Before the invention of internet, people used to have fun by playing traditional games and involving in traditional activities, and no one was divided on the basis of cast and religion. Just after the invention of Internet and other social networking sites there was a drastic change in the human behaviour which led to the diversion in the mindsets of different communities.
Yeah, I am trying to bring you towards the topic mentioned above i.e.
‘Impact of meme community on the biggest diversity of the world’
We all know that India is world’s second most populated country and biggest democracy of the world simultaneously. India is versatile in religion. People following different beliefs co-exist. Some of them are the strict followers of religion and are called orthodox while some choose not to be on the extreme side. People who are very conscious about their religion have sentiments towards their beliefs, which can be hurt if someone tries to provoke speak ill about them.
Role of Media
We all are well acquainted with the term ‘media’.
According to Google, “Media are the communication outlets used to store and deliver information or data. The term refers to components of the mass media communications industry, such as print media,
publishing, the news media, photography, cinema, broadcasting (radio and television) and advertising.”
Media play an important role in the democracy of our country. That is why, it is also known as the fourth pillar of democracy. Thus, it is helpful in establishing the democracy throughout the world.
Media basically is a platform which provides influential data and
information to the targeted audience.
Media play an important role in our society in creating and shaping public opinion and interest. It has become essential in our daily needs.
Social media and its Role
We say that Media is a platform of providing information and data in a formal way. Similarly, Social media provides information and data in an informal way.
According to Google, “Social media basically means human
Communication or sharing information on internet that occurs through
the medium of computer, tablet or mobile”
There are numerous websites and social networking applications that make it possible.
One of the most common ways of reaching people today is through social media. Anyone with access to social media can freely express their beliefs and viewpoints.
It serves as a great forum for critique. On social media, anyone can be readily criticised; on this platform, we can even criticise the government.
Social media offers a wide range of applications and powerful tools that go far beyond blogging and sharing images and videos. We can communicate quickly and effortlessly with our loved ones wherever in the world.
Memes have completely changed the face of social media.
Social media and memes are perfect for each other. Both concepts are
to connect people online, to communicate and propagate the idea or
thoughts from person to another. But just after the invention of memes
culture, Social media platform is being radicalized by the memes
community that put a great impact on the world’s biggest democracy
that is India. There is a common relation between social media and
memes though the impact on social media will directly or indirectly
affect the meme culture as it all are commenced from social media
platform.
How did the word “meme” originate? (Brief history of meme)
According to goggle meme is basically derived from a Greek word (pronounced MEEM), which means ‘something which is imitated’. The word meme was published for the first time in Richard Dawkins book “The selfish gene” in 1976.
Richard tried to coin out this word because he wanted to figure out that
whether there was a measurable unit describing how ideas are spread
and propagated through generation. Thus, he coined out this word
“MEEM” to an idea by comparing it with the word gene which means
physical trait.
What is a meme?
A meme is a concept, behaviour, or style that spreads from person to person within a society, often with the goal of expressing a certain phenomenon, subject, or meaning represented by the meme.
According to Google, the above definition is the most widely accepted definition of a meme. However, it does not appear to exist in the same way. It has been dramatically altered. In some ways, memes are poison to Indian democracy today. People who create memes and manage meme pages are members of the meme community.
From Where Did It Start?
During the initial stage, memes literally fulfilled its criteria. Very ordinary jokes were cracked, which were easily edible and might gain the audience’s trust. They used to parody college life, angry teachers, and irate families, but as time passed, it degenerated.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Meme
Advantages:
Memes have numerous benefits and drawbacks. Memes captivate the majority of people these days. The majority of individuals require goods that they believe will brighten their day by laughing at entertaining jokes in order to enjoy the concept of memes and stay updated on a specific issue. Because memes make light of current events, pop culture, and the gravity of the world, and our younger generation, in particular, appreciates this. Memes are popular because they have simple structures and are perceived to have high degrees of irony. When individuals become weary of being serious, they can laugh at anything, and the meme community is one of the most well-known places for doing so.
Political advantage of memes community
Memes can be useful if they can play a crucial role by developing memes against the governing state, even though they serve a crucial part in making jokes based on humour and sarcasm that make audiences laugh.
Some meme pages criticise the current administration for not implementing plans and making promises.
The audience for sarcastic memes is greatly impacted by the fact that these memes are based on empty plans and promises made by various political parties prior to elections but not kept while in power. The election is highlighted, but the government’s flawed policies or misconduct are not denounced.
Memes can also be used to expose corrupt politicians by creating memes about them. As a result, memes are beneficial and have a good impact on Indian democracy.
The image above is an example of a prime minister of India being chastised for a commitment he made before becoming PM. Before taking office, he campaigned on the slogan “Acche din aane wale hai,” but he failed to keep such pledges, and as a result, he is being mocked on social media memes. Instagram page of [source-trolls bjp]..
The above meme was made on the finance minister of India (Nirmala Sitharam) in which she is being criticised on the fall off GDP of the country and unsatisfying economic conditions of India.
The business use of memes
In addition to their various benefits and effects, memes are now a significant economic possibility because, in today’s advanced world, every company needs a tool for product marketing, especially for digital marketers. Memes have thus developed into a desirable tool for digital marketers to engage a web audience. The meme is an intriguing factor in how online consumers and sellers behave and can be a helpful tool for content distribution.
Products are advertised based on consumer behaviour in a way that affects the internet audience.
Disadvantages:
There are numerous demerits of memes which are described below in
points.
MEME COMMUNITY NOWADAYS
In today’s society, new memes are continuously forming, particularly among the younger population. Memes have now become a tool for our younger generation to enjoy and laugh at without comprehending the true meaning of the meme.
People in our fast-paced environment are oblivious to the consequences. They just love the material, but occasionally the memes truly hurt the sensibilities of many people, causing strife in society and spreading enmity among the people.
Memes nowadays have grown so materialistic that your friendship is sometimes assessed by the number of memes you tagged your friends in.
IMPACT ON HUMAN BEHAVIOUR AND SENTIMENTS
Memes were produced at random by some lethargic people sitting at a desk who were flawlessly good at jokes and tried to make fun of their buddies.
However, the issue emerges when the emergence of meme culture causes changes in human behaviour. Nowadays, human behaviour is being influenced by the filthy content of memes. People make their decisions by browsing at random photographs and contents on memes and leaving their opinions in the comment box without questioning if the material given is true or false. They are naively following and believing rumours spread by a meme page admin on various social networking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
The hidden reality of memes revealed when jokes were cracked began to damage broad sentiments since the so-called meme culture had largely devolved into an unpleasant game of racism and body shaming.
For example,
A random photo of a black person, someone fat or incredibly underweight, or even a transgender person is broadcast without their permission throughout numerous social media platforms with the comment “tag a specific person you want them to marry,” among other things.
And we kept sharing and liking and tagging these photographs, supporting the obscene material.
The image above is an excellent example of racism, as it shows how the meme community encourages racism by cracking jokes on random black people without their permission.
Also, jokes about singles are made specifically to make fun of them.
People who are single are mocked and teased. They are pushed to believe that society will not accept them if they are single, and that being single is an exceedingly low standard, so they begin dating.
Impact on religious sentiments
It has affected not just personal feelings, but also religious feelings. Jokes are made about many religions and religious activities. This ostensibly harmless meme culture has generated hate among individuals of other religions, destroying the country’s oneness. A country with unity in diversity is encountering such issues within its borders, where a specific faith is being ridiculed on social media by the meme community. Many meme makers in India make anti-religion memes for fun, but it damages the feelings of a vast audience.
Impact on politics of the country
Meme culture is becoming more and more popular day by day in this developing world and internet era. Each and every meme page on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc. has millions of followers with various mentalities. Thus, the admins’ dissemination of particular memes had a significant influence on national politics. They promote a certain political party through political campaigning and meme sharing; memes that portray a particular leader as weak are circulated, which has completely altered the perceptions of the undecided voters.
Memes are used by political campaigns to communicate with netizens (citizen of the internet). To generate material, paid bloggers, microbloggers, and commenters are hired. As a result, they generate material and opinions in the minds of individuals.
The content of these political campaigns’ memes has hijacked people’s minds. They trash the opposition party in their content and glorify the party that hired them.
They also slander the leaders of these parties, leading people to believe they are unfit to manage the state. Rather of campaigning directly for their leader, they dump the opposition by taunting them.
Political example from the elections in India:
There were two faces in the Lok Sabha election: Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi. During this year’s election campaign, many memes were produced indicating that Rahul Gandhi was weak, unwell, or fatigued. This was not a professional diagnostic or medical report, but the validity of his health was obscured by memes implying that he “lacks stamina” and is “not strong enough to do his job.” They also mocked him as “Pappu” and made jokes about him in order to influence others that he is a fiasco and that these social media freaks believe in false rumours.
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