards: The Global Politics of Interoperability, Laura DeNardis, editor
The Reputation Society: How Online Opinions Are Reshaping the Offline World, Hassan
Masum and Mark Tovey, editors
The Digital Rights Movement: The Role of Technology in Subverting Digital Copyright,
Hector Postigo
Technologies of Choice? ICTs, Development, and the Capabilities Approach, Dorothea
Kleine
Pirate Politics: The New Information Policy Contests, Patrick Burkart
After Access: The Mobile Internet and Inclusion in the Developing World, Jonathan
Donner
The World Made Meme: Public Conversations and Participatory Media, Ryan M. Milner
The World Made Meme
Public Conversations and Participatory Media
Ryan M. Milner
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
© 2016 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any
electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information
storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book was set in Stone Sans and Stone Serif by Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited.
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Milner, Ryan M., author.
Title: The world made meme : public conversations and participatory media /
Ryan M. Milner.
Description: Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, [2016] | Series: The
information society series | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016010239 | ISBN 9780262034999 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Memes. | Memetics. | Culture diffusion. | Mass media.
Classification: LCC HM626 .M553 2016 | DDC 302—dc23 LC record available at
https://lccn.loc.gov/2016010239
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction: The Rise of Memetic Media 1
Part I: Media Made Memetic 7
1 Logics: The Fundamentals of Memetic Participation 11
2 Grammar: Structures for Making Statements and Making Do 43
3 Vernacular: Everyday Expression in the Memetic Lingua Franca 79
Part II: Memetic Public Participation 111
4 Antagonism: Race, Gender, and Counterpublic Contestation 115
5 Voice: Pop and Populism in Public Commentary 151
6 Conversation: Cultural Participation and the Culture
Industries 185
Conclusion: The World Made Meme 217
Appendix: Methods and Ethics 221
Notes 233
References 239
Index 251

Acknowledgments
A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s
This book, like the texts at its heart, is a collective endeavor. It wouldn’t
exist without years of help and support from the people closest to me. From
the earliest iterations of this research, the insight and sacrifice of my men-
tors and friends have proven invaluable. In many ways, this book began
when I first wandered into Nancy Baym’s graduate seminar on digital media
at the University of Kansas a decade ago. I was a dazed M.A. student who
wasn’t quite sure why he was there, but Nancy’s years of guidance shaped
me into the scholar I am today, and I can only hope this work honors that
profound influence.
The same could be said for the professors who guided parts of this
project at the University of Kansas. I spent my graduate education crowd-
ing the offices and struggling through the seminars of Jay Childers, Dave
Tell, Yan Bing Zhang, Ben Chappell, and many others, grappling with
half-formed ideas along the way. They helped walk those ideas closer to
fruition. My time in Lawrence, Kansas, was also defined by some of the
finest friends I could hope for. My fellow graduate students Mike Ander-
son, Evan Center, Chelsea Graham, Vince Meserko, John Vilanova, and
Clare Echterling spent years generously lending me their eyes and ears—
and on a few nights, their couches. As this project comes to a close, I have
not forgotten them.
As I left the University of Kansas, the help and support did not wane.
Mentors like Jean Burgess and Limor Shifman, as well as colleagues like Kate
Miltner, have provided substantial insight. Whether sitting right next to
me at a conference panel or trading ideas with me from halfway across the
world, these mentors and colleagues have been instrumental. In particular,
Whitney Phillips has been astounding in her support, camaraderie, and
kindness. This book is the better for her feedback and friendship, and I’m a
viii  Acknowledgments
better scholar for both. As I have struggled to refine the perspectives that
became this book, I am grateful I have not had to do it alone.
I have many people to thank from my time at the College of Charleston
as well. Leigh Moscowitz, David Moscowitz, April Bisner, Paul Anderson,
Max Kovalov, Carl Wise, Kaitlin Reiss, Bea Maldonado-Bird, and Abby
Steere-Williams have all opened their homes, offered their insight, and—
most importantly—provided their friendship, shaping this project along
the way. Among my friends at the College of Charleston, David Parisi and
Jacob Steere-Williams have proven ever more invaluable with every article
shared, every class co-taught, and every happy hour toasted. Without the
community of friends and scholars around me, this book would still be a
half-hoped dream.
At home, Sarah, Sophia, Gabriel, and Pearl have endured more than
their fair share of long workdays and forcibly quiet rooms. And they’ve
responded with nothing but love, esteem, and giant hugs every time I walk
through the door. Back in Kansas City, mom and Eric have kept close even
as their son and brother moved across the country. My family has stayed
right here with me, celebrating my every success and commiserating my
every worry through every step of this project. I wouldn’t be me without
them, so this book wouldn’t exist without them.
From its earliest conception to its final days with the stellar team at the
MIT Press, the collective that wrote this book is too vast to list. I am grateful
for every reviewer, editor, panel chair—every student, mentor, and friend—
who has shaped the pages to follow. I am also grateful for the innumerable
constellations of participants creating, circulating, and transforming
memetic media. Every hashtag, every mashup, every Photoshop; this book
wouldn’t be anything without any of them. So thank you.