I am currently a first-year student in the Experimental Humanities & Social Engagement program at NYU's Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. 

 

My aim as a researcher is to probe into the establishment of digital culture as a means for public expression. I am specifically interested in Black American cultural production and the political economy of media in the digital age. Through my work I want to interrogate the racialized structures that have created today’s ever-evolving digital media economy.

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“Tracking Virality” is a digital storytelling platform that tracks the life-cycle of viral trends that originate in the Black American community to understand how gatekeeping agents such as media outlets, online personalities (or, influencers), celebrities, and mass brands facilitate the growth and spread of cultural trends in the digital media economy. 

 

The intention of this project is to understand (1) how long it takes for a social trend to become commoditized and (2) how the racial background of the creator contributes to not only how a trend travels, but how it is discussed and recognized. I am using the "Shoot" dance as a case study for this specific project, but I aim to ultimately build a research model for understanding the life span of trends that start in Black American communities and expand in reach to become part of the larger digital media zeitgeist. It is my belief that digital humanists and Internet researchers don’t consider the influence of race enough when dissecting the digital media economy. I believe race plays a critical role in the spread and reception of a digital-first trend like the "Shoot" dance. I selected the "Shoot" dance in part because it is a trend that has become so ubiquitous that at this point in its development most people who have seen the dance do not know its origin story, they just know that it is popular, and that “the kids are doing it.” Through this project, I want to show there is so much more to the spread of these cultural moments that most people realize. The "Shoot" dance is more than just a thing that "the kids are doing." It exemplifies the issues in how American society discusses and values Black cultural production. 

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