Hi, Group 4! It's my turn to get the conversation started this week, so here's what I've been thinking about. The article on postmodernism in this week's module talks about how the question of authorship is really one of the key concerns of postmodernism. In a very real sense, nobody nowadays really "creates" anything new, do the There are always bits of recycled materials and borrowed moments in every media message -- every message is connected to a bunch of other messages in som kind of way, and the result is a very complex and complicated web of interconnected meanings. What's interesting me is the fact that, when I wrote the Bamboozled article so many years ago, social media weren't yet really a "thing." And as someone who only dabbles in social media now and again, it occurs to m that the messages we share in these spaces are all about intertextuality, all about borrowing this and that to make a meme, or reposting something that then becomes at least partially "ours" as the reposter, to responding to media messages (I've watched YouTube videos that are responses to another content creator' response to another response video responding to a fourth video -- very postmodern!). So here's my question -- are you seeing these hallmarks of postmodernism in your own social media interactions? Is there always a sense of who the original "author" of content is, or does the authorship shift to the person who reposts? What about meme culture -- alive and well in these spaces? Videos that react to -- or make fun of -- other videos? Really interested to read about YOUR experiences in these spaces! THE BIG PICTURE Reading List Please read and carefully consider the following articles. The articles may be accessed through the Communication Source database at the Milner Library website. Specific directions for finding the articles are included at the bottom of this page. Let me know ASAP if you have any trouble accessing any of the readings. STUFF TO READ! Ivory, D., & Kalyanaraman, S. (2009). Video games make people violent - well, maybe not that game: effects of content and person abstraction on perceptions of violent video games' effects and support of censorship. Communication Reports, 22(1), 1-12. Chidester, P., Campbell, Campbell, S., & Bell, J. (2006). "Black is blak": Bamboozled and the crisis of a postmodern racial identity. Howard Journal of Communications, 17(4), 287-306.