Creativity is the ability to make people think and feel new
things. That's what great art, movies and literature do! The embedded video
shows a man using internet memes to propose his girlfriend. This is the kind of
creativity I am talking about. (You can read the entire story in a post by mashable.com)
I know the phrase “art is everywhere” can be cliché, but it
can hold true if you let it. Social Media or as Li & Bernoff call it “Groundswell,” gets the creative juices of
many flowing. According to a recent
study conducted by Chicago University’s Booth School of Business, “Social
Media more addictive than cigarettes and alcohol,” but it’s hard to deny
that it breeds creativity as well.
What's another word for Doomed??
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| Photo Credit: www.neatshop.com |
Social networking sites like Facebook give users the power
to showcase their creative expression. Creativity has always been about making
conversations and making those conversations go viral, but it’s no longer
guarded by an elite group. With social media, creativity can be developed,
nurtured, mashed up or remixed; the process is ever-evolving and eternal.
Although there aren’t
as many creators as spectators, collectors and critics (Groundswell, pp. 44) but social media presents a host of tools with
which we can get creative, be it, status updates, blogs, images, or videos.
We are on FB!!
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| Photo Credit: http://imgur.com/ |
ProCon.org
cites the cornerstone of creativity on social media, “Social networking sites
bring people with common interests together, offer exposure to new ideas from
around the world, and lower inhibitions to overcome social anxiety. People who
have a difficulty communicating in person are more comfortable interacting via
the Internet.”
The idea to cover the creativity aspect of social media came
out of a team meeting this week, when someone asked, what really is an Internet
Meme? “Internet Memes,” pronounced as “meem” just like “seem” or “dream,” and “Trolls”
are the applications of creativity with the emergence of social media. They
have been there for a while now, but have become extremely popular since 2008.
What they did with my bicycle?
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| Photo Credit: http://imgur.com/ |
An internet meme is a phrase, image, video or just an idea
that goes viral on the internet (spreads easily from one person to another) for
no logical reason. These memes are usually silly but amusing. Hence, many share
it on their walls or timelines or streams or tweets.
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| Photo Credit: www.poofytoo.tumblr.com |
In a post describing the rise and growth of the new social networking
site “Pinterest” blogger Jason Falls said, “One
thing is clear whether you're on Pinterest for personal or business reasons:
the best images -- be they funny, beautiful or thought provoking -- attract the
most attention and followers.”
Watch 50 Internet Memes in under 100 seconds!!
So what’s your take? Do share your definition of creativity in
an age of collaborative thinking, participation, crowdsourcing, and social
media. Please leave a comment!
