helterskelliter

Kean University 2019, The Network

Exploring Issues of Social Curation in Online Spaces…

helterskelliter on April 13, 2019April 13, 2019

So, upfront, this is my blog. If you’re looking for commentary or “dialogue” about the content on my blog, I’d peruse the margins… Discussion Hello~ Hope everyone had a nice and healthy week. I’m back up and kicking. This week, I got the chance to catch up on a lot of work. One of the things I needed to work on apparently was refining my idea for the field guide (aka my research project(?)). After discussing my thoughts with Dr. Zamora and […]

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Kean University 2019, The Network

Getting to the “Meat” of the Matter…

helterskelliter on April 7, 2019April 7, 2019

Despite what my featured image says, I was, in fact, not feeling okay. Hey~ I’m glad to report that I’m not yet dead. glad may be an overstatement but eh I’d like to get my M.A. first after all the trouble Unfortunately, though, I have been very sick for the past few weeks. Flu. Upper respiratory infection. 103 degree fever. Hacking every other minute. congestion. insomnia. The whole nine yards. It can really slow you down. I tried my best to work through it. My […]

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Kean University 2019, The Network

The Usual Suspects…

helterskelliter on April 6, 2019April 6, 2019

Hey~ Sorry I couldn’t join everyone in class this week. Unfortunately, I’ve been very sick lately and apparently it’s getting worse before it gets better. I would not have been my usual pleasant presence had I been in class in-person this week. Anyway, I am sorry I missed getting to discuss different ideas for the field guide with everyone. I’m sure that would’ve been fun and constructive ^.^ As far as that subject goes, btw, I am thinking of focusing on […]

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Kean University 2019, The Network

The Gif That Keeps on Giffing…

helterskelliter on March 31, 2019March 31, 2019

Hey~ Welcome back to my humble little dark corner of the web ^.^ Hope everyone had a nice enough week~ My week was the usual: Anyway, that brings us nicely to the topic at hand: GIFs~ soft g don’t @ me i’ll fight you This week, we got to continue our exploration of new forms of digital content creation by discussing the gif. Now, if you’re like most Internet users these days, you are fairly familiar with the gif. Personally, I interact […]

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Kean University 2019, The Network

Getting the Gif of Things~

helterskelliter on March 30, 2019March 30, 2019

Hello~ While scouring the Internet for cool gifs, I came across an interesting discussion about gifs, remix, and contemporary Internet culture. How GIFs Became Embedded in Our Culture The discussion is occurs during an episode of a podcast and occurs between Anil Dash (Function podcast commentator), Kenyatta Cheese (CEO of Everybody At Once & co-founder of Know Your Meme), and T. Kyle McMahon (lead digital and social producer from Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen) This podcast episode covers a wide variety […]

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Kean University 2019, The Network

Lost in Translation???

helterskelliter on March 29, 2019March 29, 2019

Hey~ DDA 304 asked us to play around with the powers (or lack thereof) of translation. We were asked to select a few paragraphs from one of our sources exploring the darkness of the web and translate it (using Google Translate) from English into a few different languages before, eventually, translating it back into English to see if it still makes sense. Essentially, this activity is an exploration of nonsense and the limits of language (my fave topics ^.^). Anyway, I chose to […]

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Kean University 2019, The Network

Net Art & Self-Representation~

helterskelliter on March 24, 2019March 24, 2019

Hey ^.^ welcome back to my dark little corner of the web~ So, this week we explored the wonderful and burgeoning world of net art. Know Your Meme This is “born-digital” art that is created for and designed to be experienced online in a digital environment. That digital component is what delineates this kind of art from trad art. In many ways, this kind of art is liberated from the exhibition context of the museum in that the Internet becomes […]

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Kean University 2019, The Network

Exploring Net Art~

helterskelliter on March 23, 2019March 23, 2019

Hello~ This week, we’ve begun to explore the emerging and fascinating world of Net Art. In order to help familiarize us with more of the purview of this field, we were asked to explore the works of different artists and collectives. (Heck yeah!) I chose to explore the net art works of three very different people(?). Each work drew me to it for varied reasons. Mostly, I’m interested in how online spaces intersect with practices of identity construction so I […]

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Kean University 2019, The Network

But What Does it All Really Meme????

helterskelliter on March 17, 2019March 17, 2019

Well, well, well… If I’m not back at it again discussing memes. Have I ever left the conversation??? My Make Making Meme-ing Okay I’ll stop So, you may have guessed it already, but this week’s class topic was memes. We spent most of class discussing what memes are, what memes can be, what memes we interact with (if we do interact with them at all), and how memes can be used online. I spent most of class trying not to open my big mouth on the subject […]

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Kean University 2019, The Network

The Lifespan of Memes~

helterskelliter on March 16, 2019March 16, 2019

This too shall pass~ Or will it???? Hey~ So, in the course of working on my thesis, I’ve read a lot of articles and research studies about memes. Some articles focus on the spread and replication of memes through a system while others focus on the sociocultural impact of the meme and its semantic and communicative applications. Very boring stuff. Not the topic–the writing on the topic. It’s almost like mimetic researchers have something to prove… Anyway, rather than bore you with some of those […]

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Kean University 2019, The Network

Five Meme Story? Say No More~

helterskelliter on March 15, 2019March 15, 2019

Really, say no more. Never do this to us again. Creating A Narrative Across Memes It sounds like a fun and inventive idea but bruh, this was not easy. Memes are these concise, little story units unto themselves and combining them is not a simple task. Even trying to get meme templates to “jive” with each other is challenging. Also, I find it difficult to superimpose another meaning atop a meme with a strong context of it own, especially if that meaning […]

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Kean University 2019, The Network

The One-Sided Looking Glass…

helterskelliter on March 3, 2019March 3, 2019

Hey~ This week was an interesting one for me. In class, we began delving into the selfie and into concepts around self-representation in the digital age. My fave topic~ Waxing Poetic on the Selfie (Take 50 Bajillion) For those who may be unaware, my thesis project revolves around self-representation in the digital age. Specifically, I’m investigating this subject through a Neo-Dada lens, analyzing emergent forms of digital content creation as new forms of not only self-expression but also as representative […]

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Kean University 2019, The Network

Exploring the History of the Selfie~

helterskelliter on March 2, 2019March 3, 2019

So, I know this post wasn’t formatted exactly as suggested but I was in “the zone” and didn’t even think of writing this post as suggested. Sorry >.< Just know I contain plenty multitudes~ When it comes to discussing emergent forms of digital content creation, I think there are few more disputed or more controversial forms than that of the selfie. It has been vilified across the board, reaffirmed, vilified again, then reaffirmed….and so on. It appears we as a people can’t […]

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Kean University 2019, The Network

I’m Nobody! Who Are You?

helterskelliter on March 2, 2019March 2, 2019

Are you – Nobody – too? Then there’s a pair of us! Until recently, I considered myself a selfie-queen. I would post pictures of myself daily on my social media feeds. The pictures made me feel confident and made me see myself as pretty. Despite the confidence I’m sometimes told I project, I’m actually quite self-conscious about my appearance. Growing up my skin was too pale and my nose too big and my freckles too blotchy and my teeth too […]

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Kean University 2019, The Network

Following the Crumbs Can Be Crummy…

helterskelliter on February 25, 2019February 25, 2019

This post is late because of a certain snarky blog poster’s birthday this weekend #24on24 Anyway…. Hey~ This week, we explored the nature of truth in online spaces. Often, online, false news or misinformation spreads more rapidly and much further than facts or more honest news or truthful reporting of information. With this being the case, how is one to navigate online spaces and make decisions about the truth or “fakeness” of a source? Can there be any fake or real […]

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