What do geese and capybaras have in common? They provide a good illustration of how content circulates in digital media

Let’s start with remixes. Yes, our children remix. And with great force! We probably associate this term primarily with music. Meanwhile, remixing is one of the most important activities shaping digital culture. Examples of remixes include memes, TikTok trends, GIFs, Pinterest boards we create, or photos we share that we have processed using filters. What is their phenomenon? Why do we create remakes and subsequent versions so often? We have already talked about this in the context of social media. Digital tools allow for easy editing – we do not need to have specialized skills to create and process.

This ease of modification and subsequent changes can naturally be quite troublesome. Disrespect for intellectual property, use of an image without someone’s consent, parody bordering on hate speech or other activities aimed at ruining someone’s reputation – these are all real challenges we have to face on the Internet. It is therefore necessary to talk to our children and our students about the consequences of this type of behavior.

Fortunately, many educational programs can help us with this. I wholeheartedly recommend the activities undertaken in the field of digital education in Poland, including by the following organizations:

• School with Class Foundation
• Orange Foundation
• We Empower Children Foundation
• Digital Center
• Center for Civic Education

After visiting their websites, we can find a lot of materials that will help us talk about the Internet and digital culture with young people.

Despite my concerns about this topic, I like to think of digital media as a catalyst for creativity. I can’t make a funny video from scratch that will instantly become popular on the Internet, but I can create edits. I don’t have an idea for a fully original recording – I will use the now popular convention and photos with capybaras to organize my thoughts and give them structure. Any specific example? Here you go! “How can you not know what kind of capybara you are? January – orange capybara, February – corn capybara, March – dieciara capybara, April – essiara capybara…” These words can be heard in one of the videos posted on the Polska capybara channel, which was watched on TikTok over 2.4 million times.

Capybaras Photo Tomasz Pietrzyk / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Capybara… When I hear that word, I immediately start hearing this song: “KAA-PII-BAA-RAA… (Kakibara!) Capybara, capybara, capybara, capybara.” Who sings it anyway? This is a Russian song Капибара (Capybara) created by Сто-Личный Она-Нас (Sto-Licznyj Ona-Nas), which is known on the Internet primarily under the title The Capybara Song. Was it this song that started the online capybara craze? Not at all. Capybaras were well known on social media much earlier. They are such cute – and a bit absurd – animals. Just in time for the internet (okay, they look very relaxed…). However, this piece certainly made them even more popular.

According to the Know Your Meme platform (by the way, I highly recommend this website, it is an online encyclopedia of memes), this song was released in July 2022 and quickly gained considerable popularity on the Internet – especially on TikTok. Around the beginning of 2023, it went viral, which only accelerated the capybara madness. The strength of this trend – also among adults – means that for some young people it has even become synonymous with online cringe. Despite this, capybaras are still frequent heroines of memes, and in stores you can easily buy bags, hats, mugs, T-shirts and mascots with their likeness – which are almost a dark object of desire for many of our children and many of our students.

This reminds me of something. A similar fate befell geese. In 2023, you could probably buy a plush goose in every Polish store, stand or souvenir stall – and in all possible sizes. This toy, similarly to the capybara trend, gained its popularity thanks to social media. In Poland, Kamil Trek and his Dekorator channel on TikTok are considered to be the popularizer of their phenomenon, where he is followed by over 535,000 people, and the materials he posted were liked as many as 14.4 million times. Kamil Trek publishes videos featuring Pipa, a tame goose – a sociable and hilarious bird that behaves almost like a dog.

As is usually the case on the Internet, there are definitely more reasons behind the popularity of geese. A plush goose is a toy that can be purchased not only in our country – there are many more channels on Tik-Tok that talk about the friendship of tame geese or ducks with humans. Let’s mention two profiles – Shirley / Glen and Honk (over 529,000 followers) and Yuda Pulido (over 1.9 million). It’s not everything. Already in 2019, people fell in love with these animals thanks to the online game Untitled Goose Game, which premiered then.

However, it does not matter whether we are talking about capybaras, geese or other creatures that set the Internet on fire for some time (#huggywuggy) – all these examples well illustrate how content circulates in digital media. In each of these cases, we are dealing with remixes. Remixes that, in addition, blur the boundaries between what is digital and non-digital, professional and amateur, invented by producers and initiated by the recipients themselves. Memes, bags, posters, GIFs, pens, mugs, mascots, T-shirts, music videos, recordings – all are pieces of the same puzzle. We live in times when it is increasingly difficult to draw the dividing lines between what is official and what is grassroots. Bah! I guess there’s no point in doing this anymore. We don’t always have to be big players on the Internet to be able to act, remix and create, and for our content to be positively received.

Pip the Goose Photo Michał Łepecki / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Although, of course, in this context we could also talk about galloping capitalism. All these toys can be bought for pennies on Temu or AliExpress. Packaged in some great marketing that dictates our needs. However, it would definitely be a VERY difficult conversation:

– Mom, look what a nice goose.

– Yeah…

– Everyone already has one.

– Yeah, I know. But think about it – why exactly do you want it?

– Because I see her everywhere. At stalls, in stores, on TikTok…

– Hmm… Doesn’t that seem suspicious to you? Remember that Huggy Wuggy we bought last year? There was also a lot of talk about him, and now what is happening to him? He probably landed on a pile of stuffed animals? Imagine these piles of stuffed animals in the homes of all young people in Poland.

I am deeply convinced that our daughter would not be convinced by this anyway. Last year, geese took over every corner of Poland.

About edits and fan works

Let’s go back to the edits for a moment. We hear about them probably every day. What does this word mean? This word is problematic when trying to translate it into Polish. Its closest equivalent is the word “editions”. However, I admit that I am not his fan. It is too technical and does not have as much finesse as its English version, which has already become well established in the language of young people. Edits are simply all content that was created using ready-made materials. Edits can include, among others, photo shows assembled into one whole, to which someone has added subtitles and music. Or cut fragments of clips combined together and processed with various effects. This type of content is very popular on social media. Primarily on TikTok, but you can easily find it on other apps as well.

I mention edits especially because they are an important element of fan culture today. There are a lot of edits circulating on social media dedicated to more or less famous internet creators, artists, bands, actors, singers, TV series and other pop culture phenomena, to name only Wersow, Genzie, Timothée Chalamet, Julia Żugaj (#teamżugajki), the Stranger Things series, Sanah or members of the K-pop band Black-pink. Unfortunately, it often happens that edits are created so that the accounts that publish them can gain a large reach – edits about popular anime will attract good clicks. Such activities have little to do with true fan culture. Contrary. They often conflict not only with applicable law, but also with accepted ethical standards. They deliberately use someone’s image to gain popularity – and thus a greater number of likes and comments.

Fortunately, this doesn’t always happen. Very often, edits are simply small works of art. In addition, they perform many functions. Therefore, they can be, for example, an ironic or biting comment on controversial Internet phenomena – as in the case of edits criticizing Stuu and other influencers involved in Pandora Gate. Or a tribute from fans to their favorite artist and a display of their creativity.

So let’s go ahead. Let’s imagine that our thirteen-year-old daughter is the world’s biggest fan of the band BTS. I would like to explain to the uninitiated that BTS is a very popular K-pop band that has been making a career all over the world since 2013. This South Korean boy band consists of seven talented performers. BTS is currently a big star, with whom the British band Coldplay even recorded the song My Universe a few years ago. BTS members have also been nominated for Grammy Awards several times.

Although currently BTS members are serving in the military. The band is scheduled to return to performing in 2025.

So our daughter is the world’s biggest fan of the BTS group. He loves all Asian pop culture. She loves going to conventions, preparing cosplays, watching anime and reading manga – like many other young people. She just sat down next to us on the couch, put on her headphones and took her smartphone in her hand to start her daily K-pop session. What it can do:

• listen to music and turn on Spotify to remember some old songs
• sit on YouTube and watch music videos or tour videos
• participate in discussions in fan groups
• watch live shows hosted by members or fans of the band
• browse Pinterest for fanart, i.e. art created by fans that inspires her own activities – she loves designing costumes
• read or create fanfiction, i.e. texts written by fans, published on Wattpad
• slowly scroll through TikTok, post purple hearts and comment on what she considers the best edits with Jungkook – her favorite member of the band

And all this in one phone? Yes. Of course! And at first glance it looked so bad – just sitting in one place and idly staring at the screen… Meanwhile, it turns out that from the level of her own couch, our daughter actively participates in the global community.

So far, the BTS band has not come to Poland with concerts, and even if they came after their members completed their military service, tickets would definitely cost a fortune. Thanks to the Internet and digital media, our daughter can feel like a full-fledged member of a global fan group that is also extremely creative. He still co-creates thousands of different pieces of content dedicated to team members.

Hmm… Or maybe such behavior is a sign of fanaticism? Not necessarily. We were also members of various fan clubs and sent letters to our idols decorated with handmade drawings. Please admit it – who among us had posters of Just 5, Backstreet Boys or Spice Girls on the wall, wrote about them in a diary and listened to their cassettes non-stop on a Walkman?

With his nose in his smartphone promotional materials of Agora Publishing House