Analyzing My Sample

In this post I will bring back Shifman (2013) and week five looking at how strategies employed can influence how memes are understood and interpreted.

We saw a massive turn during the 2008 presidential election, dubbing it the first Web 2.0 campaign (Shifman, 2013). Memes are impacting the ways in not just how we find humor, but how we are informed and even the way we interact with the world. Shifman (2013) explains how memes can play a variety of roles: forms of persuasion, grassroots actions, and modes of expression and public discussion.

Shifman believes that memes can persuade us in the sense that they can affect the way we view candidates or political figures, impacting the vote (2013).  She also believes that memes can empower citizens to stand up and take political action. Thirdly, Shifman states, “Meme creation is an accessible, cheap, and enjoyable route for voicing one’s political opinions. As a result, any major event of the past few years has generated a flux of commentary memes” (2013, p. 123).

The reason why these ideas are relevant for my analysis is that the nature of my study is political, expressing political ideas and perspectives. All ten memes selected directly deal with political views, regarding race and or gender and the privileges certain groups have over another. These memes usually inform others of their political view; however, they can fall into the first category by challenging how we see political figures.

When looking at all the memes in my sample it is clear that all of them are political, usually sharing the opinion some have of those in power (or right before they gained more power). Also, because this was such a massive event to take place within the States, numerous memes were capturing this hearing, and internet users were able to create and share them with ease because it was broadcasted and shared for everyone to consume. There were a variety of outlets covering the hearing, there were hashtags employed by viewers, and images shared instantly from the hearing.

For instance, in sample meme number three shares not only the opinion of the user that created the meme, but also shows the opinion of many who viewed the meme and the hearing. This image is one of the most famous from the hearing; it was reproduced a variety of times making it accessible and cheap for users to utilize. Also, this meme always users to voice their opinion with users without much effort for them.

Also, in sample meme number seven we see how these memes can meet many ideals Shifman (2013) mentions, both form of persuasion and expression opinion. Regarding how this can be persuasive, this shows that those who are privileged are using their power irresponsibly and it is a shame that this is how they can act when others would be condemned if they acted as such. Also, this shares the opinion because there are some who believe in racial and gender differences are beneficial and fair; this shows the opposition’s side against this inequality.

With all of this said leads to the critical question: what does all of this mean and why is this important? Through understanding that memes can be more than a source of entertainment, that they can influence us in a political sense is imperative to understand. Memes can influence us, the discourse they create can influence us, these memes influence the emotions and thoughts regarding memes made regarding high-profile legislative hearings.