Viral Flash Activism Gets A Fresh Infusion
Free Range Studios has released another of its animations addressing social issues. Store Wars is a bit less punchy than its older brethren, notably The Meatrix, but it is extremely well made and fun to watch. Free Range Studios is a print and Web design firm that works primarily with socially conscious clients, many of them non-profits.
These animations caught my attention a couple of years ago for their clever use of new media to communicate messages we often associate with old media. The animations have high-quality production values – and, sometimes, familiar story lines – that we expect from commercial media. They are posted online, and they are unleashed via email, where they ride the waves of people who love forwarding “fun” stuff.
The Free Range folks call this “viral Flash activism.” Judging from the number of people worldwide who sent me “The Meatrix” when it first came out in November 2003, they might be onto something. Let’s see how far Store Wars goes.
Keep Reading
Most Popular
Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.
And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.
OpenAI teases an amazing new generative video model called Sora
The firm is sharing Sora with a small group of safety testers but the rest of us will have to wait to learn more.
Google’s Gemini is now in everything. Here’s how you can try it out.
Gmail, Docs, and more will now come with Gemini baked in. But Europeans will have to wait before they can download the app.
This baby with a head camera helped teach an AI how kids learn language
A neural network trained on the experiences of a single young child managed to learn one of the core components of language: how to match words to the objects they represent.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.