TY - JOUR
T1 - ‘It’s So Hard Not to be Funny in This Situation’
T2 - Memes and Humor in U.S. Youth Online Political Expression
AU - Penney, Joel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2019.
PY - 2020/12/1
Y1 - 2020/12/1
N2 - In light of the promise of humorous political memes as popular routes to citizen empowerment as well as concerns over their potential dangers, it is necessary to examine how everyday citizens make sense of their role in political expression and how they engage with them—or not—in their everyday social media activities. This focus group study explores these questions by focusing on the digital practices of U.S. young adults. The findings suggest a range of benefits of posting political memes and humor online, including building solidarity with likeminded peers and reinforcing communal identity, as well as advancing accessible and influential political critiques. However, these positive assessments are complicated by concerns over the relationship between political meme humor and threats of trivialization and hyper-polarization, which limit some users from participating in its circulation and lead them to seek alternative modes of online engagement that are perceived as more civically valuable.
AB - In light of the promise of humorous political memes as popular routes to citizen empowerment as well as concerns over their potential dangers, it is necessary to examine how everyday citizens make sense of their role in political expression and how they engage with them—or not—in their everyday social media activities. This focus group study explores these questions by focusing on the digital practices of U.S. young adults. The findings suggest a range of benefits of posting political memes and humor online, including building solidarity with likeminded peers and reinforcing communal identity, as well as advancing accessible and influential political critiques. However, these positive assessments are complicated by concerns over the relationship between political meme humor and threats of trivialization and hyper-polarization, which limit some users from participating in its circulation and lead them to seek alternative modes of online engagement that are perceived as more civically valuable.
KW - humor
KW - memes
KW - political expression
KW - popular culture
KW - social media
KW - youth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85074992401&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1527476419886068
DO - 10.1177/1527476419886068
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85074992401
SN - 1527-4764
VL - 21
SP - 791
EP - 806
JO - Television and New Media
JF - Television and New Media
IS - 8
ER -