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A “meme,” as defined by Richard Dawkins in 1976, is an idea, belief or behaviour that is spread through a given culture or social system via social or information sharing.
Internet memes generally take the form of an image over which text is written and are, for the most part, intended to be humorous, often using sarcasm, pop culture references and puns to relay an idea or simply poke a bit of fun.
Professor of Communication Heidi Campbell, who specialises in the intersection of new media, religion and digital culture, along with a team of graduate students, analysed six different cases of Internet memes: “Advice God;” “Buddy Christ;” the Christian Meme Facebook page; Mitt Romney/Mormon Memes; Muslim Memes on Facebook; and “Tweeting Orthodoxies,” memes on an Israeli-Jewish Facebook page.
The study “Reading Religion in Internet Memes” was published in the Journal of Religion, Media and Digital Culture.
“Internet memes tend to boil down complex ideas into broad generalisations that can express popular assumptions or biases about religion, so that images and messages about religion often become over-simplified or distorted in memes,” Campbell explains.
“This helps highlight what people see as important or problematic in religion.”
She says religious Internet memes are created to emphasise both affirmations and critiques of God and religion. Continue reading.
Source: Tamu Times
Image: Andrea Terry
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