Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:43:03 -0400 http://www.bligoo.com/ es Semiotic Democracy on YouTube http://www.zapboom.com/content/view/72745/Semiotic_Democracy_on_YouTube.html Sun, 16 Sep 2007 23:39:58 -0400 http://www.zapboom.com/content/view/72745/Semiotic_Democracy_on_YouTube.html Mary A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post that not many people read about semiotic democracy, the defining of culture by ordinary people who reinterpret and disseminate their own interpretations about what cultural elements. Yeah, it was really theoretical. Maybe it was even boring. Well, these two videos provide an example that I think really drives home what semiotic democracy is all about.

This is a video made a crazed fan of Britney Spears defending her against her detractors. The over-the-top melodrama made it an instant hit and the creator, Chris Crocker, gained his 15 seconds of fame,

(Read more)]]> Paris Hilton Digital Activism http://www.zapboom.com/content/view/33515/Paris_Hilton_Digital_Activism.html Wed, 09 May 2007 20:14:18 -0400 http://www.zapboom.com/content/view/33515/Paris_Hilton_Digital_Activism.html Mary I'm about to make a confession that I may come to regret. So far in this blog I've been writing about serious things like social technology and the future of politics. Well, I'm about to break with that tradition and write about something completely different... celebrity gossip!

You may not know this about me (and hopefully you don't) but I love - I mean LOVE - celebrity gossip blogs. I read them every day and they bring me no end of joy and entertainment. There. I said it. There's no going back.

Of course, usually I don't feel the need

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