Blog post #5: Who owns the Amish community?

November 03, 2017

In this week’s blog, the RELS 480 class will discuss the use of authority. According to Merriam-Webster, authority is defined as “power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior” (Webster, 2018, pg. 1). When searching for memes online, we need to understand who is creating these comical pictures. Luckily for our study over the Amish, we do not have to look any further but the internet itself.

The internet dominates the Amish culture. In last week’s blog, I poised a quote stating that “the Amish came to mean a great deal to the media and their consumers, not because they altered their way of living, but because the world around them changed” (Umble & Weaver-Zercher, 2008, pg. 12). Since the media is fascinated with this particular culture, the Amish cannot and will not escape from the media’s interest. The first meme stating, “What’s it like living without the internet?” familiarizes us that the Amish is a non-progressive society. Due to their decisions about not having technology in their community, outsiders of the 21^st century are curious about this commitment to keep out this technology. Our society is interested in communities that are not associated like ours or have the same values and beliefs. We like to nose around to see what others are doing in their communities. Why? It excites us to understand why different cultures see life and how they live.

This excitement from the online community has given a broad sense of authority to whoever can access the internet and post memes about the Amish. “Not every member must contribute but all must believe they are free to contribute and that what they contribute will be appropriately valued… The community itself, however, provides strong incentives for creative expression and active participation” (Jenkins et al., 2009). This quote poises an idea that not everyone on the internet has to post a meme about a particular culture. However, since there are enough memes on the internet about the Amish, for example, the quote shows that anyone can be involved with the memes. They can be involved with the meme by sharing it to their friends, Facebook, and Twitter page. This undermines that Amish community’s authority because it questions who is actually in control of the society.

As we know that the internet is a dominating force in framing the Amish, there is a particular meme that shows who is “behind” the internet screen. The second meme stating, “I like to make fun of the Amish because of they will never find out” is an interesting meme. This meme does not include Amish characters, but instead includes characters in nice clothing. An impression of these people on the internet is made to show that internet users have more power than the Amish. The power stems from the use of technology. With the 21^st century being influenced by technology, power and communication lie within a keyboard. This helps frame this specific culture on the internet.

Curiosity in the Amish culture has caused the internet to frame a particular character for the Amish. The memes associated with the Amish are framed as playful or mocking. Going back to the first meme, it states that what is life like without internet to inform the viewer of what Amish value in their community. It is not affirming that no technology is an advantage but it instead shows a playful frame on this culture.

All in all, we have looked at authority this past week. The Amish have not utilized technology within their boundaries as a community. Due to this, it causes the internet to force itself upon this group and dominate it from an outsider’s perspective.