Probably most of us know the song Nobody by the Wonder Girls. Maybe some even know the dance steps. Nobody was released as a digital download in South Korea in late 2008 and in just a matter of hours it reached the top spot in several digital music sites. In 2009, it invaded the Philippine airwaves. It was played in Christmas and birthday parties, in presentations, in contests, and in other events. Even the UP community got infected by the ‘virus’. In the events like Miss Eng’g and Hagikhikan, some faculty and students performed to the tune of Nobody. But some Filipinos ‘immortalized’ their own performances through capturing videos of themselves dancing and uploading it on the Net. A good example would be the Cebu Dancing inmates.
There’s also a Bisaya version.
You can hear it anywhere. People dance to it. People watch its music video. People talk about it. It is viral.
The Nobody craze exhibits not only virality. It also show evidence of a concept related to virality—convergence. It must be noted that Nobody was shared, passed, and spread through different media such as the internet, radio, tv, and even print. It is not just the song but the dance, the music video, and the singers and their outfit which travelled across the Philippines and the world. The reason why Nobody became a trend is not really because of the lyrics nor the artists nor the music video nor the melody. I think it became a trend because of:
- the participatory culture—According to Jenkins (2006), “The circulation of media content—across different media systems, competing media economies, and national border—depends heavily on consumer’s active participation.” The motivation for the active participation of the Filipinos can be attributed to the pleasure of being able to connect with others through dancing, singing, and having fun together with family, friends, and people who know the song.
- It involves multiple media industries. Nobody flowed across multiple media platforms such as the internet, radio, tv, and even print. The collaboration of the media industries helped Nobody to become a hit. Regardless of their motives, they were able to get the attention of their projected ‘consumers’ through being part of the circulation of the content which is in this case Nobody.
- “the migratory behavior of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want” was addressed. Nobody can be found almost anywhere. Aside from being available in Youtube, TV programs such as Myx also featured the music video of Nobody. News programs reported about the dancing inmates who performed Nobody. The tabloids published an article about a man who was stabbed and hit to death because he didn’t know the song. This news was reported on TV, spread online, and became the topic of discussion in forums. The local television stations had their celebrities sing and dance to Nobody in their variety shows. The song (and the dance steps) was adopted by online games such as Audition and Star Tales. A movie which is an official entry in the MMFF 2010 was entitled Nobody, Nobody But Juan. An article in Inquirer.net mentioned about a priest who "started the Mass by saying, 'the Lord be with you...nobody, nobody but you!' In no time he had the whole congregation singing and dancing to the popular song 'Nobody, nobody but you!'" In short, media industries tried to run after and capture the audiences. Wherever the audiences went, there’s Nobody. The only question is which medium will they utilize to find the entertainment that they want.
- Convergence. The three reasons mentioned above are features of convergence.
References:
Jenkins, H. 2006. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New. Media Collide. New York: New York University Press.
Jenkins, H. 2006. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New. Media Collide. New York: New York University Press.
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