How Memes are Ruining American Democracy

Propaganda has been a part of our nation’s political system for quite some time. For those who do not know what propaganda is, it is some form of biased or misleading advertised information used to promote a political cause, issue, candidate etc. Early propaganda consisted of posters with large thought provoking or even emotional images layered with only a few thoughtful chosen words to persuade someone towards a specific cause. For the longest time, the only way to for organizations, groups, and political parties to get their propaganda noticed was to hang these posters in public. There were obvious flaws in this method, as the only way people may see their message is if they are out and in the right place. However, ever since the first broadcasted news-cast in 1940, propaganda has evolved towards being promoted on our televisions. Now all these groups/organizations have to do is pay the news companies to advertise their propaganda. People are now able to be influenced by propaganda in the comforts of their own home.

With the rapid rise of the internet over the last 20 or so years, propaganda has taken yet another step towards increasing its power and audience. Advertisements on websites, blogs, social media, etc. can now all promote propaganda in the time it takes you to blink. Then came the memes. What started out as a form of media that was used primarily towards humor, quickly developed into a new form of propaganda that may hurt American democracy. Memes are humorouImage result for 2016 election memessly captioned pictures, gifs, or even short videos. Take for example, poor Hillary depicted in the meme on the right. Yes, while this may be hilarious for anyone who understands the context and reference to the movie A Few Good Men, it is certainly not constructive of a democracy in which we make decisions on candidates, issues, and other political topics based on hilarious ‘memes”. Let’s take a look at a few more memes from this past presidential election below.

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What’s important to note here is that political memes no longer make sense. Instead of displaying passionately well thought out messages, they have taken form of some sort of hatemongering humor that our society latches onto. Douglas Haddow, from The Guardian, notes how memes also favor an extreme perspective on political issues. He goes on to mention a study done by the University of Texas found “that individuals who are socially isolated and more likely to be characterized as “on the fringe” have a greater chance at creating a successful meme”. It is easy to understand that extremists, no matter what political party or entity you favor, are destructive to democracy. The gravitation towards extremism (by all sides not just republicans or not just democrats), is all being made possible by media such as memes. An important side kick to memes that we must not forget is social media. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are memes motor. Without these platforms, it is impossible for memes to have the same type of rapid impression that it has on its consumers. Also, because of the freedom that is offered by social media, literally anyone can create these memes with little to no information. As Douglas Haddow said in his article, memes are constructed and pulled from the basement of the internet. Essentially, anyone, at anytime and anywhere can curate whatever meme they want, with whatever information they want, about any political party, candidate, or issue they want. Despite all of this, it is important to know that memes have existed for quite some time now. It is with the rise of social media that has turned memes into uneducated hate mongering media that has negatively influenced millions of people. Perhaps it is time for some sort of control by our society to realize the devastation it could have on the future of our politics, but hey I’m just a college a student.

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/04/political-memes-2016-election-hillary-clinton-donald-trump

Memes: A new form of old-school propaganda