Meme Culture Reflection

Facts can be mediated in a number of different manners. Whether it be through major news networks such as MSNBC, or intellectually geared newspapers like The Wall Street Journal, accurate information can be disseminated across a plethora of different mediums. The assigned meme culture project was significant because it demonstrated that accurate information can even be distributed through unorthodox channels such as memes that are catered to current events. Although oftentimes funny, these memes convey accurate information in a manner that is easy to mentally digest.

Although meant to incorporate humor, my group’s meme culture presentation was rooted in fact, and aimed to give our audience an accurate description of events pertaining to hurricane Harvey. As a partnership, we thought it would be best to touch on serious events such an unemployment and homelessness through comedy. Slides of a bloated and uncharacteristically orange Donald Trump atop a satellite image of Hurricane Harvey, in addition to a photo of a sunglass wearing Steve Harvey, were incorporated into the project in order to grab the audience’s attention. However, from there, the presentation became more serious. Although the slides still showed funny images, such as cars attempting to drive in floods, and the faces of excited children eager for months off from school due to hurricane devastation, Adelaide and I worked hard to utilize local and national news sources all covering Hurricane Harvey. By incorporating quotes, and links to relevant articles, our presentation was able to include accurate facts and data. However, by injecting humor through the use of memes, I believe the audience was more relaxed, thus more receptive to the information provided for them.