Using Viral Fame to Make a Change

In chapter 3 of Social Media Freaks: Digital Identity in the Network Society by Dustin Kidd, Kidd focuses on how social media and members of the LGBTQ+ community are interconnected. One concept that Kidd goes on to explain in this chapter is how a meber of the LGBTQ+ community may go viral and how they use their fifteen minutes of fame to serve a bigger purpose.

The example that Kidd uses is Antoine Dodson. Dodson rose to fame in an interview with a local news team about the heartbreaking attempted rape of his sister in the lower income living community of Lincoln Park in Huntsville, Alabama. You may know him by his words that went viral, “Hide yo kids, hide yo wife, and hide yo husband cuz they rapin’ er’body up in here.” (cited in Johnson 2013, 152) The recording of this interview rapidly made its way to YouTube, iTunes, and many other media outlets. Dodson then became known as the “Hide ya kids” guy, a colored, homosexual, and southern man. His identity and viral fame led him to become a meme that pokes fun at his very own identity.

Instead of letting the stereotypes from memes created to make fun of him, Dodson put his fame to his own advantage by using the income he received from his fame to move his family into a home in a better area. He also went on to become the spokesperson for the Bed Intruder App, a personal security system, performed at the BET Music Awards, and raised money for a juvenile diabetes foundation.

If given the opportunity to have a voice due to viral fame, how would you try to make a change?