Memes

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Memes

Wiki

Memes are “a group of digital items sharing common characteristics of content, form; created with awareness of each other; circulated, imitated and transformed via the internet by many” (Phillips, 2016).

Virality

Wiki

The spreading of digital content, such as images, videos, or links, in a short period of time through online media such as Social Networking Sites (SNSs) and electronic mail, shared by a large number of people.

a meme showing a character next to a graph labelled "stonk"

The Conflicted Interests of r/WallStreetBets: Political movement or “degenerates gambling?”

Article

Lucie Chateau

02/02/2021

14 minutes to read

What are "memestocks" and why have they disrupted the market? A look inside the subreddit whose short-stocking strategy has shaken up the world of finance and how its memes function to bind the community together.

‘5G users be like’: (In)visibility as evidence in 5G conspiracy memes

Article

Mijke Akkermans

09/09/2020

15 minutes to read

For several years, conspiracy theorists have promoted the idea that 5G waves are harmful for one's health, now even relating this to the coronavirus. This paper explores how memes are used to define (in)visibility as evidence within this theory.

Coronavirus memes: Laughing the apocalypse away

Article

Jana Nuiten

David Scholl

14/09/2020

10 minutes to read

As the coronavirus pandemic has taken hold, coronavirus memes have emerged. In memes, people find an outlet for being humorous and coping with the harsh circumstances they are living in at the moment.

An Instagram feed shows an alert about coronavirus, followed by a post that reads "we will feel alive again"

Memeing under Covid-19: On the phatic internet and collectivity

Article

Lucie Chateau

07/05/2020

16 minutes to read

This article looks at how our online communication practices have changed under the Covid-19 crisis. It looks at collective memeing, text chains and Boomer Images to reflect on what connections are being made in these extraordinary times.

Coronavirus and digital culture

File

The coronavirus has devastating effects around the world: it has stopped or at least seriously diminished offline social life. At the same time, the coronavirus produces enormous social activity online.

Pelosi and Trump: Choreographies of conflict

Column

Jan Blommaert

03/03/2020

10 minutes to read

Pelosi and Trump don't get along too well. A number of emblematic pictures document this conflict, and in each of them concrete body movements are sensed to tell the story.

Amplifying the far-right: Reassessing the case of Pepe the Frog

Article

Annick Walravens

14/12/2020

12 minutes to read

Pepe the Frog started as an innocent meme that became associated with the alt-right. In this article, I discuss how this happened through the hybrid media system.

OK boomer meme online culture generations

The discursive construction of the OK boomer meme

Article

Elle Lüchau

30/03/2020

12 minutes to read

In this article, I analyse the discursive construction of the OK boomer meme, examining its political and ideological significance and its different modes of use in a digital media system.