LOLs of

Nations:

Understanding

Global Memes#LOLnations

ANDRES MONROY-HERNANDEZ @ANDRESMH

BEN VALENTINE @BENNNYV

ELENA AGAPIE @ELENAAGP

KATY PEARCE @KATYPEARCE

AFFORDANCES OF MEMES FOR POLITICAL DISSENT AND SUPRESSION

04

(a) a group of digital items sharing common characteristics of content, form, and/or stance, which

(b) are created with an awareness of each other, and (c) are circulated, imitated, and/or transformed via the

Internet by many users (Shifman, 2013)

MEMES DEFINED

#LOLnations

AFFORDANCES

OF MEMES

micro-macro sharing is essential to memes and is a form of networked individualismin which technology enables a new osmotic self that absorbs elements from multiple networks, which is personalized, while still networked (Wellman & Rainie, 2012)

often in the form of repackaging or imitation, remix or mimicry (Shifman, 2013)

SHARENESS

REPRODUCE

traceable and measurable creates competition (Shifman, 2013)

memes eschew attribution and the anonymity of them enables freedom (Davison, 2012)

COMPETITIVE & SELECTIVE

ANONYMOUS

#LOLnations

POLITICAL SUBVERSION?

Memes could play a role in political participation as persuasion or advocacy; grassroots action; cheap; enjoyable; display of criticism (Shifman, 2013)

And memes certainly are part of political subversion….

BUT THESE SAME

AFFORDANCES THAT

ENABLE MEMES USED

AS TOOLS OF

SUBVERSIONS ARE THE

SAME AFFORDANCES

THAT MAKE THEM

TOOLS OF

REPRESSION.#LOLnations

DICTATOR TOOLS OF CONTROL

BOASTING SUPPORT

CONTROL NON-SUPPORTERS

THROUGH BLACKMAIL,

HARASSMENT, COERCION

CONTROL NON-SUPPORTERS

THROUGH MATERIAL

ENTICEMENT

CONTROL INFORMATION FLOW

STAGE POLITICAL DRAMA TO

UNDERMINE OPPONENTS

#LOLnations Schatz (2009)

STAGE POLITICAL DRAMA

TO UNDERMINE OPPONENTS

#LOLnations

STAGE POLITICAL DRAMA

TO UNDERMINE OPPONENTS

#LOLnations

CONTROL

INFORMATION

FLOW

#LOLnations

CONTROL NON-

SUPPORTERS THROUGH

BLACKMAIL, HARASSMENT,

COERCION

#LOLnations

COMPETITIVE & SELECTIVE

BOASTING SUPPORT

#LOLnations

OPPOSITION MEMES EXIST

Donkey Bloggers BulistanHeydar Aliyev

Facebook PageHarlem Shake

• Anti-government video

• 24 & 30 months in jail, 17 months served

• Satirical YouTube channel

• Conscription, harassment, beatings, family losing jobs, asylum

• Parody & meme Facebook page

• Administrators arrested a year ago today, trial still not over

• Harlem Shake video

• Participant arrested for hooliganism, trial ongoing

#LOLnations

• Memes are great. The ability to share, reproduce, and be anonymous are all affordances of memes that can be assets for those looking to politically engage, even at great risk.

• But all of these affordances, as well as the ability to quantify results, also allow dictators to stage political drama to undermine people, control non-supporters through blackmail, harassment, and coercion, control information flow, and boast about support.

• And when there is inequality in resources –financial and power, the dictators win the meme war. For now.

TAKEAWAY

#LOLnations

THANK YOUFOR YOURTIME

KATY PEARCE, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR,

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION,

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

@KATYPEARCE