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Comment by CamelCaseName | Hacker News Reader

If I understand correctly, this article is just saying that there is a shift in graffiti from quantity to quality as people focus on creating better pieces that can be seen by many people online rather than being seen in person?

That seems like a great shift. Higher quality with the same (if not greater) level of exposure. What's the downside? Streets stay cleaner too, and less people get in trouble for a "harmless" crime.

The article also compares Banksy to Selena, I'm familiar with Banksy, but who is Selena?

I wonder if the next transition is to move away from physical graffiti entirely to digital graffiti (imagine a Wii remote style paint can directed at a tablet) -- as hardware prices fall this could be increasingly affordable, even for those with lower income, and definitely more affordable than getting in trouble with the law.

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> I'm familiar with Banksy, but who is Selena?

Probably Selena Gomez:

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/03/selena-gomez-ins...

Oh god no... Selena Quintanilla.

She died in 1995 and Selena Gomez is apparently the most followed account on Instagram. So, I am guessing that Gomez is the better answer. Only old fogies know who the hell Selena Quintanilla was (old fogey here, so, yes, I know the name -- but it doesn't seem like the best explanation here).

That's certainly possible, but you have to consider that comparing Selena and Banksy is apt, while comparing Selena Gomez and an underground graffiti artist would be... bizarre.

> comparing Selena and Banksy is apt

How come?

Banksy bought graffiti art into mainstream and Selena brought Tejano music into mainstream?

Just a guess.

But was does Tejano music have to do with the internet or instagram?

The full quote is "In other words, kids these days are less Banksy and more Selena." I am familiar with both Selenas and side with Mz. It isn't a comparison, it is a contrast.

Look at the context. The previous paragraph talks about how kids are making a name for themselves on Instagram and Youtube instead of on the streets. Selena Gomez made a name for herself on Instagram and Youtube.

Selena Quintanilla is still the one more referred to by only her first name. Despite Selena Gomez being much more relevant in the mainstream, a Google search for "Selena" still turns up results almost exclusively (excluding news) results for Quintanilla.

The context here is everything - including the zeitgeist. It's Selena Gomez.

(FWIW I'm not American and have never heard of Selena Quintanilla before who seems to be a very US/Mexico centric person and The Register is a British publication so...)

Digital "graffiti" would be purely an imitation of style and tools, though - I'm pretty sure that at least some of the appeal of graffiti is that you're not supposed to be painting there and could get in trouble for it, and also the fact that it places your mark on a definite bit of physical space. The latter is the only reason I can think of for e.g. tagging.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selena

was an American singer, songwriter, spokesperson, model, actress, and fashion designer. Called the Queen of Tejano music, her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mexican-American entertainers of the late 20th century. Billboard magazine named her the "top Latin artist of the '90s" and the "best selling Latin artist of the decade". Media outlets called her the "Tejano Madonna" for her clothing choices.[a] She also ranks among the most influential Latin artists of all-time and is credited for catapulting a music genre into the mainstream market.[6][7]

Did you just google "Selena" and paste the first Wikipedia result?

Because I doubt that all the rage among the hip, young kids of today is a Tejano singer who died in 1995.

She's a huge icon in the South Western states. It has a lot to do with larger Hispanic populations. I grew up listening to her. At this point she's become a cool "retro" 90's touchstone.

...And yet she's a good comparison when looking at Bansky... while Selena Gomez is a Disney product of no great note.

"This according to researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University in England, who said that as Instagram and YouTube have become more popular methods to share art, fewer young people are taking to the streets to make a name for themselves. In other words, kids these days are less Banksy and more Selena."

Banksy is being used to represent graffiti. Selena is being used to represent Instagram. Selena Gomez is the more reasonable assumption than Selena Quintanilla to represent Instagram since Selena Gomez has the most Instagram followers for any user.

Gomez may be a logical assumption but she has never been mononymous in the media; unlike Selena Quintanilla. It could be that the article is assuming that is the case? I am aware of 'both' Selenas but the elder is the only mononymous one. So it's a confusion of references.

Counter example: On the April cover of Vogue, Selena Gomez is referred to as Selena.

Possible salient point: Was her picture on the cover?

Given that she's featured on the cover, providing only her first name isn't in any way ambiguous.

http://www.vogue.com/slideshow/selena-gomez-april-vogue-cove...

Speaking as a millennial, all of my friends would immediately assume "Selena" means "Selena Gomez" in nearly any context. I've never heard of Selena Quintanilla.

If you don't know who Selena Quintanilla is, you might not a millennial. Perhaps you are Generation Z?

Aye, laddie, 'tis no true scotsman who doesn't know Selena!

I didn't realize I was on the tail end of millennials, but I was born in '93 and Selena died when I was one.

Old fogie here.

Selena Quintanilla went by the mononym 'Selena' and was a very popular Tejano singer in the early 90s. She was, very sadly, murdered at a motel in 1995 at age 23 by the president of her fan club when she confronted her about embezzling money.

Said women received life in prison for said murder.

There was a biopic movie made about Selena which was Jennifer Lopez's first role as an actress(1) (playing Selena, of course!) produced, in part, by her father. It was played all the time on Lifetime/Lifetime-esque channels around the turn of the century. Really, this movie was played -all the time-. I probably saw it at least 10 times just because it was on TV and there wasn't much else to do.

Any reference to just "Selena" I would assume was her because she was the only one who went by that monoynm. Gomez was never "Selena," she was "Selena Gomez."

In fact, in seems like Selena Gomez was actually named after Selena Quintanilla. At least according to Gomez herself.

(1) After, of course, her time as a Fly Girl. Which is performing, but not acting.

She has the largest Instagram following in the world, that seems to be of note.

"Spring Breakers" was not a uninteresting movie to act in and "13 Reasons Why" seems like a break out hit to have produced.

I doubt that article was targeting 'hip, young kids' who wouldn't get the reference though. Selena when used as a mononym as far as I've ever seen has never been used to reference Selena Gomez (they typically always use her last name) and has always been used to reference Selena Quintanilla. Selena Gomez own name may even be some parental homage to Quintanilla considering how old Gomez is. Even Banksy has been active since the 90s.

You are correct! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selena_Gomez#1992.E2.80.932006... "Gomez was named after Tejano singer and actress Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, who died in 1995."

Come to California (or Arizona, or Texas) and ask. I think you'd be surprised.

I lived in Texas from 1994 until 2011 or so - moved there when I was ten - and while I didn't really run around with a crowd that listened to much Tejano music, I have never once heard her mentioned.

Admittedly, her death took place before I was fully fluent in English - it's entirely possible that the wave of mourning had already ended by the time I would have really become cognizant of her.

Don't know what to tell you. I was living in San Diego at the time, and talk about her was everywhere. For years. And I'm not a Tejano music fan, it's just something you couldn't avoid if you lived/worked in the area.

That being said, I was already at the end of college/entering the workforce when she died, so like you said, I was probably at the right age to hear about it.

I can tell you than the last time I visited family in SD was last year, and there were still Selena posters/pictures/etc all over the place in the little corner stores.

Selena is timeless.

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