Narratives that Promote Responses to Memes

To the right? To the left? Let meme decide for you!

That’s right, this week’s theme is politics and how memes are affecting how we decide, understand, and discuss our political situations. Before I continue with this post I want to take a moment to warn my readers that this post will be about the #MeToo movement, this may trigger specific incidents in which you wish not to think about or remember. Another warning, these memes are condemning this movement, so again if this is going to stir up unpleasant thoughts or feelings perhaps this post is not for you. Please take this moment and decide if you wish to continue reading this. Finally, understand that the memes and analysis of these memes do not represent the thoughts of me, the writer, I am merely completing an assignment.

How Memes Communicate Humor

Wait for a MEMEit! What’s going on in the world?

We have talked about where memes came from, why they work, and how they are shared. Now this week, I want to take it a step further and working on where specific memes come from, how recent news stories help attribute to the meme community. Also, this week I am going to break down the humorous aspect of this meme and what this all means.

What Makes a Meme Successful?

 Is it the shares? The content? What is it?

Shifman (2013) believes that it is the “six Ps” in which dictate which mems go viral or not. What are these mysterious six Ps that are here to help us crack the code? She says it is simply: “positivity, provocation of high-arousal emotions, participation, packing, prestige, and positioning” (Shifman, 2013, p. 66). It seems almost too good to be true, right? Well, what if I told you there is a lot more at play here than what meets the eyes?

What is a Meme?

But really! What is it?

Seldom do we ask what these actually are, or their history. Most of us reference them in our everyday lives so it is important to understand their origins to better appreciate what we are seeing today in the media. This post is going to help you better understand what a meme is, and the difference between what an Internet Meme is along with that. Then we will wrap up with some stock memes and explain their history.