2/9 THE TIMES OF 2008!!!?!?

So I read this NY Times article titled "Sidelined by Strike, Comedy goes Online" by Dave Itzkoff.

This article is from freaking 2008. Why so old? Well there was a major Writers’ Guild strike so television was really sucking. Then all of a sudden, these actors and entertainers are making their own web content and posting their work online. The article records this phenomenon and provides examples as well.

I can barely remember the internet in 2008. However, I remember what is wasn’t. “Youtubers” definitely didn’t have the same societal standing they do now, if they existed at all. That’s why this article is interesting in its relation to the internet, humor, and identity.

When the celebrities took to the web to express themselves during the strike, producing content while TV production was suspended, they demonstrated that the internet could be used as a tool for the branding of the self. Having three friends who have created their own comedy web series, it is interesting to me how simple comedy has become to pull off on the internet. The content is exposed to such a wide audience; someone is bound to enjoy it. And because everyone is capable of humor under the right circumstances, the massive community that is the internet is becoming increasingly aware that every human is capable of doing funny things, both intentional and unintentional: and that’s pretty dope.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/arts/television/10itzk.html?_r=0 Dis link.

*Unit 1*