The might of the mashup culture.

For content creators in what ever medium they are it can sometimes be a challenge to come with something original and authentic that also pleases the audience.

Some say that originality is overrated and that a good copy is better than a bad original.

" True originality consists not in a new manner but in a new vision. " - Edith Wharton

You see what I did there? I am using a quote. I am reusing something from somebody else. I don't even need to know who said it most of the time. 

Of course, context matters but how many people will take time to find out what the context of a quote is?

We can also mix two different messages together and create a new context or meaning.

Isn't that motivating? 

This can be done in every medium from written medium to movies.
The internet has brought us many wonderful and strange opportunities to mix and mash.
Memes are the most strong example of that. 

Let's turn around and look at less recent ways of mixing: Vaporwave. 

Vaporwave (British English: vapourwave) is an electronic music subgenre that originated during the early 2010s and spread over the next half of the decade among various Internet communities.

(Thank you wikipedia). 

It is a form of musical meme. Instead of being the counter movement to consumerism it embraced it.

It was a form of self awareness and making it a joke. Vaporwave artists took music that was already there and slowed it down. (Check out the great explanation by Adam Neely: https://youtu.be/QdVEez20X_s)

These mixes also create nostalgia by putting new messages together with old messages. 

It seems like nostalgia is connected with the remix culture in some way. 

Studies show that it is easier to convince somebody to do something new when you can show that that person already did something similar before or that other people in that persons respected circle and peers already do it. If you can show that it was already done before by that person in some way or by other people it is easier to convince them. 

Self awareness and humor seems to be key to the remix culture.
That also makes it prone to normalisation of things that we should not tolerate. 

It seems to fit in with the post modernistic and cynicism that rises more and more out of the learned helplessness that politics over the years instilled in many people.  

Oh dear. 

Not to say that all memes are messages of surrender to helplessness but rather that it also got in the mix. 

Mashups are another way of mixing messages done by mixing two (or more) songs together.
(For more info check out another great explanation by Adam Neely: https://youtu.be/gzZkqD-lRtc )

As stated above, remixing can also be used to critique or ridicule something.
This here is one of my favorite political mashups:

It is as powerful as it can be dangerous because the message is so simplified. 

Yet simplification is often a part of design, art, language and culture.

When a tool reaches a equilibrium of maximum simplicity and efficiency it tends to stay in that form. Look at all the technology around you and then at your fork and knifes. 

The longer a language exists the simpeler it becomes. Every language tends towards simplicity over time. That shouldn't surprise us because our brains are always working towards the most energy efficient way to achieve things. In other words, these neural pathways that are the shortest and the most used tend to be reused. Just like the first car that rides in new sand or snow has it difficult but creates more harder ground to ride on for the next car, creates a way that becomes more and more easier to ride on. Unless we challenge ourselves to diversify and reflect we tend to get stuck in the same routines and habits. 

Reusing content can also be used in content marketing by, as Gary Vaynerchuk says it: Giving your 2 cents about content. This is the way Twitter quotes works. You choose a message and repost it with your 2 cents worth of commentary. 

Have fun mashing and mixing and remember....

 Whatever you say, whatever you meme or mix, you are sending a message. What meaning do you want to give?