Internet paradigm II: Distributed media and Meme Warfare

Posted bySophie BrownPosted inBCM112, Blog

Media can be distributed thousands of ways across the internet. We have already covered some of the ways media is distributed through networks in last weeks blog post. This week we will dive deeper into distributed media and discuss how memes can be used as a form of warfare.

Distributed Media

Distributed media refers to the media that is distributed through networks online. This includes media that people online create, share and adapt such as memes. As we already know, memes are constantly being shared and adapted online. Because of their extensive reach on the internet, it gives companies the ability to use memes to portray a message that will reach a lot of people.

Meme Warfare

Meme Warfare is when memes are used to influence people to think a certain way.

“memes influence, affect, generate and alter ideas”.

CIA

Political memes are one of the key genres of meme warfare found on the internet today. Memes can be used to do as little as portray a politician in a bad light which can influence how people perceive them.

Once these memes surface their reach is limitless. They are open to endless sharing and adaption, giving the producers of the meme a huge opportunity to influence the online community.

References:

Mitew, T 2021, ‘Internet paradigm II: Distributed media and Meme Warfare, online lecture, BCM112, University of Wollongong, viewed 6 April 2021,<https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=IufUFmHACGI&feature=emb_title&ab_channel=TeodorMitew>

The Infographics Show 2020, ‘Meme Warfare-How Countries Are Weaponising Memes’, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM_mbQRodU&t=1s&ab_channel=TheInfographicsShow>

Behind the Meme 2016, ‘Who Is Pepe The Frog? The Creation And Origin Of A Classic Meme’, <https://www.youtube.com/watchv=zvgkGewzUq4&t=2s&ab_channel=BehindTheMeme>

12 thoughts on “Internet paradigm II: Distributed media and Meme Warfare”

  1. Hi Sophie, this was a nice and simple read! I agree with the statement you made about the way memes are an easy way to portray a certain message. They usually persuade us to feel a certain way about a topic and I think the craziest thing about it all is that anyone can create these. It’s pretty scary how fast memes do spread once they’re out and about which is what I also touched on in my blog. I liked the political memes u included, they made me giggle.

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  2. Good analysis on distributed media and meme warfare. I suggest elaborating further on how social media users engage with political memes and the distribution of propaganda platformed on social media without accountability.

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  3. Hi Sophie

    I think you did really good job at explaining this weeks topic, you made it very easy to relate to and I love the meme examples that you used, they are both humorous and relevant to the topic.

    Sianie x

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  4. Hi Sophie,

    I like your blog! It’s laid out very simply so that we can all understand your point of view, and you use some great examples to support your statements as well. This week we both discussed the ways in which memes can be distributed via the internet and the various ways they can be adapted. However, we approached this in two different ways. In my blog post titled Richard Dawkins: the ‘Meme’ as a unit of cultural interpretation, I looked at how memes can be distributed based on the extent of people’s interpretations while you focused on the effect of this distribution. Both of our remediations focus on how memes can influence how people perceive them and their limitless opportunities in distribution and audience reach yet they differ through examples. While you give examples of how memes can be interpreted through visual communication, my remediation provides an example of how a meme can be altered through a verbal communication perspective. I also found this article super helpful in order to understand what meme warfare was all about because it’s the first time I had heard of this term. It has a section that explores political memes and propaganda, so it could be useful to you if you want to expand on your paragraph point there, so check it out if you want to do some further research.

    Olivia 🙂

    My Blog Post: https://undertheaustraliansun.wordpress.com/2021/04/06/distributed-media-and-meme-warfare/

    Useful Source: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/how-memes-are-becoming-the-new-frontier-of-information-warfare/

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  5. Pingback: Week 6 Blog – BCM112 – Growing My Skills

  6. Hi Sophie! I really enjoyed your take on this week’s topic – especially the use of the presidential memes as examples. I similarly explained both distributed media and meme warefare in my post this week however I used YouTube as the medium to do so. Please feel free to check it out and give me your feedback! 🙂

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  7. Hey Sophie,

    I really enjoyed your blog post, I loved how you used subheadings to break up the post so it a lot easier to read. I like how you touched on political memes as examples of meme warfare. My blog post was very similar to yours as I spoke about political memes and distributed meme as well in my blog post. I found your memes quite funny and your blog post flowed very well and I understood everything you spoke about.
    Good job xx

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