Creativity

There is no doubt about it, new media not only fosters but encourages creativity. The amount of information available to us is virtually unlimited. Because of this, you never really know where your next inspiration will come from. This can be seen in the popularity explosion of parodies over the past several years. The article, "Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters. But Why?", talks about videos posted to YouTube in 2007 that include some of Disney's most loved characters and the song "Crank That" by Soulja Boy. The visuals of the Disney critters and the audio of the song edited together (known as a mash-up) gives the impression that the characters are rapping the song. As the rap song became a hit over the Summer, the videos became more viral. Another version of the video was made using clips from SpongeBob SquarePants, which has over one million views. Without YouTube and other new media, transformative works like these might never have been thought of, let alone published for others to enjoy.

1. Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters. But Why? The New York Times, September 24, 2007; http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/business/media/24crank.html