Calling internet memes “the street art of the social web”, artist, designer and writer An Xiao Mina looks at how internet culture reflects an urban street aesthetic online.
With both online and offline responses to the arrest of Ai Weiwei to environmental disasters in Shanghai’s waterways, Chinese citizens have used a wide variety of memes to talk about difficult political issues on one of the world’s most censored internet spaces. If the internet and social media are the new city streets, memes act in the same way as street art, providing a dissenting voice through media.
Mina is co-founder of The Civic Beat, a global research group and consultancy for internet culture and viral phenomena based in Hong Kong, New York and California.
This was fantastic. I love how An Xiao hits upon several examples of memes playing an integral role as a way to discuss challenging political issues, as well as a way of dissenting.
Another great talk on remix culture is Andy Baio from Portland: http://creativemornings.com/talks/andy-baio/