Silly jokes or game changers? A live international comparison of political memes.
Kernthese:
A live comparison between different international political memes. Aim of the discussion is to compare the characteristics and political impact of political memes from different countries with participants of re:publica. Result should a first step towards a clearer perspective on the value of political memes.
Beschreibung:
Silly jokes or game changers? A live international comparison of political memes. The last year’s elections around the world, from the US to Egypt, have witnessed the same phenomenon: the political meme. Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, David Cameron, Mark Rutte Mohamed Morsi, Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton and many others have all been memed. Although the internet is known for crossing borders and the texts from Hillary are world famous, it is interesting to compare these different international memes with each other.
Where did political memes have a real impact on the political debate? Who was behind the memes? Did they reach mainstream media? On which platform were they shared? It is time to compare the different to get a better understanding of this phenomenon. What better to place to do this then live at the re:publica conference? Where else do you find a wired, international and politically engaged crowd?
The discussion will start with a short introduction on the topic, including examples and an overview of the academic debate on memes. The main part is a live comparison between different political memes. Participants will be asked to introduce examples from their home country and these will be categorized. It is also meme possible to introduce examples through Twitter with the hashtag #politicalmeme13 (or something alike). Memes will be categorizes on different relevant characteristics such as:
- - platform: youtube, facebook, twitter, twitter etc.
- - target: opposition or government - creator: political party, known blogger, individual
- - reach: national or international
- - impact: did the meme reach mainstream media
- - impact: did politicians refer to the meme
- - type of meme: existing or new meme
The result of the discussion should a first step towards a clearer perspective on the value of political memes. What are the differences and similarities between the different countries? What does this mean for coming political campaigns? What can campaigners learn from this?
This session is interesting for people who are political active and/or interested. Participants will learn about the role of political memes in different countries and can find inspiration for political campaigns.
