Starting Narratives

Category: Media

  • The Meme Machine – When Humor Becomes a Political Weapon

    The Meme Machine – When Humor Becomes a Political Weapon

    What makes memes so effective is that they’re emotional. They can take a complicated issue, like taxes, elections, or foreign policy, and shrink it into something funny, shocking, or relatable. That emotional punch makes them stick.

    The downside, though, is that context often gets lost. When politics are reduced to memes, the facts can get twisted, and people start forming opinions based on half-truths or satire. A single meme can reinforce biases or spread misinformation before anyone even checks the source.

    Still, it’s fascinating to see how memes have become a new kind of political weapon. They blend humor, art, and ideology into a form of digital propaganda that spreads faster than any newspaper headline ever could.

    The challenge for our generation is to recognize that while memes might make us laugh, they can also shape how we think, and that’s something worth paying attention to.

  • From Pamphlets to Punchlines – How Politics Learned to Go Viral

    From Pamphlets to Punchlines – How Politics Learned to Go Viral

    When I first started studying history, the “primary sources” we looked at were things like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and famous speeches. But now, in my classes, we sometimes analyze political cartoons, and even memes. It sounds funny, but it actually says a lot about how communication has changed. What used to be written in long essays or formal documents is now being boiled down into a single image with bold text and a punchline.

    Memes aren’t just jokes anymore. They’ve become one of the fastest ways to spread political messages, especially to younger audiences who might not even realize they’re being influenced. A simple meme on Instagram or TikTok can turn into a viral opinion overnight. Kids as young as twelve are scrolling through their feeds and seeing political ideas disguised as humor or pop culture references. It’s subtle, but it’s powerful.

    The truth is, this isn’t entirely new. Politics have always found their way into entertainment. In my AP Gov class, we learned about the significance of The Wizard of Oz at the time of its release. As we all know, the Wizard of Oz is one of the most famous stories of all time, but it also acts as a political allegory about economic struggles in the late 1800s, the Yellow Brick Road representing the gold standard, the Scarecrow symbolizing farmers, and the Tin Man representing industrial workers. People have always used stories to reflect political realities.

    The only difference now is that our stories are shorter, faster, and scrollable.

  • Beyond the Dance – TikTok, Credit, and Cultural Connection

    Beyond the Dance – TikTok, Credit, and Cultural Connection

    Of course, this kind of digital sharing comes with both positives and challenges. On one hand, it’s amazing how accessible creativity has become; people from different backgrounds can collaborate, remix, and reinterpret ideas freely. It creates unity and shared experience, especially during moments like the pandemic when physical connection wasn’t possible.

    But on the other hand, there’s a fine line between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation. I remember reading an article in my AP Seminar class last year about how some TikTok trends, especially dance ones, have been criticized for not giving credit to their original creators, many of whom come from marginalized communities.

    When culture spreads this fast, ownership and context can easily get lost along the way.

    Still, the rise of TikTok dances showed something powerful: we’re living in a time where young people are shaping global culture from their bedrooms. Movements, quite literally, move the world.

    Looking back at that seventh-grade memory, I realize it wasn’t just a moment of internet fame; it was a glimpse of how culture evolves in real time. Whether through dance, music, or memes, TikTok has become the Silk Road of the digital age, a place where ideas travel, transform, and remind us how connected we really are.

  • Seeing Isn’t Believing – A Family Moment That Revealed the Generational Media Gap

    Seeing Isn’t Believing – A Family Moment That Revealed the Generational Media Gap

    A few months ago, I was sitting in the living room with my parents when I showed them a video I’d found online. It was of a woman flying through the air on what looked like a real hoverboard. She zoomed over the water, flipped midair, and landed gracefully like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. My parents were absolutely amazed.

    “Wow! How is that possible?” my mom said.
    “That looks dangerous,” my dad added. “I didn’t even know physics allowed for that!”

    I couldn’t help but laugh. “Mommy, Baba,” I said, “this video was made by AI.”

    For a second, they looked at me in disbelief, then in realization. It was one of those moments where I could literally see the generational gap in how we interpret media. To them, the video was magic. To me, it was just another example of how convincing digital content has become.

    That moment stuck with me because it perfectly captured how differently generations approach media trust. My parents’ generation grew up in a world where most information came from established institutions, newspapers, television, and radio. If something was broadcast or printed, it was probably true.

    But my generation? We’ve grown up surrounded by Photoshop, filters, deepfakes, and misinformation. We’ve seen enough viral hoaxes and “too-good-to-be-true” stories to question almost everything we see online.

  • One Table, Many Stories – A Multicultural Thanksgiving

    One Table, Many Stories – A Multicultural Thanksgiving

    One of my earliest Thanksgiving memories isn’t just about turkey or pumpkin pie, it’s about translation through food. I grew up in a mixed family: some of my cousins came from European roots, others from Chinese heritage, and all of us were born in America. Every Thanksgiving dinner felt like a delicious cultural exchange.

    One side of the family brought the traditional American turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy, another brought delicate French-style crepes filled with Nutella and fruit, and my Chinese cousins brought mapo tofu, a spicy Sichuan dish that filled the room with warmth (and a little bit of chili-induced coughing).

    At first, it didn’t seem unusual to me. It was just “Thanksgiving.” But looking back, I realize how special it was that one table could hold so many stories, traditions, and histories. It wasn’t just a meal, it was a ritual of sharing.

  • Beyond the Swipe – Why Long-Form Journalism Still Matters

    Beyond the Swipe – Why Long-Form Journalism Still Matters

    Long-form journalism gives space for truth to unfold. It lets you see the full picture: the interviews, the background, the human impact. It invites you to understand rather than just react. That’s what’s missing in today’s world of digital snippets: the room to think, question, and connect the dots.

    Don’t get me wrong, short videos and social posts can do amazing things. They can bring attention to issues that would otherwise go unnoticed, and they make information accessible to people who might never read a full newspaper article. But if that’s all we consume, we lose something valuable.

    Stories become simplified. People become stereotypes. And the “truth” becomes whatever fits into a caption.

    That’s why I think balance matters. There’s nothing wrong with scrolling through your feed, but it’s worth slowing down once in a while, watching the full interview, reading the whole article, or sitting through that two-hour documentary. Because sometimes the most important stories can’t be told in sixty seconds.

  • The Shift in Power – How Social Media Rewrote the News

    The Shift in Power – How Social Media Rewrote the News

    It’s crazy to think about how much the way we get our news has changed in such a short time. Just twenty years ago, the headlines that shaped public opinion came from big names: The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post. News anchors had the final word, and if a story wasn’t covered by a legacy network, it might as well not have existed. But now, it feels like that power has shifted to the palm of our hands—literally.

    At a news conference I attended last summer, the moderator asked a simple question: “Where do you get your news from?” Almost every teenager in the room raised their hand for TikTok, Reddit, or YouTube. Around 80 percent, easily. Only a handful mentioned newspapers or TV. It was shocking at first, but also kind of eye-opening. The world of news has changed, and it’s changing faster than anyone expected.

    There are a few reasons for this shift. For one, social media gives anyone a voice. You don’t need a press badge or a million-dollar newsroom to share what’s happening around you, you just need a phone and a story. Platforms like TikTok have made it possible for everyday people to become witnesses, reporters, and storytellers.

    As someone who built my own platform on YouTube, I’ve seen the upside of that firsthand. I’ve been able to share stories that probably wouldn’t have made it past traditional media filters and connect with audiences who might have never found them otherwise.

    The result? A more democratic, but also more chaotic, information world. The gatekeepers are gone, and in their place stand creators, algorithms, and audiences trying to figure out what’s real.

  • When Words Fall Short – What Cross-Cultural Misunderstandings Teach Us

    When Words Fall Short – What Cross-Cultural Misunderstandings Teach Us

    That night stayed with me because it taught me something important about cross-cultural communication: misunderstanding isn’t failure; it’s part of being human. Different languages, customs, and traditions can create barriers, but they also create bridges.

    When we slow down and pay attention, we realize that connection doesn’t always come from perfect translation; it comes from care, patience, and effort.

    Cross-cultural misunderstandings happen everywhere. Maybe it’s using the wrong greeting, misinterpreting a gesture, or struggling to express something that doesn’t quite fit in another language. But those moments are also opportunities to learn and grow. They remind us that communication isn’t just about what we say; it’s about what we mean and how we make others feel.

    That Chinese New Year, I didn’t understand most of the words spoken around the table, but I understood what mattered. The laughter, the food, the generosity, it all spoke louder than language ever could.

    Because sometimes, the most powerful conversations don’t need words at all.

  • The Gaps in the Feed – Why Some Stories Never Make the News

    The Gaps in the Feed – Why Some Stories Never Make the News

    When we think about the news, we often assume it gives us a full picture of what’s happening in the world. But the truth is, media coverage only scratches the surface. What we see, hear, and read every day is carefully filtered, sometimes by time constraints, sometimes by audience interest, and sometimes by economic or political factors that decide which stories make the cut. The result? Whole communities, issues, and experiences are left in the dark.

    Media silence doesn’t always mean intentional censorship; it can be the product of priorities. Big networks tend to focus on what will attract the largest audiences: major political events, celebrity scandals, or breaking crises. These stories draw clicks, ratings, and ad revenue. Meanwhile, local stories about poverty, language access, or environmental issues often get overlooked because they don’t seem “marketable.”

    It’s not that they aren’t important, it’s that they don’t fit the fast-paced rhythm of mainstream media. And when the pace of news becomes the standard for what’s worth covering, anything quiet or complex risks being ignored.