Meme Culture Reflection
“Fake news” is a very real and relevant issue occurring in 2017. With the amounts of paper news sources decreasing and with the plethora of online news sources percolating, it now easier for humans to release, manipulate or hack most any online source. So, how can humans now determine what is “real news” verse what is “fake news”? Although text is harder to manipulate on a reliable news source, editing and altering pictures is one of the easiest ways to create fake news online, and therefore, meme’s, although they provide humor, are something to enjoy, but are something to never take to seriously. To complete the meme culture presentation, my group selected this meme:
Clearly this picture is an edited picture, and can therefore, be considered “fake news” as President Trump cannot literally stand in front of planet Earth. The image of his face was taken from somewhere else and simply put on this picture where false text was also added. Linguistically, this meme is also classified as “fake news” as the Mexican government cannot physically “force hurricanes into the United States.” I believe this meme is successful because it flirts with humor, while also addressing topics that are relevant in today’s political climate – although fusing together the Mexican government and the hurricanes which have occurred in the U.S., is impossible and unrealistic. Today, the creation of memes can be best described as a release of tension from modern-day political frustrations and therefore, are created to appear similar to older political cartoons. On the one hand, although humans may hear the term “fake news” at least once a day, it is important to seek trustworthy news sources. On the other hand, the use of memes adds some satirical ease into our escalated political climate.
