Thursday, January 22, 2009

Does the internet bolster cultural circularity?

Just an example of "viral" internet trends growing outside their birth-realm of the internet, sparking a bit "IRL" before returning to their very origins.

One wonders if the "inside joke" does more when providing insight into a given culture. Perhaps it is a light sketch of the developmental path of adaptive culture? No doubt the following examples exhibit the "shared" aspect of culture... and the power of societies to dictate their respective trends beginning with nothing more than effective word-of-mouth.

Of course, Leroy Jenkins
It begins with: A.
And finds popularity in its given mode of hilarity.
It travels to: B.
Though I must mention, the pop culture question goes unanswered.
And finishes where it began with: C. D. E.
As a result, Blizzard acknowledging the viral nature of the event has re-established the joke and the story of "Jenkins" continues.

And now, ...
Numa Numa
An obscure Moldovan pop song receives new interpretation through: A.
And the video finds popularity given the quirky humor.
Now, the viral song finds a new following through: B.
One can only speculate what will develop further, but the movement of this particular song to capture the current trends of American pop music is amazing just in itself.

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