Judith Donath to Speak at ROFLCon
Amidst all the partying like a rockstar at ROFLCon’s subterranean/cyber HQ(s), it’s sometimes too easy to forget that we are putting together a conference, not just a convention. The goal of ROFLCon isn’t just to exhibit internet memes, nor is it just to give meme originators the chance to speak and interpret the larger lessons (if there are any) of their fame. From the beginning, for me, ROFLCon has been a talk-back between “memers” and academics. Studying “memes” and the internet is important for two distinct reasons. One, the internet has unquestionably changed the way our generation relates and communicates with one another. It has reshaped human interactions and also, as we saw with w00ts entry into Merriam Webster, shaped language. Second, the internet has served to enlarge anthropological phenomenons that have always been present in human interactions. As such, it is a treasure trove for a new breed of cyber anthropologists who can document the way facebook and myspace and (yes!) World of Warcraft reshape communities. In short, at ROFLCon, Jane Goodall gets to talk and so do the apes (jk!!!).
Judith Donath, director of the MIT sociable media group, represents an amazing emerging field of cyber scholars, and I am excited to announce that she will be speaking at ROFLCon, tentatively in the LOLCats panel. MIT sociable media group is super cool in it’s own right, and personally I’d love to see them present some of their projects at ROFLCon. They’ve done a lot of work with the application of signaling theory (roughly how we try to convey information about ourselves) and how it relates to online interaction. Plus, if you search “lolcats” on google scholar, Judith is the only hit. Sexy.
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