Hello everyone!
When I began my research for my paper I thought “Okay, great! I have a topic on Memes, I am going to work hard, conduct research, and write an exceptional research paper.” Very soon I started to dig more, select sources and eventually, I started my paper. As I wrote the first three pages I stopped to reflect on my work, and it was a big “No” answer that came through my mind. I just knew that all that I had worked on until that moment was not going to be the best version of my work. It took only a conference with Professor Davidson to help narrow down my topic from “The toxic use of memes” into a specific matter and issue which to be honest I wasn’t informed much about it. I thought this was a very important moment for me as a graduate student to write a research paper that is going to serve as a valuable and informative material to my audience on understanding not only the value that memes have in society but also the propaganda that hides behind the use of memes. My research paper’s main focus is how the White Nationalists use Internet Memes to spread conspiracy theories and recruit young teenagers into extremist acts and movements.
As I was organizing the material and breaking down the main points, I wanted to include on my paper I felt as if I knew exactly what I wanted to write. And then there were moments where all of a sudden, I didn’t know if I’m writing what is expected of me. I would then cut down the writing, watch a video, read an article, read another one, another one, and more and more…until I reassured that I got educated and informed myself enough on this topic. I was enthusiastic to write a paper where I give my audience an answer to all their questions on this topic and I hope I did!
Reading into Richard Dawkins’s text, The Selfish Gene, which was published in 1976, I was able to apply and connect his framework with the use of memes in today’s world. Dawkins considered “memes acting as a unit of cultural transmission” to explain how cultural information spreads. (Dawkins 249) Given the fact that memes have become one of the most popular communication mediums for public and collective discussion in all social media platforms it was easy to relate Dawkins’s concept of “cultural transmission” with the way how memes spread among the members of culture to inform and influencing people around specific interests, ideologies, political views, and conspirative theories.
An important section of my paper was finding out how memes are used for propaganda and spread negativity. As a digital user, I have always shared memes with my friends that were “pure funny memes” to communicate something we encounter in our everyday lives. Never, have I ever thought that memes can be used for other purposes let alone to think that people can actually use memes to colorblind people and persuade them into ideological beliefs that turn out to be very harmful to society. I found more information on the 4chan forum, which is an online group where users can post anonymously and controversial topics. Although I had heard about this group before, I didn’t know that it was really known to the public and considered one of the main websites associated with white nationalism that promotes racism and extremist views. As I was researching more it became clear to me that members of these groups use memes as a vehicle for their rhetoric and its “humor” as an instrument to blur the “true messages” in memes. Their goal behind the coded racialized language in memes was to draw young adults into racist cultural production, movements, and the spread of conspirative theories. To support all these claims, I analyzed very closely the case of the QAnon rioters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUKEWl5TIr8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isucCrzOh3M&t=67s
Like many of you, I had no idea that the QAnon conspiracy theory all began through online anonymous posts on 4chan groups and by spreading memes online to recruit more people into their ideology. At first, they claimed they were part of the government with access to important information and later they declared that America was governed by a ” secret group of Satan-worshiping pedophiles” (Roose) and that only Trump can restore justice for our country. QAnon believers used memes that spread widely to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and all social media and in a short period, reached almost every online user from where they recruited more than 55 million people who believed and supported the QAnon conspiracy theory. When Trump lost the 2020 Presidential Election, his movement very soon escalated into a movement associated with crime and violence when the members turned what was supposed to be a pro-Trump protest into a terror and violent attack on the Washington Capitol where 10 people died and over 140 people were injured. The hardest part of my research paper was to analyze cases like Jacob Chansley who I bet you know. When you think about Capitol attack most probably your mind goes to the bare-chested men in a fur headdress with horns. Well, that is Chansley who referred to himself as QAnon Shaman.
I had a very hard time believing how a person like Chansley who studied religion, philosophy, and psychology and worked in a home to help troubled youths was prey of the online recruitment by white nationalists. While he has stated for a newspaper, that he regrets so much for participating in the QAnon movement he is still serving his time in jail after being charged with two felonies and sentenced to three and a half years of jail. In addition, I analyzed the “alt-right” movement, their online activism, and massive organization in social media. Specifically, I focused on providing examples that show how the alt-right members used memes as a strategy to recruit other young members into their propaganda and organize massive protests. While I loved the fact that I am gaining so much knowledge and providing rich information for the readers of my paper I also have to admit that it was very challenging to provide proof and develop my analysis with examples. So, I began to dig around in social media myself and found examples that I never heard about before. When I identified their main information, it turned out that there were research articles written about them and they were not as unknown as I thought. However, not knowing anything about them myself made me realize how dangerous the online space is for our society. One of the cases I analyzed was of the far-right extremist group known as the Proud Boys. Although the founder of this group declares that the members are just some “funny dudes” who spread funny memes and messages on social media the sources declare that 25 members of this group hold charges related to the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
The clearest example that I analyzed of propaganda and manipulation with memes that reached to recruit a considerable number of people into their movement is the “Boogaloo” movement which began with texts behind memes as a joke calling for violence. In 2020 members of this movement who through memes were spreading racism, misogyny, hate, and violence were charged with terrorism offenses, and a “plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer” (Thomas).
The most recent meme that I spotted while I was digging on social media is that of Kanye. Although we all know Kanye as an artist, I had no idea that his image was used on memes by white nationalists to recruit college kids. It all began in 2022 when Kanye spread Anti-Semitic conspiracy theories in his appearances on media. His declarations came into use by the white nationalist Nick Fuentes and his army of Gen Z trolls, known as “groypers,” who turned “Ye” formerly known as ‘Kanye West” into a meme to spread hateful views into the mainstream and college campuses. Kanye’s presidential campaign, #Ye2024 has helped to create a new network “Students for Ye,” which is used by Fuentes and “groypers” to persuade and recruit young college students into their radical movement. Groypers, also led the campaign “#YeIsRight” which spread a lot on college campuses and “appeared in a student organization fair at a Florida university” (Owen). If you just search #YE24 on Instagram your results will show racist videos, Anti-Semitic cartoons, and Fuentes and groyper’s logo “America First.” If you dig deeper, you are going to spot some bizarre far-right where Kanye was present like the one where he was wearing an executioner’s hood and where he admitted his love for Hitler.
The last portion of my paper examines the case of Pepe the Frog. I analyzed how the peaceful, fun frog cartoon slowly migrated into dark and racist iterations when alt-rights and 4-chan members began changing the usual mainstream of Pepe memes by adding offensive pictures and associating Pepe with mean and obnoxious messages. I also dived more into how Pepe’s image became the main meme symbol used for political purposes mostly by Trump which soon changed Pepe the Frog into “Trump Pepes” gaining tremendous popularity on social media and forums.
Overall researching this topic for my paper helped me to gain more expertise and knowledge on a deeper level about memes, their value, and their use in society. Like everyone in our class, I put a lot of thought, effort, and time into conducting my research and writing a well-developed and supported research paper. While this paper was challenging sometimes it was also fun to gain so much information on such an important topic. I am happy to share my newfound knowledge with all of you. I hope you all enjoyed my project and if you would like to read the final version of my research paper please email me at hasllani-avdiu@stonybrook.edu. I would be more than happy to engage in discussion and hear your opinions about this topic.