Today was a relatively typical day for someone whose work at the moment is mostly online. One thing I noticed in particular is that most of my work consisted of “sharing” in one way or another. That idea of “sharing” is probably one of the biggest cultural interactions happening right now. You know: you read an article you like, share it to your social media. Even simpler, click the little blue “like” button, and those that follow you see it immediately. Then you can talk about it. When they live across the country.
Isn’t that amazing, that we can do that? The Nerdist podcast guys were marveling about this very thing the other day; something akin to: remember when, if you saw a bit of comedy you loved, you either needed to have your VCR ready to go, and be there physically to capture it, or you had to memorize it and perform it yourself to your friends? I remember the time when, if I loved a movie, and I wanted to share it with a friend, I had to go physically see it with them (or if we were lucky and rich and it was a long time later, watch it together at one of our houses).
I remember a friend back in the late 1980s made a music video to the song “Hello” by Lionel Ritchie. She used clips from Moonlighting, and it showed the storyline, as well as went right with the music’s lyrics and rhythm. I remember what a celebration it was when one of the character's steps worked exactly in time with the beats of the song. This was before she would have had anything digital to do this with. I suspect the meme is just this experimentation with creativity, and wanting to share. Although I am glad all I had were cassette tapes to make my radio shows with as a kid. I would not want to have to erase that online presence now.
Anyway, just thought I’d share.
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About the author: Jenn Zuko Boughn is a college professor of theatrical and literary arts. She is author of a book, a blog and her tweets.
