Gavin - Social Media’s Son
Meet social media’s beloved baby boy, Gavin.
Gavin’s fame came to life on the the former Vine application in 2013 when his uncle Nick Mastodon started posting short clips of the toddler (like the one above) living his best, carefree life. Gavin caught the attention of millions because of his hilarious facial expressions, random comments, and the biggest factor of them all…
Just try to deny how adorable that kid is, you can’t!
Even if you are unfamiliar with Vine, I guarantee Gavin’s face has made an appearance on your screen. His facial expressions often translate confusion or shock, understandably this is why they’re very frequently used as reaction images. We learned in class that the reasons people share are the following:
- Social currency — will it make the user seem intelligent, funny
- emotions
- usefulness
- Stroytelling
Gavin checks all these boxes, all 4. His facial expressions are hilarious, they convey emotion, can be useful when you have no words for how you want to react, and they can set a mood to a story,
Nick seized an opportunity when he realized how much people enjoyed the toddler’s goofy behaviour. He saw this as a chance to integrate into the online culture. The building blocks of online culture is that content cannot become a meme without constant spreading. They grew in popularity fast because Nick kept posts consistent and authentic. In doing this, the World had the chance to witness Gavin grow and develop as a child before their very eyes. This is how he capitalized on the peoples’ obsession with adorable kids .The inclusion Nick offered of Gavin’s life was a brilliant because although it was little 6 second snippets, he’d film the most pure hearted and authentic reactions from him.
In class we spoke about how you cannot force the creation of a meme, the most popular memes were never premeditated or intended to become a cultural signifier. Gavin’s pure innocence and genuine reactions to the world around him is what makes him a meme machine.
Gavin’s uncle Nick is not the only person who decided to capitalize on Gavin’s meme status. There are multiple meme accounts dedicated to just Gavin. One account even racked up 25,000 followers.
It is evident the two have taken advantage of their vine stardom and successfully integrated into various platforms. Although they obviously cannot control the spread of Gavin’s photo meme, they have done a great job at keeping Gavin’s online persona alive, even after Vine died. Gavin’s success is due to his cute persona, consistency in authentic posts, and honestly, I think watching a child make sense of the world around them is a treat for everyone.
Enjoy.
