Whether you loved it or hated it, you can't deny that for at least a couple days #thedress made a huge impact on the internet. Moving past the obvious - what surprised me was the backlash towards how viral the dress became. The dress was everywhere; it was hard to access the internet for those two days without the dress popping up somewhere. I personally didn't take it too seriously; but enjoyed the entertainment and comedy that ensued (lol). Other friends were so annoyed by seeing the dress everywhere, it led to annoyed rants whenever they logged on to Facebook or Twitter. They were bugged by the fact that something so trivial could amass that type of popularity. The optimist in me saw the dress debate as endearing. It was great how people all over the world could connect and engage with each other, even if it was over something silly. It gave me hope that this type of engagement can exist for more important issues as well - like the Michael Brown case. Yes, I can admit while a lot of opinions and words shared about the topic was unnecessary or uneducated, (people saying something for the sake of saying something), social media allowed more people to be engaged with the topic and was a way for debate to not be limited by time and place.
Anyhow, while silly viral content can be annoying to some, I think it shows a glimpse of the great potential that viral content can have for more important issues in the future. Even with the dress debate, the South African Salvation Army was able to use the popularity around the dress to raise awareness about violence against women. Their ad asked the question, "Why is it so hard to see black and blue?" over a shot of a violence victim in a white and gold dress. They were able to use an essentially meaningless argument to create something incredibly meaningful. It is possible and the South African branch of the Salvation Army showed us exactly how.
Yes, I do understand that their ad is the exception, not the rule to the meaningfulness of viral content. But it also provides hope that in the future more significant issues can go viral. In the future, President Obama's speech in Selma over the weekend could go viral. We know the method is available and in place, now it's just the content that has to be able to capitalize on existing methods. I hope for a future of forward thinking, intelligent, and reputable news outlets that are able to figure out what attracts people on the web and can leverage that information(think clickbait for good reasons). I may be overestimating the general population of internet users, but I almost have to for my own sanity about what the future of the internet could look like.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/06/the-salvation-armys-powerful-new-ad-on-domestic-violence-puts-thedress-debate-in-a-new-light/
Anyhow, while silly viral content can be annoying to some, I think it shows a glimpse of the great potential that viral content can have for more important issues in the future. Even with the dress debate, the South African Salvation Army was able to use the popularity around the dress to raise awareness about violence against women. Their ad asked the question, "Why is it so hard to see black and blue?" over a shot of a violence victim in a white and gold dress. They were able to use an essentially meaningless argument to create something incredibly meaningful. It is possible and the South African branch of the Salvation Army showed us exactly how.
Yes, I do understand that their ad is the exception, not the rule to the meaningfulness of viral content. But it also provides hope that in the future more significant issues can go viral. In the future, President Obama's speech in Selma over the weekend could go viral. We know the method is available and in place, now it's just the content that has to be able to capitalize on existing methods. I hope for a future of forward thinking, intelligent, and reputable news outlets that are able to figure out what attracts people on the web and can leverage that information(think clickbait for good reasons). I may be overestimating the general population of internet users, but I almost have to for my own sanity about what the future of the internet could look like.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/06/the-salvation-armys-powerful-new-ad-on-domestic-violence-puts-thedress-debate-in-a-new-light/
I see what you mean when you highlight the potential benefits of viral things like this. I hadn’t heard about what the South African branch of the Salvation Army did until now; like you said, this is a great example of the potential benefits of viral images and videos. Just about everyone has seen the image or video in question, so just about everyone will get the message when representatives for a cause reference it in their advertisements or messages. I myself was a little annoyed by the whole explosion of the dress thing, but I nonetheless find it interesting how it took over the internet so quickly. Perhaps letting certain things go viral can actually be a good thing after all; it’ll spread fast, and even when it’s died down, if you reference it, many people will know what you’re talking about. As a result, those people will be more likely to listen to whatever message you’re trying to spread.
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