{"id":693,"date":"2013-07-17T10:40:31","date_gmt":"2013-07-17T14:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/internetmonitor\/?p=693"},"modified":"2013-07-17T10:40:31","modified_gmt":"2013-07-17T14:40:31","slug":"neuland-or-nowhere-land-reflecting-on-evanescence-immortality-and-internet-memes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/internetmonitor\/2013\/07\/17\/neuland-or-nowhere-land-reflecting-on-evanescence-immortality-and-internet-memes\/","title":{"rendered":"Neuland or Nowhere Land? Reflecting on Evanescence, Immortality, and Internet Memes"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a joint press conference with President Obama last month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel referred to the Internet as \u201cNeuland<\/a>\u201d\u2014literally, an \u201cuncharted territory\u201d\u2014in response to a question about initial reports<\/a> of the US National Security Agency\u2019s PRISM program<\/a>. Specifically, she said the Internet was \u201cnew or uncharted territory for all of us.\u201d Merkel\u2019s words immediately became the target of a widespread meme. According to Der Spiegel, <\/em>#Neuland began trending<\/a> on Twitter within minutes, and images and gifs that poke fun at Merkel from different angles began circulating shortly thereafter. Some images cast Merkel as a luddite or \u201cInternet granny,\u201d while others depicted her as a futuristic imperialist with designs on the new world.<\/p>\n

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