This topic for this week was very interesting to me personally because I know so many people who try to use humor online to look cool and to fit in with the usual crowd. AIM was horribly slow when it first hit the communication circuit. I remember the first time I saw AIM and instatntly thought to myself this is an exciting way of communicating. As I read throughout the readings, I felt that Baron was against AIM and how people try to be funny during conversations. This is just my opinion. He did state that communication is a “Platform for self exprseeion.”and I do agree with him. Using humor in all types of communication is sometimes necessary because it either spices up the conversation or breaks down a barrier of akward silence.
Davison’s essay about internet memes and how it is incredibly high in speed as far as communicating with humor made me realize that regardless of the conversation, humor is seen acroos the board for the receiver and the encoder. Everyone in the world can go on facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. and see internet memes and analyze from their views on humor. I personally use humor a lot just to show that I am not always serious and that I can be a great person for business purposes and personal purposes. Emoticons and abbreviations are great tools of humor because that what mostly people use in order to display humor. Humor is now becoming a natural position for all types of communication.
Interesting comment that you think humor is becoming a natural position for all types of communication. Humor definitely has it’s place in communicatin, marketing, advertising, etc. We tend to remember things that we think are funny. And sometimes we tend to like people or comapnies that are funny.
I also agree that emticons and abbreviations are very effective cues for humor. When I really think about it, most of my attempts to be funny via CMC contain emoticons, like ;-) or abbreviations like lol. Sometimes I use punctuation to indicate humor and sarcasm as well.
Humor has proven to be a successful way to gain attention, social liking, and approval. So everyone uses it: marketing, advertising, news organizations, businesses, people, etc.
I wonder if there will be another shift. Right now, it seems everyone is trying to be as funny as possible to elicit that positive response. I wonder if we will get sick of all the silliness and call for more significance in the future? Or will we continue to be entertained?
The biggest ethical implications I see are our viewing habits, especially in the News, which is supposed to inform, but mostly entertains. And are we desensitized by humor? Satires like the Daily Show use it to hammer home specific issues and topics that would not otherwise be give any attention. But do we really understand the severity of some of these issues? What about networks’ lack of balance between serious news and fluff? Doesn’t that overall contrived construction create a less reputable source? Or does everything become a joke? When people parrot these sources, do they lose the frame of reality?
I agree that humor helps to break down the “awkward silence” of internet communication. It can sometimes be difficult to have an entire conversation devoid of facial cues, which can lead to misunderstandings and awkwardness. Humor is an excellent way to liven it up, and connect on a more personal level. I also love that emoticons can be used as punctuation or their own words now! The right emoticon can make or break an attempted joke online!
I personally love Angry Cat and LolCats as far as memes go. Another popular meme is Sweet Brown. She is known for a news report when she was being interviewed and was talking about how she had bronchitis and said “aint nobody got time for that!”. Now you can find all sorts of memes with that saying on them. I find them hilarious and always laugh when I see one. Sweet Brown recently did a commercial for a dentist in Oklahoma. She has become famous from that news report and also her famous line.
I agree humor is used to break down barriers or break silence. However, sometimes people try to use humor at the wrong time. I have also notice more use of emotion and abbreviations.
I dont’ think that humor is becoming a natural position for all types of communication. There is still a need for formal or direct messages. However, I do agree that memes have opened up the way people are exposed to possibly humorous views on serious topics.
Most of the memes have some sarcasm attatched to them.
Humor is, indeed, a great tool in a variety of social situations. It’s really exciting to think about how social media platforms have given us the opportunity to have access to the same information, and share more in common, including jokes.