Mr. Freeman

Игра от Олега Антипова

Fan-art, Клуб - Комментарии (52) » - опубликовано августа, 22 в 4:01 пп

Автор: Олег Антипов
Прислано 15 июня 2010 г.

Игра сделана во Flash. Размер файла 1,2Мб.

Russia: Online Cartoon Character – Mr. Freeman – Deconstructs Reality, Mocks Netizens

Статьи о MF - Комментарии (46) » - опубликовано августа, 21 в 9:56 пп

Two thirds of the Russian netizens are apolitical and use the Internet for entertainment only. Neither the opposition, nor pro-government politicians have succeeded in provoking mass discussions on social change and getting the Russian youth interested. It was Mr. Freeman, a sarcastic, gloomy and enigmatic cartoon character, who touched their souls, sparking their imagination and sense of humor, making millions think about the way they live their lives. The future of this popular meme is uncertain, yet his role in the contemporary Russian Internet culture is beyond debate.

The Public Opinion Fund's research of young people's online behavior patterns says that only 29 percent of Internet users are active in using the Internet as an information source. The majority, however, focus on entertainment and instrumental tasks.

At the same time there are various political forces trying to engage the youth audience in politics. In 2009, the so-called “Thankless Bastards” social ad campaign [RUS], that was sponsored by the Youth Committee of the Russian Duma [RUS] called to the Russian youth: “The country is dying while you're wasting your time.” It suggested that patriotism should be transformed into activism in order to support the motherland. Another online movie [RUS], made by the pro-Kremlin youth organization “Nashi,” said that the West threatened Russia because it was “the land of resources for the 21st century” and the young Russian generation should defend the country.

The Russian opposition tried to engage the Russian youth online and distributed some protest messages through the social networks as well. Online music videos were used to spread the opposition's message. Rapper Dino MC47 published a “clip that will never be shown on TV” with a song about the lack of liberty [RUS] and called to avoid mistakes when choosing the country's leaders. Another “prohibited” video to the song “Mathematics” [RUS], by Katya Gordon, distributed online, was dedicated to the dispersal of the opposition rally on May 31, 2010.

Social networks, however, are not as effective a tool for political engagement as they might seem, many opposition activists say. “The problem of Vkontakte.ru is that the real-world engagement of its members is very low. Everyone joins groups and even writes something on the wall but it's very difficult for them psychologically to transform their online actions into something real,” Roman Dobrokhotov, an opposition activist, said [ENG] in a GV interview.

Some of the viral campaigns had caused an emergence of online discussions, but the effects were short-term. The wall of passivity remained.

There is one Internet campaign, however, that has succeeded in doing something that none other could. It attracted millions of views and sparked discussions about the necessity to change life and the degree of the required engagement in social, political, and existential issues. The online debates went far beyond common political discussions.

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