Why do people believe absurd lies about George Soros? The answer depends on the platforms you use, the media influencers you follow and the memes you see.
You heard it say what?
Roman Stetsyk/Shutterstock.com
Imma let you finish, but there’s more to memes than you think.
In Chinese, the phrase “rice bunny” is pronounced as “mi tu” and has become a nickname for the #MeToo campaign.
Marcella Cheng/The Conversation NY-BD-CC
After the hashtag #MeTooInChina was blocked by Chinese authorities in mid-January, social media users made creative use of nicknames and emojis to evade censorship and highlight harassment.
What’s the meme war all about?
Star Wars Memes/Facebook
The term “meme” was coined in 1976. Today, these cultural artefacts have gone viral, and are redrawing the boundaries of acceptable political discourse.
“Have you seen what @realDonaldTrump just tweeted?!”
Flickr
The Politically Incorrect forum is bringing its racist vitriol to a website near you.
A still image captured from a video from the Tulsa Police Department shows Terence Crutcher with his hands in the air.
Tulsa Police Department Handout via REUTERS
A scholar of visual culture sees a transition happening online as the alt-right reinterprets images of police shootings to push back against the gains made by Black Lives Matter.
For Grumpy Cat, a random internet post led to global fame and red carpet appearances.
Danny Moloshok/Reuters
This scientific field suggests people have been passing along memes since long before the birth of the internet. What makes one bit of culture take off, while another sinks from sight?
We all use rhetorical structures. But, unless we’re skilled in their use, as politicians and advertisers clearly are, we don’t necessarily grasp their full manipulative power.
News that the Conservative Party has been spending more than £100,000 a month on Facebook advertising has its supporters and rivals all wondering if this is money well spent. It seems like a lot of money…
On May 26, the day after Ukraine elected Petro Poroshenko its president, a meme surfaced on the Russian Internet (or RuNet, as it’s colloquially known) depicting Ukraine as a chocolate bar. A reference…
Clare Balding and Frankie Dettori take the challenge.
Anna Gowthorpe/PA Wire/Press Association Images
Now that every celebrity under the sun and every Facebook user has posted a video of themselves getting wet, it appears we have reached peak ice bucket. A trend that started as a drive to raise awareness…