Digital History Introduction | Dylan Wilford
- Dylan Wilford
- May 1, 2020
- 1 min read
I am doing a historical project on the impact that the COVID-19 Pandemic has on meme culture in the United States, and how society uses memes to react to current events.
My project is to obtain a better understanding of what a meme actually is, and to see how current events (in this case, a pandemic) affects online meme culture. This will be the first time where a pandemic has occurred in the United States during the Information Age and with the prevalence with social media.
One of the biggest cultural influences online is meme culture. Memes have been one of the most prominent ways to communicate with social media users over the past decade. Memes have become such an established part in online pop culture that some often slip into the eyes of the mainstream. Memes are one of the most expansive cultural media and means of communication. There is freedom that you have with memes that is not shared in other types of cultural archetypes.
Given, it will be impossible to talk about every COVID-19 meme, its meaning, and impact. As said previously, memes are expansive. There are at least millions shared every day. With that said, I want to talk about the common models that are used in COVID-19 memes. Not the templates, but the emotion and sentiment made behind them. I plan to make blog posts and (perhaps some) videos discussing the meaning behind these memes, and how the outside world affects meme culture.
I LOVE this so much. First of all, this is an incredibly interesting idea. I think it's a brilliant idea that instead of taking an archival approach you'll be taking an interpretive one. For the nature of your project, interpretive makes much more sense--after all, you're right, you can't possible collect every single meme. Instead, it's much more impactful and meaningful to exam "common models" to draw a conclusion about the nature of Covid-19 memes as (more or less) a whole. You cut to the heart of the issue--the drive, the sentiment, the humor, etc.--behind them as a collection rather than attempting to look at each one you find at surface value.
My only suggestion (and you may already be…
This! is! so! cool!
Bruh I love how specific your project is, but also, it's so relevant that I feel the process you will go through will be very applicable to any meme. You're asking WHY someone would want to comment on this situation in a public way. And I think the emotional reasons someone would make, say a sarcastic meme, is relevant. And if that meme is relatable and viral? Yessir. Can't wait to read see your thoughts.
And how you present your project. Would totally encourage you to play around with different mediums.
Ohhhh I like your idea :D
Where would you be collecting these memes? Twitter and Instagram I assume?
Maybe also take notes on how memes from different platforms reflect different mainstream voices. From what I've observed on Instagram, even different meme pages radiate very different vibes in their covid-19 memes. And perhaps relate back to the typical users of these platforms.
PS: reaper guy such an icon