We wanted to share this video by W+K Tokyo Lab that showcases the people working in the “backstreets of the internet” in Japan.
These include the creatives who sell off-kilter web tools in a “black market” event and a “online secret society” that claims to be a hundred years old.
As one of the interviewees says, “It’s like bringing the Internet to a real place where people can buy and sell stuff.” In other words, combining the digital with real-world platforms and markets.
Some of this is comic, such as the “real world Re-tweet” where a guy is paid to shout your message. Others are more ingenious, like the 3D-scanned stones that are sold alongside their data.
The web was once touted as a refuge for misfits, a site for causing rebellion — and in many ways still is — but increasingly it is dominated by a handful or organizations and corporations. Even though it is open to all who have something to offer (apps, music etc), we are forced more and more to operate only within the strictly controlled platforms and services of a few powerful groups.
This video introduces people who are fighting against this in a creative way that doesn’t merely resort to bulletin board-style tantrums.
The makers ask:
Will Japanese Internet culture have an impact on global pop culture the way that Japanese street culture did? Are all Internet memes secretly manufactured in a warehouse in the Japanese countryside? No-one can say. But perhaps this video will allow you to form your own point of view.
