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It is important to note postmodernity is impacting all aspects of culture, especially the arts. This YouTube video is a clip from an episode of a Canadian television show titled Slings and Arrows. In this segment, the acting teacher is taking a new approach with his students while rehearsing a scene from Romeo and Juliet. The female student is asked to do unconventional things, like read for Romeo and not face Juliet. She is rather unwilling to try what her director asks of her. She, like many, are stuck in the cultural norms and perhaps consumed with modern ideals. She likes the structure of old methods. Switching genders is an example of the exploration of form and content. The scene is still the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet, but the form has changed as the actors switch roles. The director of this television show seems to be making a statement. We need to embrace changes in form, ultimately embracing postmodernity.

Whether you think flash mobs are postmodern or not, and there is much debate over it, the different ways that flash mobs are used can also be post modern or modern. A company using the idea of a flashmob to sell their product is a typically modern idea used my advertising and marketing agencies. On the other hand, a company such as T-Mobile participating in the flash mobs phenomenon is more postmodern. Their flash mobs are large, quirky and people of all ages and sizes can participate. They don't leave a bad commercial-after taste in your mouth, but instead, make you want to share what you just observed. Just as the T Mobile commercial says: Life is for sharing, and like normal flashmob, they are creating something to share. Post modernity is sometimes referred to as a reply to modernity, and these T Mobile flash mobs could be a reply to the modern way of using flash mobs, saying "hey look, we can play too without tarnishing the essence of the original!"

This site is one that sparks the postmodernist debate on issues such as copyright, intellectual property, etc. It is a video sharing/upload site for the masses by the masses. (Note: I have only included the homepage, any other page should be allowed.)

The article, "The Postmodern Novel", starts off by giving good definitions of what pre-modernism, modernism, and post-modernism are and how exactly they can be applied to literature. The author says that pre-modernism assumes that the man is ruled by authority or tradition, modernism is influenced by humanism and the Enlightenment, man rejects tradition and authority in favor of a reliance on reason and on scientific discovery, and post-modernism stretches and breaks away from the idea that man can achieve understanding through a reliance on reason and science. Lastly, some examples as to what exactly can be considered post-modernism in literature are given, such as a playfulness with language, experimentation with the form of the novel, and a mixture of "high art" and popular culture.

A video documentation of the planning and execution of one of the most successful and famous flash mobs in history. The group Improv Everywhere, known for their flash mob stunts, rose to fame with this "mission"- having all the participants go into Grand Central Station in New York City and freeze for several minutes, then resume regular life without a blink. Using elements of performance art and postmodern theatre, as well as an extensive use of various technologies to pull it all off, this playful stunt is a prime example of the postmodern flash mob phenomenon.

Flashmob richtet Chaos in Supermarkt an [Video file]. (2009, October 1). Retrieved from YouTube.com database. This video depicts German supermarket workers staging a protest using a Flash Mob. In order to convey their wish to get free wages and better working conditions, the union members filled shopping carts full of products and left them in the aisles. They then passed out cards that stated what they desired from their employees. This is a great example of postmodernity because a group of people is taking something (Flash Mobs) and using it in a completely different way than it was intended. Flash Mobs were originally intended, or at least viewed as something fun and chaotic. They were by no means considered a serious form of expression when it came to real concerns. However, by turning a Flash Mob into a form of protest, the people involved are challenging official seriousness. There is no longer the modern solemnity of intention and purpose. These postmodern protests utilize unconventional means to get their messages across.

Dan Ackerman Greenberg is co-founder of the Commotion Group, a company that has found great success by promoting online videos in an effort to make them go "viral." Today, more and more people are seeking fame and recognition through online communities like YouTube. Dan Ackerman Greenberg provides a series of steps and advice to follow when creating and promoting a video. This online posting is very postmodern, because it exemplifies the breakdown of hierarchy. One used to rely on a publicist or agent to promote oneself. Now, anyone can do it themselves. The fact that a promotion company is offering advice to the masses on how to succeed alone own is particularly postmodern.

This website examines the dangers of sexting and just how this phenomenon of sexting has rapidly developed over a short period of time. It shows that the majority of the problems lies in the fact that this sexting is occurring between young adults or teenagers. What is most notable about this site is the connection it makes between sexting and a component of postmodernity. The website views sexting as an act of isolation and detachment which is often considered to be a major aspect of postmodernity. These teens that are engaging in sexting perhaps feel that this act of sending lewd pictures, texts, and videos poses less of a risk and emotional attachment, thereby contributing to this idea of isolation. Another key component of this website is that it looks at the idea of pornography and how our digital age has allowed it to grow and prosper among the younger generation and in doing so, it emphasizes the negative side effects to such a tremendously technological advanced society.

A webcomic is a comic strip syndicated by the author himself through the internet. XKCD is a particularly witty webcomic that tends to make light of trends in the digital world and/or popular culture, notably science fiction. The disclaimer on the site warns, "this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)." It blurs the modernist's line between disciplines; math and the sciences, traditionally serious subjects, are treated with as much respect as is usually reserved for die-hard academics of literature or philosophy. It is also interesting in that the author supports himself entirely through the sale of XKCD related merchandise, usually featuring some kind of reference or punchline from a particular comic. While the webcomic might just be a digital representation of a modern idea, the critical acclaim and level of humor apparent in XKCD lend itself to being a very postmodern comic.

The Longest Poem in the World, written by everyone using the social networking service Twitter, is a project conceived by Andrei Gheorghe. The site "aggregat[es] real-time public twitter updates and selecting those that rhyme", even selecting for nontraditional spelling and dialectal rhyme. The emphasis on user-generated content, the fragmentation of a thousand users randomly (and unknowingly, and anonymously) taking part in a project, and the playful nature with which it addresses the traditional form of poetry are all strong evidence of its postmodern nature.

In this article, the author looks at a recent incident in which students of Duke's business school were caught cheating on a take home final exam. In doing so, the author brings morals and values into question. The school defends this take home test collaboration as a new system of wikilearning, working together as a collaborative force to come up with the best and most descriptive answers as they would do if they were making a Wikipedia page, hence the name of this type of learning. The author, however, views it quite differently, sees it as more of a moral issue than anything else. With that said, the author does make it a point to graze the idea of morals these days, and how lines can be blurred when discussing good and bad and right and wrong, which happens to be a fundamental component of post modernity.

The youtube channel of the internet sensation Miranda. A fictional character created by a college theatre major searching for her big break, Miranda has become an internet celebrity seemingly overnight, with her outrageous performances of popular songs and delusional instructional singing videos. Since the character was created over a year ago, she has since booked concerts and appearances all over the world, thanks to the technology of youtube, facebook, twitter, and a lot of shameless self promotion. She's become a viral video phenomenon and an excellent example of the fifteen minutes of fame in the postmodern era.

Only one of infinitely many internet memes, a "lolcat" is a photograph of a cat or kitten with an amusing caption added to the photo, usually written in "lolspeak" - a variety of English that diverges most often in certain grammatical and orthographical constructs. Lolcats were first generated on the image board 4chan and soon spread to become an internet phenomenon. Both the images and captions are user-generated, and often jokes are expanded upon by other users and have developed themes, such as "Monorail Cat", "Ceiling/Basement Cat", and "Invisible (object)". This solidifies their postmodernism; their playful use of language and image, along with their strong egalitarian forum of expression, also contribute strongly.

This is truly a symphony for the new millennium. YouTube, a global property, asked the musicians of its community, of which there were plenty, to send in videos of themselves playing a certain audition piece. The best from around the world were flown in to play a concert at Carnegie Hall. Submissions were received from every continent (except Antarctica), digitally, and the traditional hierarchy of trained and professional musicians was disrupted. The YSO: the Postmodern Symphony Orchestra.

Wikipedia, a project of the Wikimedia foundation, is an online, free-access encyclopedia designed so that any user can contribute to any article. Although the site tends to be panned for the possibility of deliberate disruption, properly sourced articles are often as good or better than older encyclopedias; Wikipedia also enjoys the potential benefits of being absolutely current, having articles edited as new information arises. This radical restructuring of the traditional academic hierarchy, and the reduction of time before current accuracy is achieved, makes Wikipedia (and its related projects: WikiNews, Wiktionary, Wikimedia Commons, etc) postmodern.

Here, on Lady Gaga's official youtube channel, can be found all of her official music videos, as well as live performances, interviews, behind the scenes videos, and video messages from Gaga to her fans. A single viewing of any one of her music videos, and you will know you're watching something beyond that of your typical pop star. With her blending of performance art, intense theatrics, technology, wild fashion, futuristic elements, playfulness, fluid sexuality and sexual orientation, and with her rise as a pop culture phenomenon, Lady Gaga, as evidenced in her youtube videos, has become all things postmodern.

R.E.M. (2009, July 24). R.E.M - Orange Crush (Official Music Video) [Video file]. Retrieved from YouTube.com database. In 1989 and 1990 MTV awarded an artist with a Video Music Award for Best Post-Modern Video. R.E.M. won the award in 1989 for its "Orange Crush" video. The video is a very striking example of postmodernity because it depicts fragmentation, conflicting identities and a decentered self. This is in sharp contrast to the modern ideas of a unified identity and unified, centered self. The video shows two characters, one is a young boy and the other a young adult. The faces of the two are not shown until nearly the end of the video. The video is black and white. The scenes flash from one character to the other and it is unclear if the two characters are the same person, brothers or not related at all. It is very indistinct what the message of the video is, if there is one. Again, this is a perfect example of the fragmentation often apparent in postmodern works of art and the lack of explanation that often follows suit.

This website looks at the beginning of post modernity and how it has come to define a rather complex society. In order to show just how complex post modernity can be, the website tries to simplify it by first looking at how it was first applied in architecture. It also regards the importance of post modernity in art and how it had a fundamental impact on philosophy where it led to the development of new ideas. It tries to make clear distinctions, though a difficult task, between modernity and postmodernity. This site also emphasizes key components that define post modernity such as fragmentation, blurred boundaries between right and wrong, and complexity. It further goes on to discuss how this fragmentation is seen in the relationship between culture and media, and how that affects the society at large.

It used to be that only a select number of people could achieve celebrity status. Typically those involved in film, athletics, and politics were the only people to reach such heights. Dr. Jean M. Twenge and Dr. W. Keith Campbell explore the depths and consequences of self-admiration. They argue that becoming a celebrity is now an "equal opportunity dream," especially due to the development of the Web. Narcissism is natural and the wealth of technologies at our disposal make it so simple for anyone to achieve fame. This is a postmodern cause and effect. The increase of media and web technologies made available to the masses break down hierarchies. Fame is no longer just for the privileged few.