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Meme culture has boomed in the last five years more so than ever before. Anonymous websites such as 9gag, memebase and Buzzfeed create satirical images and animated GIFS, which are updated hourly. But what do these websites mean for journalism and the way we receive and view our news?
It was a post on the website memebase.com that first provoked this thought.
This is ‘Socially Awkward Penguin’, a character that after going viral became a ‘meme’, which is accompanied by a caption describing awkward moments that people can relate to. As a training journalist I found it surprising that this received so many votes, that at least 3,390 of the tens of thousands who have accounts with this website had first heard of the earthquake in the USA through memebase. It made me wonder how many people received their news through meme websites.
Dawkins originally used the word ‘meme’ to describe an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture. The images we now call memes are usually funny because there is an element of truth in them, a way in which people can spread their ideas in a universal, simple and humorous way.
Political memes went mainstream during the fight between Hillary and Obama. Hillary, unfortunately, was prone to making the sorts of bizarre faces that lend themselves to memes, whereas Obama has remained almost inexploitable. Obama’s grace means rarely getting photographed looking awkward or pulling faces. John McCain however, didn’t possess the same talent.
A lot of the positive memes surrounding Obama during the election emphasize his perceived coolness and how stern his mannerisms are. Most of the successful memes approach touchy subjects like race without being offensive. Obama’s online profile became even more noticeable after the Bin Laden raid, the mission that appealed to the Internet for it’s success and the way the assassination seemed like something out of Counter Strike or CoD.
I couldn’t help but think that the election this year could be when meme culture is more than something we just laugh at online.
I read an article recently that dealt with a similar concept to meme culture. We all remember the incident whereby police lieutenant John Pike wrongly used pepper spray against protesters. Read the article here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/23/pepper-spraying-cop-photoshop-justice
Jardin cleverly describes meme culture as ‘Photoshop justice’. Since the incident lieutenant Pike he has since been christened “Pepper Spraying Cop” with entire websites (http://peppersprayingcop.tumblr.com/) dedicated to how strange the incident was. This is another great example of just how much meme culture has influenced the way people gain and interpret news.
The way in which meme culture has acted as a medium for news seems almost limitless. It’s a simple concept that really sums up the way most Web wags like their news. The posts provide a satirical approach to sometimes very serious political issues. Whilst I don’t think memes are a substitute for news, I certainly think they are a new channel that will continue to spark interest and create readership, especially in younger audiences.
