“It’s unrealistic but relatable enough!”: Internet Memes and Communication

I. Introduction

A meme is a virally transmitted photograph embellished with text that pokes fun at various things and situations such as movies, culture, TV shows, celebrities, politicians and matter. Internet memes are an emerging form of discourse currently prevalent in online discussion forums, social media, and general Internet culture

Major proportion of modern memes are photos with supported captions, intended to be hilarious, often taken as a way to publicly ridicule human actions and behavior. In addition, other memes include videos and verbal expressions to enhance the experience of rich meme culture.

Some memes have heavier and content that is more philosophical and some others are materialistic. The culture of internet memes is noteworthy for two reasons: it is a worldwide social phenomenon, and memes behave like a communicable mass of infectious flu, traveling from person to person quickly through social media. According to Cecil Adam, “the concept of memes is either really deep or really obvious." ³

They are the internets inside jokes. They are believed to convey a feeling of familiarity or great relevance and depict a feeling of being a part of something bigger. The cultural knowledge you gained from years of watching television and browsing social media channels has now made it possible for you to understand and enjoy this joke. That secret ingredient turns memes from regular jokes to viral material. There various reasons for memes to be on the go-to moves of the average social media user:

They are eye-catching.

They enable users to express complex emotions and ideas easily.

They have viral potential.

They push you to paint your creative thoughts in more humorous colors.

They are easy to create and are just too much fun!

II. Review of literature

Information contained in the paper has been predominantly obtained from social media platforms, websites and law journals have been used:

“The phenomenon of internet meme”⁴

A research paper by Tory Williams

It talks about what memes are and how memes can be studied to understand the validity and use of memes, also to be able to understand Richard Dawkins, the person who coined the term meme, contribution to the meme culture.

“The constitution of India”

The construction of India has been referred to understand the

Law of copyrights that is a law made to protect the owner and his ownership for all sorts’ creations and findings.

Law of defamation that is a law made to protect the reputation and social position that might be spoiled due to incorrect information or rumors.

In addition, a few other legal issues that affect the meme culture are referred to from the constitution.

"A Defense of Form: Internet Memes & Confucian Ritual"⁵

A research paper by Nicholas Brown

This research article applies the basis of Confucian ritual activity to the process of replication of memes. It suggests that the value of art and ideas others must be considered in human interaction with such and that such items have the ability to promote relationships with our own personal experiences in life.

"Analysis of Internet Memes using Semiotics"⁶

A research paper by Aziz, Abdul, Turhan Kariko

This research article analyzes how internet users are attracted to Internet memes, as well as how the meanings of such images and videos form entertainment and social and political messages. Using semiotics, the researchers breakdown 5 different memes, and highlight the relations that exist between their images, texts, and meanings.

III. Research problem

This project work is an attempt to analyze and understand the process creation, impact on public, transmission, beneficiaries, and stakeholders affected by memes and its communications.

The main aim of this project work is to understand how memes affect the human mind and how they can help to bring social reforms. In addition, it shall help us understand relatable law and how creativity and humor can grab public attention and serve as an effective method of communication. Are memes the “Modern solutions for modern problems”?

IV. Scope and objective

The objective and scope of this project lies in understanding the effect and impact of memes in this era, the process of formation, transmission etc. It shall also describe how memes, which are a major source of entertainment to the people of generation x and generation y, can help bring a change, cast a social reform, or embed moral values. In addition, we shall understand the related laws and situations that bring different laws and the court into play. As a whole, we will understand how to socially as well as morally benefit from memes and how the stakeholders are affected.

V. Hypotheses

Memes as believed casts a positive impact on the society. They bring humor to our monotonous life. They stand as a perfect source for social reforms and can help embed moral values.

They are an output of creativity, intellect, and commendable sense of humor; perfectly edited and spread across on social media websites thee after they are spread person to person.

The major stakeholders include the person or the thing the meme has been made on and the maker of it as both of them are subject to risk from various laws, such as laws for defamation, rights, etc.

VI. Research design

An empirical research method is used to conduct the research. It is a data-based research where a combination of primary and secondary data helps substantiate the hypothesis that helps in defining the accuracy it. Along with the primary survey, research journals and articles previously published are looked into. Some statistical information as well is taken into consideration for arriving at the conclusion.

VII. Data collection

This is an empirical research method and thus primary survey, as well as secondary research data, is looked into and it is critically analyzed

VIII. Research methodology

The top to the down method of research is followed, providing qualitative data and in end, the hypothesis is verified for accuracy.

A sample of 50 people has been taken for the survey to analyze people’s perspective over the topic and to understand related issues, the survey has been conducted online hence it represents

IX. What is communication?

Introduction to communication

All humans have thoughts, ideas, feelings or information, which he wants to share with others. This he does through gestures, language, or some other means. The need for communication arises because men live with a fellow being. The word communication comes from the Latin word 'Communis' meaning 'common' and that when he communicates, "We are trying to establish commonness with someone". Thus, a process of sharing based on commonness establishes. Hence, each person involved in communication gains a common understanding of the meaning, intent and use of the message. Experts in different fields have defined communication in various ways. A few definitions by these experts are:

Leagnas says, "It is a process by which two or more people exchanged ideas, facts, feelings or impression in ways that each gains a common understanding of the message. In essence, it is the act of getting a sender and a receiver tuned together for a particular message or series of messages".⁷

Howland says, "Communication is the force by which an individual communicator transmits stimuli to modify the behavior of other individuals".⁸

Warren Weaver says, "All the procedures by which one mind can affect another".⁹

Anonymous, "Communication is the mutual interchange of ideas by an effective means".¹⁰

Anonymous, "Communication is a purposeful purpose, which involves sources¹¹, messages, channels, and receivers".

Brooker says, "Communication is anything that conveys meaning that carries a message from one person to another".¹²

Types of communication

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION

Based on

Style and

Purpose

Based on

Communication

Channels

INFORMAL

Informal communication is It is not backed by any pre-determined channels and can happen anywhere within the organization. The primary goal of this messaging is to preserve and establish relationships with colleagues, superiors, and subordinates. Since any channels, messaging moves a lot faster, do not define it but it is without any paper trail or official documentation.

,,,,,,,

FORMAL

The type of communication in which the flow of information is defined is termed as Formal Communication. It is communication through pre-defined channels set by organizations. The flow is typically conveyed from top leadership to various departments that funnels down to lower-level staff and employees. It backed by organizational procedure, and it is necessary to fulfill the goals of the organization.

VERBAL

Communication under the category of verbal can be spoken or written, or non-verbal i.e. with the use of sign language, body movements, facial expressions, gestures, eye contact or even with the tone of voice. The sender gives words to his feelings, thoughts, ideas and opinions and expresses them in the form of speeches, presentations and conversations. It can be divided into ORAL (face-to-face or distant) AND WRITTEN.

NON-VERBAL

Understanding the messages of anyone with whom you are communicating often involves more than merely listening to the spoken words. Non-Verbal cues, speak louder than words. Facial expressions, postures, gestures, proximity, touch - all of these non-verbal signals influence the way message is interpreted or deciphered by your partners in a communication process. These silent messages communicate your feelings during any form of inter-personal communication that you have with your seniors, subordinates or colleague.

X. What are memes?

Introductions to memes

Memes take a variety of forms, such as ideas, skills, behavior, and phrases. The transmission of a meme occurs when one person copies a unit of cultural information comprising a meme from another person or website and passes it over to his or her friends, via posts chats etc. The process of transmission takes place from person to person-through imitation, which is carried out primarily by means of verbal, visual, or electronic communication, ranging from books and conversation to television, and most majorly via the internet. Those memes that are successful in being transmitted there they become popular very easily within a culture. Internet meme that have to emerge and stay within the culture of the Internet have gained huge popularity and have been able to create an impact. Most often, they are pictures/videos and other media containing information that has been deliberately edited and altered by interested individuals. Although, intentional alteration violates Dawkins’s concept of internet memes. Despite their fundamental similarity to other types of memes, Internet memes are considered by Dawkins and other scholars to be a different representation of the meme concept. Originally, the word “meme” was coined by Richard Dawkins to describe how cultural information spreads. However, unless you are wandering through the halls of the nearby sociology school, when someone mentions the word “meme,” they are probably referring to a funny image or a video being shared on social media. The word “meme,” usually refers to the “internet meme,” a part of the general meme concept. Meme generators are scattered all over. They are free, simple, and accessible and they do not require any kind of tough computing skills or software installation. There is not even a need to waste time on choosing a font or trying to center the text – all of these preferences are already set. Mentioned below are a few platforms that can be used to make memes:-

Memedad.com ¹³

It is self-explanatory, ads-free and does not leave a watermark.

MemeGenerator.net ¹⁴

One of the most popular stage to showcase your talent, as it supports different languages, offers convenient sharing options and highlights a list of examples for each meme.

imgur.com/memegen ¹⁵

A meme generator by Imgur, it is a free image hosting platform. Which is very straightforward and simple to understand?

https://imgflip.com/memegenerator ¹⁶

It is fast, clear and easy to use. It allows users to create “private” downloadable memes that do not go online unless the maker wants to publish them.

Types of memes

Memes are widely understood by many people across the world regardless of their native language, and they help to build strong relationships within the socio-cyber community.

Memes do not just cross languages either – their relativeness also creates a feeling of belonging among certain internet users in particular age groups. Whether they are used to vent their feelings over certain socio-political issues or to reinforce their obsessions with prominent celebrities, memes are an easy and funny way for teenagers to communicate with their friends. Hence, the process of creation of memes; sharing them on social media and then tagging friends under specific meme pages has enhanced communication across the world has widely contributed to the success of globalization on digital platforms. Memes can be subdivided into certain categories, which can further be linked with law, communication, language, and management in various ways, namely:

1. Classic

In this type of memes, the text is written with the “Impact” font overlaid on a person/character. Text, in these memes, contains cultural references or jokes pertaining to a particular region.

It is believed that memes that fall in this category shall be evergreen and live-forever. They are considered to like real mascot and not lame jokes.

2. Dank

These are original, high-quality memes at the time of creation and they require context to understand and do not appeal to wide audiences due to content.

They tend to fulfill their purpose; in view of the fan club of that particular thing may it be a TV show, movie or just some reaction.

3. Wholesome

These memes often contain encouraging or uplifting messages and do not have irony. Encouragement and motivation in the form of a meme just add on to the message in a positive way. They here to tackle the depression; memes trend are the wholesome memes trend.

4. Surreal

These types’ memes force you to question everything. References to such memes are obscure. They do not have a descriptive particular meaning or quality standards, and cannot be judged on these bases. It can be called the abstract art or modern art of memes.

Sub-division of memes

For the benefit and ease of this project, we shall work on the below-mentioned sub-topics, which serve as the fuel for the creation of memes:-

Movies and shows

Usually, the movie trailer (or another form of advertising, e.g., print media – such as a newspaper advertisement) is the way “the hook” is implanted in the Audience.

Memes are formed by taking scenes or lines from shows and movies, which are then taken out of context, remixed with other content and have new meanings attributed to them in a funny and relatable manner. Meme content can range from complaining about the hardships of being a college student to expressing embarrassment felt during an encounter in a person’s daily life – something that everyone is able to sympathies with. (Refer to appendix A1)

Cartoons

Cartoons are one thing all of us have grown up with; therefore, we cannot part of it.

Hence, memes and cartoons put together to make the best of combinations possible. This happens only because the cartoons are relatable and every gimps of your childhood favorite cartoon brings back the feeling of belongingness and fearlessness, which adds on to the beauty of the meme. (Refer to appendix A2)

Politicians

Political campaigners use memes as a medium for communicating with the citizens. Paid bloggers, micro bloggers and commenter’s are hired to generate content. They thus create images and opinions in the mind of people. A recent report mentions that in Azerbaijan, the production and circulation of internet memes were included as a part of their social media strategy. Memes are used for propaganda to reinforce ideologies, identities, and stereotypes. Even during World War 1, these memes were used in the form of satirical texts, images, and artistic expressions. Poets and artists were hired even during those days to create cartoons and messages, which could be publicized through posters and newspapers. (Refer to appendix A3)

Celebrities

Memes can be an inaugural part of marketing, by marketing here, it is meant to be seen and to be known by more and more people. Celebrities have a life that is high public, each and everything they do, can make them answerable in front of the world; hence, they have to be careful. Therefore, it can be said that memes help in the publicity of the artist. However, the sad side of this jolly image also prevails which is the memes can be used to defame or to make fun of different people. This is legally incorrect and unsuitable. (Refer to appendix A4)

Situation and material

There are many spontaneous reactions or actions that people do at times if it is captured, it is converted into memes and after that is spread throughout social media. It is the same for materialistic things, one person with a sense of humor notices an object worthy of being mimicked upon, and it is taken into consideration and is used to make a meme. (Refer to appendix A5)

XI. Survey findings

A total number of 52 respondents have filled up the survey form, helping us reach to a solution; that is elaborated below: (refer to appendix A6. For the questioner)

It is believed that, pupil about the age of 17-19 have answered this survey, that becomes 22.9%.

It is being observed that the meme culture is highly liked and utilized in today’s social media addicted society.

Hence, it shall be considered that they are capable o leaving an impact on people’s mindse

It is observed that, if written in a hierarchal order the sources could be ranked in the below mentioned order:

1. Instagram health

2. Facebook

3. Tumbler

4. others

It is observed that out of the given options, option number 1 and option number 2 have been liked more.(refer to appendix)

It is observed that people believe that memes are misinterpreted. The rate of misinterpretation is 79-80% as per the survey.

This is unhealthy for the growth of the meme culture, and might also lead to difference between people belonging to different beliefs.

The survey results show that a majority of people, stand by the fact that social reforms can be positively supplemented with the use of memes.

It is observed that 77.6% people stand by this fact.

Yes, it has been observed that memes can create complications amongst people of different beliefs, as memes are based on critical things and situations, which might be interpreted differently by different people. About 70% of the people accept that fact.

It is observed that about 66% people support the argument that memes can work as a source of spreading moral values and equality in society.

It is observed that out of the given options, option number 1 and option number 3 have been liked more.(refer to appendix)

It is being observed according to the responses that people watch memes more often during the current period.

It has been recognized that memes do have a strong impact on the society as it relates to every situations possible.

It is observed that out of the given options, option number 2 and option number 5 have been liked more.(refer to appendix)

The survey results show that, it is very often that people come across memes.

And a majority of people that is about 19-20% of people come across memes very often.

It is observed that about 16% of people believe memes are often overrated, that is about 34.8% and often at 32.6%, which is a high rate.

It is observed that memes become often viral, as they are relatable to the viewers belonging to different backgrounds and mindsets.

It is observed, with the survey that the memes of quite often spread, on a rang scale of 1 to 5. It was seen that they are shared about 4 times out of every 5 times.

(Refer to the compiled result of the survey in appendix A7.)

XII. The relationship between memes and social change

Memes can be used in a huge variety of circumstances as they help us connect and feel like we belong. They serve as conversation starters and can even help smooth over a conflict or make a point due to their relatable and humorous content.

How do memes influence society or how social changes affect the evolution of memes?¹⁷

Memes Cover Various Mediums and Genres

As meme culture grows more pervasive, it also becomes more complex. Memes are used as a reference for various parts of a culture, and they come in many different mediums. At first, the internet memes were shared as text or image. One of the first internet memes, which were spread via email in the mid-nineties, was the Dancing Baby meme.

They are Easy to Get Into

Every meme mirrors a particular cultural or context and they are generally based on some knowledge or opinion about the world. Existing memes can act as a solid base for making new memes with improved relatability and humor and hence they can be used to cater to a larger audience, this also makes a meme popular.

Dark Humor Helps with Processing Stressful Situations

Most memes contain some degree of surrealism; they often address real-life situations such as relationship problems, parent-child conflicts, the difference between people of different cultures, poverty etc. Memes work as an effective coping tool for society, as they give us a way to express difficult thoughts. Sharing memes can give people the sense that they are not alone in their struggles, it also helps build upon interpersonal relationships and understanding amongst the people who share them.

Memes Form Social Connections

Memes serve as the bridge to connect online, knowing the right memes can help become a part of the group. It formulates a feeling of belongingness, and understanding between people. They help gain easy online influence, more followers and social media connections. In addition, there is no need for specialized technical knowledge to participate in meme culture, a simple image editor, which nowadays is available as an inbuilt software in Smartphone’s.

People of Color Benefit from the Meme Culture

Vine is an important part of developing today’s explosive meme culture, as Vine made it possible for teens and young adults of color to establish an online presence. It was an extremely influential platform among African American teenagers particularly. It popularized the idea of video graphic memes, which can be circulated outside of YouTube, although the time limit added on to the challenge of the video meme makers.

• Memes Can Become Propaganda

The simplicity and negligible cost of memes make it an effective and efficient way of spreading political ideas. This applies to various groups all across the political spectrum, with different ideologies. In addition, they provide simple answers to complicated questions and are likely to be seen positively. They successfully cause an emotional reaction, especially while employing shock humor. This is one reason why hate groups, to spread violent messages, use memes. Although memes might be framed as irony, the damage they cause is huge.

XIII. Memes and marketing

What is meme marketing?

Surveys show that millennia’s spend over 200 minutes online every day.¹⁸ Memes as believed are highly prolific and hence there is a good chance that people of Gen zers, come across marketing memes online.

This gives brands plenty of opportunity to engage with their audience. Trend show that people most often skip commercialized content put up for promotions hence brand marketing on social media has low engagement and brings low results.

If done properly meme marketing can be very successful, as it goes past boring branded content and provides something valuable and relatable to the audience. Meme marketing shall have success as memes are designed specifically for social media platforms and in addition to all they provide value through entertainment.

Another Plus point is that they are not over promotional or over dramatic as the content provided is little and pictorial which reason impact on the mind of the viewers and is believed to stay longer then text or sound in the mind of the viewers.

When business experts use mails for marketing they on the very first place highly cut down the cost of marketing, as there is no extra expenditure to spread your advertisement as it is circulated automatically if it is worth it.

Rules of meme marketing

Be a native

Be relatable

Watch your timing

Benefits of meme marketing

• Memes Are Inexpensive Content
• Memes Support a Sense of Community
• Meme-Based Content Incites Shares
• Memes Create/Support Brand Relevancy

XIV. Memes and the indian legal system

1. Defamation law

It is an area of law that is related to communications that might have an effect on the reputation of another person. The defamatory speech might harm the reputation of someone.

The aim of the law is to protect people from things that might ruin or negatively alter their livelihoods, because of false statements posted on social media or elsewhere against them. However, the law perfectly protects a person’s First Amendment right that is the right to speak freely without being liable to compensation or punishment for saying something insulting, making a mistake or disagreeing with someone else.

It seeks to protect the reputation of pupil by preventing defamatory speech that might harm a person’s reputation.

The implication of this is clear. “Always remember that it is very easy for you to be held liable for defamation by means of social media. So do not put yourself at risk by posting, sharing or even calling attention to defamatory material on social media. Finally, to guard against the risk of liability for defamation, a social media user should ensure that he or she is sufficiently covered by defamation insurance,” Du Plessis concludes.¹⁹ All though the defamation laws vary state to state, the prominent elements of a defamation case are:

• Someone makes a statement
• They publish the statements related to a third party
• Their statement causes injury
• It is not a true statement
• There is no privilege to protect the statement

It is necessary to understand that memes can be used for harassment as well as for hate speech and defamation of a person or a group of people put together. Although at times they are meant to be, ironic they end up damaging the reputation of people, which makes their lives miserable due to the so caused social harm; there are various examples of such incidents.

2. Laws of copyrights

Copyright could also be a right given by the law to creators of literary, dramatic, musical and inventive works and producers of cinematograph films and sound recordings.

In fact, it is a bundle of rights as well as, inters alia, rights of replica, communication to the public, adaptation, and translation of the work. There may well be slight variations within the composition of the rights looking at the work. Under section 2(f) of the Copyright Act, 1957 Act, a "cinematograph film" means any work of visual recording produced through a process from which a moving image may be and it includes a voice recording and visual recording and cinematograph" shall be construed as including any work produced by any process analogous to cinematography including video films. From the bare reading of this definition, it is clear that a film/ movie falls under the definition of "cinematograph film" under the Copyright Act, 1957 and the memes take direct referencing of the films hence it affects the making use and circulation of memes. As per Section 14 of the Act, “copyright" means the exclusive right subject to the provisions of this Act, to do or authorize the doing of any of the following acts in respect of a work or any substantial part of the work.²⁰

3. Other issues

There are sure instances that have raised considerations relating to the use of pictures in acculturations that go, infectious agents, which successively causes emotional distress to those net meme victims.

Kelly Martin Broderick’s image at an incident within the University of Maryland was created into unpleasant memes and she or he has fought back against such practices on the web. In another instance, the family of a down-syndrome boy whose picture was used on memes containing derogatory content has filed a suit claiming 18 million dollars as damages.

One of the defendants within the suit may be a station that conjointly used the photograph of this boy in their memes. Internet memes bring with them several legal and social issues, therefore it is advisable that one treads with caution.However, if the Courts step in time and disentangle the complete net of law close net memes, we will get some clarity on the matter.

Until then, it is advisable to think before you share because, on the Internet, someone is always watching.

XV. Conclusion

As per the Oxford dictionary, meme is “an image, a video, a piece of text, etc; that is passed very quickly from one Internet user to another, often with slight changes that make it humorous” ²¹

Richard Dawkins, who believed that cultural ideas are similar to genes and they could spread and mutate as well, first coined the word “meme” in 1976. This concept was first used in the book of Dawkins, called ‘The Selfish Gene’.

Originally, the viral images were simpler than the once circulated nowadays. They had no witty captions and were generalized, making them relatable to a greater bunch of people.

Examples of such old-fashioned memes are dancing babies and hamsters.

This happened because of the Internet and the opportunities it provides. You can send something to your friend and colleague in several clicks, and such an easy access to content contributed to its extreme popularity.

• For the Challenge of Business Success
• To Promote Awareness of Current Events and Issues
• To Make Money through Advertising and Syndication
• For successful Marketing

Memes became popular because they are inherently shareable form of content. In addition, they can further flesh out a brand’s humorous and peculiar image. With the right use of humor, you will build your brands trust with your essential audience as you begin to humanize your company.

Like many things in online culture, many easily misunderstand memes. Groups of people believe them to be completely irrelevant and others think that memes are dangerous and harmful to the way we communicate.

Nevertheless, the truth remains that memes are a tool for communication and they can be used for various purposes. They aid positive social changes, but can also be utilized to harm others. It is necessary to develop a realistic opinion of the power of memes as a medium of communication for now and for the future.

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XVI. Appendix

A1. MOVIES AND SHOWS

A2. CARTOONS

A3. POLITICIANS

A4. CELEBRITIES

A5. SITUATION AND MATERIAL

A6. QUESTIONNER

htps://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vAAg2i2a0nbkmzixTVpQtI85OLojTYgyuozwA73idZM/edit

A6. RESULT OF THE SURVEY

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