Journal 6/6

Andrew Boyd “Truth is a Virus: Meme Warfare and the Billionaires for Bush”

Initially when I hear the phrase “truth is a virus”, I interpret this as how the truth

can be altered to benefit one and harm another and the continuous implication of

the altered truth can lead to the lost of the actual truth. This article explains how

the “memes”/media viruses can be a tool for cultural resistance. Media viruses

are used to express important issues in an indirect manner. I believe “memes”

are still popular in our present day and continued to be used as a tool for

resistance. In my experience, political memes can actually stress an important

issue in a short phrase. I believe the reason why memes are so effective is

because they are able to display many issues and topics through different

memes/short phrases and they are normally eye catching to the public. Memes

also can educate the public. An issue I find with memes though is that anyone

can create a meme and the information the meme displays can be untrue.

Ricardo Dominguez “Electronic Disturbance: An Interview”

This article discusses the growing importance of using electronics as tools for protests.

Ricardo Dominguez talks about his journey towards to the creation of Electronic

Disturbance. Electronic Disturbance is a community that promotes nonviolent cyber

activism. Cyber activism is a very popular tool for resistance and activism in our present

day. We see this all over social media and the news. Cyber activism is able to connect

people from all around the world to combat pressing issues that affect many. I think that

cyber activism is able to educate the public more due to the increased everyday usage of

the Internet. I believe people also feel safer being a part of cyber activism because they

don’t necessarily have to be in public expressing their opinion to make an impact. Public

protests can easily lead to violence.

Andrew’s Presentation:

I really enjoyed Andrew’s presentation. I enjoyed the reading. The assigned reading was

very impactful and meaningful. I also liked how interactive the discussions were as he

would walk up and down the main aisle of the classroom.