Make Lulz, Not War: How Online Remix and Meme Culture are Empowering Civic Engagement in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
In: Asiascape: Digital AsiaSearch for other papers by Patrick E. Sharbaugh in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Dang Nguyen in
Current site
Google Scholar
Although social media platforms have garnered much attention in recent years for their putative role in dramatic social and political movements around the world, scholars such as Clay Shirky and Ethan Zuckerman have suggested that the real potential of such tools for change exists in the way they empower citizens to publicly articulate and debate an array of conflicting views throughout society. In this view, social media matters most not in the streets and squares but in the social commons that Jürgen Habermas termed the public sphere. New image-based social media platforms and creative practices in Vietnam appear to be emerging as powerful tools in this regard, offering a voice to a citizenry who, since 1975, have lived under an authoritarian, and not clearly delineated, legal order restricting the opinions and views eligible for public expression.
In 2013, Vietnamese netizens turned to the digital techniques of remix and memetic culture to indirectly express and debate sentiment on issues of often sensitive social and political relevance. Using two recent case studies, we argue that this widespread practice constitutes a culturally-specific form of civic and political engagement that appears to be exerting a subtle but real influence upon the state in this rapidly developing Southeast Asian nation.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Asen Robert ‘Toward a Normative Conception of Difference in Public Deliberation’ Argumentation and Advocacy 1999 Winter 25 115 129
-
Beach Derek & Pedersen Rasmus B. Process-Tracing Methods: Foundations and Guidelines 2013 Ann Arbor University of Michigan Press
-
Berg Bruce L. & Lune Howard Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences 2012 8th ed. USA Pearson
-
Blackmore Susan The Meme Machine 1999 Oxford Oxford University Press
-
Bromley Dennis B. ‘Academic Contributions to Psychological Counseling: A Philosophy of Science for the Study of Individual Cases’ Counseling Psychology Quarterly 1990 3 3 299 307
-
Brook James & Boal Ian A. Resisting the Virtual Life: The Culture and Politics of Information 1995 San Francisco City Lights
-
Bruns Axel Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond: From Production to Produsage 2008 New York Peter Lang
-
Burgess Jean Lovink Geert & Niederer Sabine ‘All Your Chocolate Rain are Belong to Us? Viral Video, YouTube and the Dynamics of Participatory Culture’ Video Vortex Reader: Responses to YouTube 2008 Amsterdam Institute of Network Cultures 101 109
-
Casey Tina ‘Study: Twitter Played Pivotal Role In Arab Spring’ Talking Points Memo 2011 23 Retrieved 17 February 2014 from http://talkingpointsmemo.com/idealab/study-twitter-played-pivotal-role-in-arab-spring
-
Castells Manuel The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture The Power of Identity 1997 Vol. 2 Oxford Blackwell
-
Christensen Henrik Serup ‘Political Activities on the Internet: Slacktivism or Political Participation By Other Means?’ First Monday 2011 16 2 Retrieved 29 September 2013 from http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/3336
-
Cimigo Net Citizens Report 2012 Retrieved 10 November 2013 from http://www.cimigo.vn/en-US/ReportDetail.aspx?ProductId=266
-
Dean Jodi ‘Why the Net is Not a Public Sphere’ Constellations 2003 10 1 95 112
-
Decker-Maurer Heidi E. I Can Has Rhetoric: How Image Macros Address Social Issues in an Age of Participatory Culture 2012 Master’s Thesis, University of Wisconsin-Stout. Retrieved 13 September 2013 from http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/lib/thesis/2012/2012decker-maurerh.pdf
-
Do Anh-Minh ‘Vietnam’s Facebook Penetration Hits Over 70%, Adding 14 Million Users in One Year’ Tech in Asia [blog] 2013 September 25 Retrieved 10 November 2013 from http://www.techinasia.com/vietnams-facebook-penetration-hits-70-adding-14-million-users-year/
-
Etling Bruce, Faris Robert & Palfrey John ‘Political Change in the Digital Age: The Fragility and Promise of Online Organizing’ SAIS Review 2010 30 2 37 49
-
Fraser Nancy Calhoun Craig J. ‘Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy’ Habermas and the Public Sphere 1992 Cambridge MIT Press 109 142
-
Geertz Clifford ‘Thick Description; Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture’ The Interpretation of Cultures 1973 New York Basic 3 30
-
Gladwell Malcolm ‘Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted’ The New Yorker 2010 October 4 Retrieved on 19 February 2014 from http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell
-
Habermas Jürgen The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry Into a Category of Bourgeois Society 1991 Cambridge MIT Press
-
Hassid Jonathan ‘Controlling the Chinese Media: An Uncertain Business’ Asian Survey 2008 48 3 414 430
-
Heylighen Francis ‘Evolutions of Memes on the Network: From Chain-Letters to the Global Brain’ Ars Electronica Festival 1996 96 48 57
-
Hindman Matthew The Myth of Digital Democracy 2009 Oxford Princeton University Press
-
Howard Phil, Duffy A., Freelon Dean, Hussain Muzammil, Mari W. & Mazaid M. ‘Opening Closed Regimes: What Was the Role of Social Media during the Arab Spring?’ 2011 Seattle PIPTI Retrieved 10 April 2014 from http://pitpi.org/index.php/2011/09/11/opening-closed-regimes-what-was-the-role-of-social-media-during-the-arab-spring/
-
Huang Carol ‘Facebook and Twitter Key to Arab Spring Uprisings’. The National. Abu Dhabi Media 2011 6
-
Katz Elihu & Lazarsfeld Paul F. Personal Influence, The Part Played by People in the Flow of Mass Communications 1970 New Brunswick, NJ Transaction Publishers
-
Knobel Michael & Lankshear Colin Knobel Michael & Lankshear Colin ‘Online Memes, Affinities, and Cultural Production’ A New Literacies Sampler 2007 New York Peter Lang 199 227
-
Lessig Lawrence Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy 2008 New York Penguin
-
Liu Quing & McCormick Barrett ‘The Media and the Public Sphere in Contemporary China’ Boundary 2 2011 38 1 101 134
-
Lunat Ziyaad ‘The Internet and the Public Sphere: Evidence from Civil Society in Developing Countries’ The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries 2008 35 3 1 12
-
MacKinnon Rebecca ‘Flatter World and Thicker Walls? Blogs, Censorship and Civic Discourse in China’ Public Choice 2008 134 31 46
-
MacKinnon Rebecca ‘China’s “Networked Authoritarianism” ’ Journal of Democracy 2011 22 2 32 46
-
Magistad Mary Kay ‘How Weibo is Changing China.’ YaleGlobal 2012 Retrieved 9 January 2014 from http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/how-weibo-changing-china
-
Maina Wachira van Rooy Alison ‘Kenya: The State, Donors and the Politics of Democratization’ Civil Society and the Aid Industry 1998 London Earthscan
-
Mansour Essam ‘The Role of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) in the January 25th Revolution in Egypt’ Library Review 2012 61 2 128 159
-
Mina An-Xiao ‘A Tale of Two Memes: The Powerful Connection Between Trayvon Martin and Chen Guangcheng’ The Atlantic 2012 July 12 Retrieved 31 December 2013 from http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/a-tale-of-two-memes-the-powerful-connection-between-trayvon-martin-and-chen-guangcheng/259604/
-
Miniwatts Marketing Group Internet World Stats Retrieved 31 December 2013 from http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
-
Morozov Evgeny ‘The Brave New World of Slacktivism’ Foreign Policy 2009 May 19 Retrieved 16 December 2013 from http://neteffect.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/05/19/the_brave_new_world_of_slacktivism
-
Morozov Evgeny The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom 2012 New York Public Affairs
-
Nørlund Irene ‘Civil Society in Vietnam. Social Organizations and Approaches to New Concepts’ Asien 2007 105 68 90
-
Papacharissi Zizi ‘The Virtual Sphere: The Internet as a Public Sphere’ New Media & Society 2002 4 1 9 27
-
Pearce Katie E. & Kendzior Sarah ‘Networked Authoritarianism and Social Media in Azerbaijan’ Journal of Communication 2012 62 2 283 298
-
Qian Gang & Bandurski David L. Shirk Susan ‘China’s Emerging Public Sphere’ Changing Media, Changing China 2010 USA Oxford University Press 38 76
-
Rintel Sean ‘Slacktivism Vs. Snarktivism: How Do You Take Your Online Activism?’ The Conversation 2012 Retrieved 18 December 2013 from http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:297363
-
Rintel Sean ‘Crisis Memes: The Importance of Templatability to Internet Culture and Freedom of Expression’ Australasian Journal of Popular Culture 2013 2 2 253 271
-
Rogers Everett M. Diffusion of Innovations 1962 New York Free Press
-
Safranek Rita ‘The Emerging Role of Social Media in Political and Regime Change’ ProQuest Discovery Guide 2012 Retrieved 12 August 2013 from http://md1.csa.com/discoveryguides/social_media/review.pdf
-
Saletan William ‘Springtime for Twitter’ Slate Magazine 2011 Retrieved 12 May 2014 from http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2011/07/springtime_for_twitter.html
-
Salter Lee ‘Structure and Forms of Use: A Contribution to Understanding the Effects of the Internet on Deliberative Democracy’ Information, Communication & Society 2004 7 2 185 206
-
Semon Richard W & Simon Louis The Mneme 1924 New York Macmillan
-
Shifman Limor ‘An Anatomy of a YouTube Meme’ New Media & Society 2011 14 2 187 203
-
Shifman Limor ‘Memes in a Digital World: Reconciling with a Conceptual Troublemaker’ Journal of Computer‐Mediated Communication 2013 18 362 377
-
Shirky Clay ‘The Political Power of Social Media: Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change’ Foreign Affairs 2011 90 28
-
Shulman Stuart W. ‘The Internet Still Might (But Probably Won’t) Change Everything: Stakeholder Views on the Future of Electronic Rulemaking’ I/S: A Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society 2005 1 1 111 145
-
Skoric Marko A. ‘What Is Slack about Slacktivism?’ Inter-Asia Roundtable 2012 – Methodological and Conceptual Issues in Cyber-Activism Research 2012 Asian Research Institute, National University of Singapore. 30-31 August 2012. Retrieved on 18 October 2013 from http://neteffect.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/05/19/the_brave_new_world_of_slacktivism
-
Stake Robert E. Denzin Norman K. & Lincoln Yvonna S. ‘Qualitative Case Studies’ Handbook of Qualitative Research 2005 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA Sage 443 466
-
To Ha ‘Government Spokesperson Responds to the Question, “Should the Health Minister resign?” ’ Nguoi Lao Dong Newspapers 2013 October 26 Retrieved 27 January 2014 from http://nld.com.vn/thoi-su-trong-nuoc/nguoi-phat-ngon-cp-tra-loi-cau-hoi-bo-truong-y-te-co-nen-tu-chuc-20131026071129765.htm
-
Van Grove Jennifer ‘Facebook Launches Photo Comments’ cNET 2013 June 19 Retrieved 04 November 2013 from http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57590094-93/facebook-launches-photo-comments/
-
VTC News ‘One Billion Dong Spent for One National Assembly Meeting: What Does the Chairman of the National Assembly Office Have to Say?’ 2013 November 30 Retrieved 21 January 2014 from http://vtc.vn/2-462986/xa-hoi/1-ty-dongngay-hop-quoc-hoi-chu-nhiem-vpqh-noi-gi.htm
-
Wang Chunzi & Bates Benjamin ‘Online Public Sphere and Democracy in China’ 2008 Paper presented at International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) conference July Stockholm, Sweden Retrieved 12 January 2014 from http://web.cci.utk.edu/~bates/papers/iamcr08-wang-bates-publics.pdf
-
Wischermann Jörg ‘Civil Society Action and Governance in Vietnam: Selected Findings from an Empirical Survey’ Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 2010 29 2 3 40
-
Wischermann Jörg Civic Organizations in Vietnam’s One-party State: Supporters of Authoritarian Rule? (No. 228) GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies 2013 Retrieved 20 May 2014 from http://edoc.vifapol.de/opus/volltexte/2013/4745/pdf/wp228_wischermann.pdf
-
Xiao Quang ‘The Battle for the Chinese Internet’ Journal of Democracy 2011 22 2 47 61
-
Yang Guobin The Power of the Internet in China: Citizen Activism Online 2009 New York, NY Columbia University Press
-
Yin Robert K. Case Study Research: Design and Methods 2003 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA Sage
-
Zhang Xiaoling The Transformation of Political Communication in China: From Propaganda to Hegemony 2011 London World Scientific
-
Zhao Yuezhi Communication in China: Political economy, Power, and Conflict 2008 Washington, DC Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
-
Zheng Yongnian Technological Empowerment: The Internet, State, and Society in China 2008 Stanford, CA Stanford University Press
-
Zuckerman Ethan Allen Danielle & Light Jennifer ‘Cute Cats to the Rescue? Participatory Media and Political Expression’ Youth, New Media and Political Participation 2014 Cambridge MIT Press
-
2
As of May 2014, no Vietnamese citizen has been charged under either of the new laws.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 2753 | 381 | 21 |
| Full Text Views | 629 | 14 | 3 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 492 | 19 | 3 |
Make Lulz, Not War: How Online Remix and Meme Culture are Empowering Civic Engagement in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
In: Asiascape: Digital AsiaSearch for other papers by Patrick E. Sharbaugh in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Dang Nguyen in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Although social media platforms have garnered much attention in recent years for their putative role in dramatic social and political movements around the world, scholars such as Clay Shirky and Ethan Zuckerman have suggested that the real potential of such tools for change exists in the way they empower citizens to publicly articulate and debate an array of conflicting views throughout society. In this view, social media matters most not in the streets and squares but in the social commons that Jürgen Habermas termed the public sphere. New image-based social media platforms and creative practices in Vietnam appear to be emerging as powerful tools in this regard, offering a voice to a citizenry who, since 1975, have lived under an authoritarian, and not clearly delineated, legal order restricting the opinions and views eligible for public expression.
In 2013, Vietnamese netizens turned to the digital techniques of remix and memetic culture to indirectly express and debate sentiment on issues of often sensitive social and political relevance. Using two recent case studies, we argue that this widespread practice constitutes a culturally-specific form of civic and political engagement that appears to be exerting a subtle but real influence upon the state in this rapidly developing Southeast Asian nation.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 2753 | 381 | 21 |
| Full Text Views | 629 | 14 | 3 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 492 | 19 | 3 |