Culture Under the Rocks

What and Why

Many well-meaning adults talk to us young-people about how technology is ruining society, how social media is at best frivolous and worst stupid, and all around discrediting a huge part of society today. What people who aren’t involved in anything online don’t realize is that there is an entire complex world of culture and subculture that exists within the circuitry they are so afraid of. Sure, the internet-verse is silly, and has plenty of offensive things, but it’s also a place where communities can form that could not exist without the technology. Not only do these communities exist, they change lives, make art, and give the underrepresented a voice.

This blog will talk about various different online communities, analyze how they use the technology that is relevant for them, how they change that technology, and showcase things they are doing that contributes to culture. Instead of just talking about vague groups like “the Tumblr community” or the “YouTube community”, we will focus on communities that exist beyond the platform they choose to use. What I mean by that is I’m particularly interested in sub groups that have used social media to band together and form communities in new ways. For instance, YouTube is much more diverse than just sketch comedies and cat videos, and each niche has it’s own unique community. On Tumblr, smaller fandoms and marginalized groups can be heard where they can’t in mainstream media. I’m also interested in discussing the way online media as whole is different than traditional mainstream media. Over all, the internet is a diverse place with many different kinds of cultures that are all accomplishing amazing things that are worth being discussed and showcased.

About the Author

I’m Katie, an 18 year old college student studying arts and technology. In recent years, online communities have become a big part of my life, and I feel that is the case for many people. I have YouTube channel, and I really love online video. As I became more involved in the YouTube community and saw the flourishing of many other communities online, I became more interested in what makes them tick and how they affect people’s lives.