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8B \ednesday, January 12, 2011 / The Statement
PERSONALSTATEMENT
VIRAL VICTIM OR VL LIA N?
BY H E E A F F
MAG:SA BIN CR A
BY MA RISSA MCCLAIN
A s a sfrequent visitor of the infor-
mation superhighway, I have
become quite familiar with
what will garner a response from my
fellow Internet junkies. Whether it
involves uploading drunken or embar-
rassing text messages or cute cats with
idiosyncratic captions, when it comes
to the Internet, the more preposterous
or nonsensical, the better. In my years
of scanning the web for new curi-
osities, I couldn't help but wonder if I
could do it myself. So taking a cue from
blogs that had already reached Inter-
net fame, I decided to put my hubris to
the test by creating a blog of my own.
I approached the endeavor as field
research. I wanted to see a side of
the web that I was unfamiliar with -
authorship. My initial goal was to get
1,000 page views to become famous.
With this goal in mind I wanted to
make sure to focus my blog on some-
thing that would appeal to the masses.
There are three things that the Inter-
netcommunity loves: irony, humor and
things that are cute. My blog would
have all three qualities by showcasing
infants in unusual hats accompanied
by socially relevant, but frequently
controversial captions. With this
brilliant concept in mind, I created
GSI
From Page 5B
get. These unbudgeted costs have been
a main deterrent for the University to
employ a student with a disability.
Kolbe said she was excluded from
a summer research job because her
accommodation would have been too
expensive for the University. Other
GSIs have had similar experiences.
But creating a centralized accom-
modation fund would remedy the
situation and result in more job oppor-
tunities for those with disabilities.
GEO also wants the University to
implement a standardized process
that explains to graduate students
where they should go if they need
accommodations. Additionally, GEO
desires a system that makes it easy
to advocate for resources for the dis-
abled.
Increasingthe number of semesters
in which graduate students can stay
enrolled is also important, since peo-
BabiesInCrazyHats.blogspot.com.
My blog is classified in the blogo-
sphere asa single-serving site - a page
that serves a single, usually inane pur-
pose, and really, what could be more
inconsequential than babies in crazy
hats? The blog's creation was a simple
10-minute procedure. I made a user-
name, a URL, uploaded photos and just
like that I had my own web-identity
with no fees to pay and no questions
asked. My first two posts involved chil-
dren in hand-knit, multicolored hats
that were described as, "real cute" and
"slightly less cute." As I uploaded more
photos the captions got more obscure
and unrefined. I began using pop cul-
ture references and Internet memes in
order to make readers who are "in the
know" feel likethey are apart of a small
community with an inside joke.
When my content was developed
enough, I started going viral. I encour-
aged all of my friends to post a link to
my website on their Facebook pages
and sent my URL to other well-known
pop culture blogs urging them to fea-
ture my site. Within minutes my site
was sent to friends, their friends, their
friends' friends and so on, to the point
where complete strangers were soon
posting my site on their Twitter and
ple with disabilities have to interpret
their course load in a different way.
GEO is pushing for language about
accommodations for students with
disabilities tobe included in the letter
that graduate students receive upon
acceptance to the GSI program so that
potential graduate students are aware
that they can seek assistance.
Lastly, since some students may
feel uncomfortable disclosing their
disabilities, GEO is striving for a rule
that allows disabilities to remain
unannounced to the departmental
supervisor. Right now, there is no offi-
cial policy, but the current procedure
forces GSIs to reveal their physical or
mental limitation.
Above all, GEO hopes to change the
way GSIs with disabilities are per-
ceived.
"You're oftentimes seen as a prob-
lem person, as opposed to a person that
really has something to bring,"Wernick
said. "It feels like people with disabili-
ties within academia are justbarely tol-
erated."
tive comments reassures creators that
what they are doing is worthwhile.
But I wasn't prepared for what hap-
U D E N T'Spened when comments stopped being
so complimentary.
T S After one more week, my blog was
endorsed by urlesque.com, a section
of AOL News dedicated to all things
Internet. The mainstream acknowl-
edgment led 10,000 readers to my site
Facebook pages. in amatter of hours. This was all well
On the third day of its existence, and good until the crafting community
my blog was promoted by The Daily caught wind of my cute, yet contro-
What, a pop culture blog that has been versial site. The images I featured on
recognized by Entertainment Weekly babiesincrazyhats.blogspot.com were
and The New York Post. When I real- almost exclusively from etsy.com,- a
social com-
"Within six days on the web, I merce website
that sells hand-
had 14,500 views. At that point made goods. I
n ,y ' c ,credited all the
in my 'research,' I understood t he photographers
psychological appeal of creating a whose images
I acquired,
blog - recognition is intoxicating." but after see-
ing the way I
ized people were responding to my spoke about the hats they were selling,
site, I found myself obsessed with as well as what I was implying about
the acknowledgement. I constantly the babies wearing them, it's safe to
refreshed my site to see how many say they were less than amused. The
more people visited it. Each new view mood of my blog was quickly begin-
became an ego boost and I could not ning to shift. Instead of comments
get enough. Within six days on the highlighting how "brilliant" I was for
web, I had 14,500 views. At that point conceiving this witty contribution to
in my "research," I understood the psy- the online community, the messages I
chological appeal of creating a blog - received were quite the opposite.
recognition is intoxicating. - It seemed as though my blog uni-
Everyone wants approval from their fied mothers, photographers and
peers and blogs provide the oppor- craft-enthusiasts alike all to cham-
tunity for anyone, anywhere to get pion one common cause - clearing
exactly that. The positive affirmation the Internet of any trace of me, my
that comes with viewership or posi- blog and any further "exploitation" of
their children. Groups rallying against
my "baby bashing" sprouted up. I was
called every awful name in the book.
My Facebook inbox filled up with hate
mail from strangers threatening to sue
me for copyright infringement and
slander. At one point, my mother even
received a message asking her to pun-
ish me for all of the pain I had caused.
My immediate reaction to the
onslaught of unwelcome critique was
to fight back. I wanted to contact each
naysayer individually and explain that
my intentions were not to decimate
the reputations of innocent children. I
wanted them to accept my dark humor
so I could continue blogging, but I
quickly found that the people who
comment on blogs are set in their ways.
As soon as the army of opinionated
mothers and photographers chose me
as their villain, there was no hope in
convincing them otherwise.
Despite how well received my blog
was by some people, a collision of con-
cerned readers managed to dismantle
it in a matter of hours. I was being cen-
sored on the Internet - a place where I
thoughtanything was fair game. While
I found myself caught up in the glam-
our of recognition, when I realized
that my words were affecting actual
people with lives outside the web, all
of a sudden the initial acknowledge-
ment didn't feel so good. I do stand by
my work, but maybe next tine I make a
statement on the web it won't be, "This
baby sexts in all caps."
- Marissa McClain is an Art &
Design sophomore and co-managing
photo editor for The Michigan Daily.
5 V
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