Practices dismissed as frivolous hold underestimated generative power
Evidence
It is my hope that everyone who picks up this book will acquire a valuable insight into internet celebrity culture, beyond the populist claim that these are merely frivolous, vain, or meaningless practices on the internet. Indeed, one of my key scholarly ethics is the belief in “subversive frivolity,” wherein practices or objects that are usually brushed off or discarded as marginal, inconsequential, and unproductive hold generative power that is underestimated and under-visibilized because they thrive just under the radar. — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity, 57
Categorization
Category: Definitional Content
- DEFINE: Introduces Abidin’s signature concept of subversive frivolity.
- SEED: Could anchor an essay on how dismissed cultural labor (fan edits, memes, ASMR) quietly reshapes economics and politics.