@ Me

The phrase “literary event” has a connotation that doesn’t fully encompass its meaning. It implies that there is a specific or special occasion occuring that directly involves literacy in a traditional sense of the word. However, it is meant to encompass much simpler occurrences, in a more everyday setting.

 

The image I chose is of a girl at school, holding up a sign that says “@ me.”  This is a popular meme on Twitter, used in response to “subtweeting.” (Tweets directed toward a person or follower without explicitly naming or tagging them; usually as a complaint or insult). The girl in the picture has looks nonchalant and uncaring, while the saying “@ me” itself implies that you do care what people are saying and dares others to speak unkindness directly to you. Even if they did “@” you though, it would be over social media and cannot function as a face to face interaction. This is a very commonly used means of controversy in my generation.

This image is culturally significant because ten years ago, it would have had no meaning. Before Twitter, the @ sign got almost no use.  Now almost everyone I know has their own individual “@,” myself included. It functions as a second name or identity exclusively for the Internet or social media. For example, mine is @carmel_butnotsosweet. When I talk to my friends online, this becomes my identity. My friend Jennifer’s online name is so popular and known, that for months after I met her (and was immediately added online by her) I and several others didn’t know her actual name was Jennifer, because we almost exclusively had spoken to her as her online persona, “Chappy.”