Afraid to Dive

It is obvious that the internet has long been neither a means nor even a tool, but an extension of real life: the whole virtual world is at hand and in the blink of an eye. Indeed, the internet, if not dramatically changed, but at least affected almost all spheres of life, from economics and social interactions to culture. The latter, apparently, is of particular interest to this blog, and I would like to address this issue again, especially because, in a sense, this is my final work on web culture. No Boundaries Before realizing what weblore is, it is necessary first to understand the history of folklore and culture as such. Folklore is known to be an oral folk art characteristic of a traditional society. Thus, folklore belongs to folk culture, usually classified along with high and mass culture. Urbanization has brought what the Russian folklore researcher Sergei Neklyudov calls post-folklore . Virtually, it is "folklore" born in an urban environment: songs, urban leg...

In the first half of the 80's, the developers started adding level editors to their games (Lode Runner, Excitebike, Mind Strike, and others). They are based on the philosophy of the intervention, where the player acts not as a passive gameplay participant (who takes action, but is also limited by certain boundaries), but as an absolute creator, the architect of game reality. Nowadays, when game development is accessible as never before, and fan content weighs a lot, official game editors and SDKs are not a surprise. Often they offer an effective tool for creating own levels, distinctive and authentic. However, the point of custom levels is that they, unlike mods, expand the already available mechanics or put them at a different angle. Sometimes such editors exist separately from the game, which allows players to explore the mechanics way deeply, vanishing borders between custom levels and mods. If video games could be art, then the fan levels may have an artistic value, too. ...

Fictional, or narrative reality has been surrounding people from the very cradle and accompanying them during their whole life for generations. Media, literature, cinema, video games, even music creates and forms informational environment, laying down certain tastes and values, and also leaves an imprint on the child no worse than the parents themselves. Since our brain doesn't perceive a difference between the real and artfully simulated, often feelings towards a fictional character can be as bright and sincere as feelings for a real person. From an early age, children, under affection of these feelings not only create imaginary friends, but also find role models in the characters and archetypes, trying to idolize and even imitate them. It's logically to assume that every properly accurate fictional character is able to cause deep feelings of any spectrum on a subconscious and associative level. The concept of waifu and husbando is built upon it: the characters who are wit...

Few can deny that Discord is one of the brightest discoveries in the field of online communication right now. It has replaced the inconvenient and faceless Skype and combined the comfortable and practical Slack interface with multi-functionality, thus becoming the unofficial master of the chats, a symbol of informal communication. By positioning itself as a chat for gamers, it, however, lost this label among "knowledgeable" people and became the common heritage, the folksy chat, from users to users. The company's strategy is that they don't take themselves too seriously, following the friendly and playful image of an "Internet-frequenter" which is used everywhere, from Twitter posts to changelogs inside the chat. What else is included in the Discord's formula of success, beyond the obvious server system, interactive bots, the mascot, and so on? It's something sociocultural, something that makes the communication process unique. Culture The firs...

It is no secret that media franchises rule the world. Huge corporations which globalize and monetize art, have come into our life and changed the way we consume mass culture. There are, actually, the smaller companies which try to develop their product by all means, to endow it with a special corporate identity, emphasizing their individuality. Sometimes they also enter the world market if they achieve the necessary level of success, eventually turning their opuses into franchises. However, what generally can be considered a media franchise and is it possible to categorize them? A media franchise is, first of all, a collection of works of various forms of media united by a common entourage and characters. Many of them have a mascot, a symbol or a bright, memorable image that warms the brand and which the company operates to advertise and attract popularity to its product. Obviously, new products are sold better if they are associated with an existing and familiar universe. The pat...

Some people consider 2000s as the time of depression, paranoia and intensification of international terrorism. However, for those whose childhood or youth came at this era, 00's is the best time of life. The new millennium was marked by many technological, economic and cultural upheavals. One of such upheavals was Bionicle. Bionicle is the quintessence of the noughties and of all the best things that were there, the reflection of the era, and its soul. It was one of several series that saved LEGO from a prolonged crisis of the 90's, returning the company to the world market. Because of its duration (10 years) Bionicle has captured the cultural image of its time, the zeitgeist. A huge amount of content and multimedia which is the attribute of any sufficiently large franchise provided the series an excellent background. Paradoxically, most of this filling has no connection with the canon itself. That is why Bionicle decently looks like an independent series without a backgro...