The world of online meme culture can often be an unforgiving place, especially when the messages pertain to contemporary politics or culture. While some memes are lighthearted or utterly meaningless, they are often times used as vehicles for people online to convey satirical commentary of events or as a means to mock a social trend. “Memers” use this tactic to express and spread their opinions online without having to tack their name to it, allowing them to avoid the same social backlash that they would encounter if they endorsed their opinions in person. An example of this phenomenon I will explore today is a meme that was spread around during the height of the “Blue for Sudan” social media trend, and how the message found in it conveys a broader statement about the reality of modern internet activism.
Blue for Sudan Satirical Meme (Image from https://me.me/i/well-boys-we-did-it-sudan-is-saved-what-you-b19d290516db48789d38c1287fb692c1)
On June 3rd, a military crackdown on protesters in Sudan’s capital left several dozen people dead, drawing criticism from across the world. This event would trigger amateur activists around the world to change their profile pictures on social media to the color blue, allegedly the favorite color of a victim of the shooting. While the trend seemed to sprout from good intentions, many participants were mocked for lacking sincerity or education on the topic. Some users were even accused by critics of being “sympathy scammers,” with many social media accounts being exposed for falsely claiming to be aiding victims in Sudan in exchange for online recognition. These revelations caused the movement to be widely discredited, and thus, the memes were born.
In the meme I chose to analyze for this specific example, the creator uses an edited picture of the “Penguins of Madagascar,” characters from the “Madagascar” movie and television franchise. The characters’ faces are all replaced by blue profile pictures, with the penguins meant to represent the participants in the trend. This is accompanied by the phrase “Well boys, we did it, Sudan is saved,” sarcastically implying that the movement’s online community believed it had effectively ended the oppression overseas.
While the message stated in the image above is fairly simple to read, it does contain logical appeal in regards to its broader message on modern society. By satirically depicting those with blue profile pictures as people believing that they had truly resolved the issue, the meme is able to paint the trend as naive, leading the viewer to see the movement as meaningless. By appealing to logos, the creator is trying to convey the idea that simply changing a profile picture does nothing to help the oppressed people in Sudan. It implies that those who are participating are generally apathetic, and only jumping on board with a current trend in order to feign some sense of righteousness. The meme is essentially jabbing at the perceived apathy of social media’s social justice advocates by drawing attention to the lack sincere effort in the “Blue for Sudan” movement and others like it.
Sudanese Flag from https://www.thenational.ae/world/africa/sudan-s-political-transition-remains-at-risk-despite-power-sharing-deal-1.883678
In my opinion, the message is conveyed well in the meme. It is a fairly complex message condensed into a short, satirical jab at popular internet culture. The seemingly simplistic joke does appeal to me in the sense that it makes me question the true motives of participants in online trends such as these. From a logical standpoint, it is unlikely that every single person, or even a fraction of the movement’s advocates could even point to Sudan on a map, let alone explain the situation and its relevance to the broader battle for human rights. Judging by the behavior of many on social media, one could conclude that this trend is not as much about helping the Sudanese people as much as it is looking like a better person for a large number of the participants. By calling this sort of reasoning to the attention of the viewer, the meme is able to discredit and ridicule the “Blue for Sudan” movement.
It is this sort of anonymous jab at popular culture that has allowed memes to become a legitimate advocacy tactic in modern politics. In recent years, online works of satire have become an increasingly powerful tactic in exposing inconsistencies or ridiculous aspects of society or the government. While this meme is a relatively obscure example of this phenomenon, online creators are becoming increasingly effective in appealing to social media users and poking fun at the world. Because of this, it is unlikely that this form cynical advocacy is going away anytime soon, especially if people continue to provide the online community with content to scrutinize.