War of the memes
The Filipino voters have spoken. We had the distinct chance of putting into national and local offices the political wannabes that we believe were worthy of our respect, trust and support. Thankfully, the election came without a major hitch, a far cry from previous elections. It was truly a remarkable and plausible electoral exercise. From the hugely peaceful voting, to the quick count that allowed the press to be more analytical and detailed in their reporting, to the tasteful, congenial and instantaneous concessions from Mar Roxas and Grace Poe the country merits a thunderous applause.
The weeks that preceded the presidential election though, were not quiet and easy to many netizens — particularly those that got entangled in heated exchanges of fire memes — either in support of or against a candidate. “The Silent Majority” and the “Dutertards” went head to head in toxic swaps of online diatribes and counter diatribes. Friends and family members have debated and argued with gusto, and to some, the disagreement ended with the decision to unfriend each other in the social milieu.
Meme conversations simmered down on the day of the election, but as I write this piece, the banters have peaked once again; this time between the followers of the vice presidential contenders, Congressman Leni Robredo and Senator Bongbong Marcos. The close fight to the finish between the two drove their factions to go back online and create memes to support their respective candidate.
Memes — pronounced meems, which rhymes with seems or teams — are fragments of the creators’ social, cultural and political spirit or mood ensnared in the form of bits and pixels. It is uploaded and forwarded via Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. They can come in different shapes and fashions — quotes, photos, graphic artworks, video clips or ads that get shared on the Internet.
Memes may seem garbage, a total waste of time and effort, done by people with nothing to do but to navigate the net for long hours. But truth be told, memes are big business. They form pop culture, alter the way we live our lives, and incessantly advance with contemporary civilization. They surely play a significant role in political campaigns. Brad Kim, editor of Know Your Meme, a website and video series, which uses wiki software to document various Internet memes and other online phenomena — explains, “Memes can turn some of the most trivial moments and gossips about the candidates into central talking points of the campaigns, which I think poses an interesting challenge for many sides that are involved.” Talking heads opinion-making and lampooning have been fundamental elements of election communication in traditional media, but they are barely as good or as effective compared to the magnitude of involvement that we’re seeing in the social media today.
To run for the Philippine presidency in the era of memes and other active social media usages and engagements is to endanger who we are, what we say, and what we do — including our mistakes, skeletons in our closet, and indiscretions. They will be framed in catchy visual images, altered, clipped, edited, re-mixed and re-mastered online in the form of viral memes.
The 2016 political campaign has demonstrated a more robust use of memes. Hundreds of them have formed niches on how to connect with Filipino electorates, provide support to a candidate or lambast or make negative points about a competitor. They have made surprising inroads — advances and hostile attacks — sometimes eclipsing a whole experience to the point that all we truly commit to memory from the political rallies, TV debates, and speeches are lists of links and hashtags.
Elspeth Rountree, co-founder of Know Your Meme, says, “There are tons of people watching like a hawk, waiting for the candidates to say something particularly funny. But these memes aren’t just about getting a laugh — they make a political point, too.”
Indeed, elections, anywhere in the free world, are chiefly well matched with the prevalent use of Internet memes because they attract a lot of attention. “If you look at history, characters and cartoons have been made as a way of expressing yourself. It’s about trying to deliver your thoughts or opinions in a different type of way,” Rountree adds.
Memes have, without a doubt, influenced the Philippine presidential election, although the degree of its impact has yet to be definitely established. But if the toxicity of the meme conversations that followed each TV presidential debate will be a gauge, we can say that the use of memes has unquestionably morphed into a powerful and impactful form for political campaigns.
The origin of memes. Traditional news platforms include a built-in delay due to certain obligatory must dos in news operations: fact-checking, seeking approval of story from news heads and ascertaining that news content is objective. Content creators and sharers through social media, on the other hand, are free to upload their creation instantaneously sans assessment or anxiety about any probable consequence. And due to their on-the-spot characteristic, memes can totally take the limelight out of the real position being formulated.
Emergence and virality of memes. Political contenders that have exhausted months or even years successfully campaigning c an, in a jiffy, witness their expensive traditional media campaign outdone by a Facebook blog or Twitter hashtag weighing in a single inaccurate data or misleading claim. And unlike the news reported by traditional news outlets, creators of memes tend to be nameless and aren’t answerable or convenient targets for affronted groups or affected campaigns to call them to seek clarification, contradict their views, or worse, counter bully them.
Memes versus broadcast or print ads. Memes achieve a number of things that the traditional news media can’t always deliver: direct distribution of news, extended audience reach, viral and easily sharable content, and the ability to focus in on ostensibly insignificant—but vastly shareable — visual and text ideas and sound bites. In addition, meme originators have a level of independence that the traditional news media can’t provide.
Brad Kim, editor of Know Your Meme, declares, “Election memes tend to have a lot more leeway in terms of what can be said and what cannot be said about the candidates, whereas the scope of coverage in the news media can be limited within the ethical boundaries of political journalism, like non-partisanship, or criticisms of media bias.” And memes are more than just funny images or controversial hashtags, they have the ability to actually influence campaigns and public opinion. It’s altering the modality of campaign strategy planning to win public support. “Today’s election memes are becoming tomorrow’s campaign slogans and firewood for negative ads. The actual impact of memes on political campaigns largely depends on the half-life of each meme. The debate-related varieties have their moments, but it’s doubtful as to how long they will be relevant,” Kim appends.
Memes anonymous. Meme creators characteristically don’t reveal who they are. Thus, it’s more difficult for political parties to blame, get even with, or disparage the creators like they can with traditional reporters and journalists. “While the finger of blame is often pointed at individual reporters or news channels for inaccurate or biased content, when a meme is shared by tens of thousands of people, the criticism that the content is biased or wrong is completely irrelevant,” Kim avers.
The boon and bane of memes. The influence of memes to immediately emphasize and pass around any representation or expression — creating campaign key messages and presenting people fresh points of view, all devoid of having to answer to anyone — is what makes memes so compelling. And this means that, well-liked memes can oftentimes shape online campaigns much more than established news outlets can — negatively or positively. This also implies that candidates have to be extra watchful about what they write or say since anything that surfaces out of their pens or their mouths could potentially morph into a viral meme —stripped of any context, taking on a life of its own, and potentially overshadowing an entire campaign.
Fair warning. The Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) of the Philippine National Police has warned all netizens, especially the “paid” ones, to avoid uploading memes against politicians, especially those who ran for national office. Once caught, we can be charged with online libel. Should a politician pursue criminal charges against individuals damaging his or her reputation through Internet, the ACG of the Philippine National Police said it could easily track down sources of libelous contents on social media. While we wonder how the police agency will do the monitoring and filtering work, we just have to toe the line and follow some rules.
Memes will for sure be a mainstay in our communication toolkits to support commercial and political products alike. The more people go online, the stronger memes will be. Memes beget money. Memes have helped produce fame and fortune for many people, converting non-entities to celebrities in a flash. We have indeed embraced them as a cultural phenomenon that spreads truths, lies, images, rumors, and audio or video files in the last election. And as we grow with them, there is an expansive array of things and feelings that fall under their umbrella.
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