In this digital age it is hard to find someone who isn’t on Facebook. Everyone has some kind of online persona and with sites like Facebook and YouTube it can be difficult to control what kind of images are representing you. This is particularly true for celebrities, whose iconic status is often exploited by media such as entertainment magazines or comedy videos. For example, VeryMaryKate.com is a website that publishes “the unofficial biography of Mary Kate Olsen” in comedic videos.
This remix of a real life creates a character out of a real person and creates narratives around her for entertainment. The video exploits what we know about Mary Kate Olsen and gives us a look into what her personal life might be like.
It is also possible to remix your own online persona. This article from the Vancouver sun gives tips on managing your online identity before applying for a job or a promotion.
Your Online Persona Reflects your True Image - Vancouver Sun
I think this idea of changing and altering your online identity fits in well with our definitions of remix, but on a very personal level. Every time we make a status update or post some pictures, we are remixing and altering the way people are perceiving us, be it positively or negatively.
That Mary-Kate video is hilarious. I just checked out the website, and the rest of the videos are equally as funny. I never thought about the tabloids "remixing" the lives of celebrities into something else... Really interesting point though.
ReplyDeleteoh yeah. very mary kate is hilarious.
ReplyDeleteThe trick is to watch them from the end of the website, start with Moving Out and work your way up.
I was also starting to think about facebook as a remix of our own identity, and the amount of control we have over that remixing process. We dont have the option to show what we want in the format we want, because we dont write the code.
At least with MySpace we had the option to change the look and the information enough to represent more of an identity. Facebook seems to be more about a unified identity, placing everyone on the same level.
Just to add, in relation to the first part of this post, I completely agree. I only know one person that does not have Facebook, and she never plans to get it. She is also probably one of the only people I still talk on the phone with on a regular basis. It's crazy how dependent we've become on things like texting and social media.. (coming from a Twitter/Tumblr addict... lol)
ReplyDelete