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| A screenshot of the timeline of my video project. |
Propaganda And Modern Political Memes
As a part of the course task, I made a two-minute video on old propaganda posters and modern political memes. The video explores the similarities and differences of these two mediums. I also raise questions on issues that fake news and political memes might have.
The video is mostly comprised of images of political memes and old fashioned propaganda. I found most of the memes either on google image search or reddit. For the first time, I actually downloaded memes to my computer. I downloaded some Russian social media material from this resource related to the Russia-US election interference investigation (didn't use any of it). I also did a little bit of research for the project, but nothing significant. I just checked some sources to make sure I was getting the facts mostly right.
The main focus of the video is just to raise questions on the subject and remind of the importance of scrutiny. I find a lot of political memes funny, but I think many containing fake and misleading information spread like wildfire on the internet. People unfortunately base their opinions on some of this false information. This Washington Post article that I've linked on my blog previously does an excellent job of illustrating the problem with this kind of messaging in social media echo chambers.
What I Learned
I think I had a pretty good image of what material of this kind existed on the internet. What continues to surprise me is the amount of fake stuff out there, and especially the fact that people fall for it. The similarities to old-fashioned propaganda are also pretty surprising.
You can see the cultural differences from the era of that propaganda to modern times. One large contributing factor has been the rise of 24/7 news coverage. Instead of dealing with ideas, we are dealing more with examples. People are generally looking for examples that verify their beliefs on various topics. Hopefully at least some are willing to change their opinion when new facts are brought to light that challenge their preconceptions.
Political memes are an exposition of the cultural climate of our time. Much like how the propaganda posters of the past attempted to portray the desired ideals of a nation, political memes are a reflection of the world we live in.
The main difference between political memes and propaganda is the perception of the source. Propaganda is always perceived to be from the government to direct the people. Political memes have, at the very least, the perception of being from concerned citizens. This assumption can be exploited, like with the Russian social media influence campaign.
Conclusion
Technically, everything that is attempting to change peoples political opinion is propaganda. I think the only way to remain objective is to constantly remind oneself of the fact that nothing is neutral. Everyone has an opinion and a bias. Expressing these opinions is fundamental freedom of speech. You don't need to agree with everyone's opinion, just hear them out.
If you feel passionate about some political subject, should you make a political meme on the subject? Think about what is the way in which you want to affect change. Don't believe that you can't make a difference, because you can. Individual action is always the beginning of change.
This was a fun project overall. I won't be releasing the video on this blog yet. I will maybe release it after the course is over.
Thanks for reading!
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