Fridays for Future and Mondays for Memes: How Climate Crisis Memes Mobilize Social Media Users
Modern protest movements rely on digital activism on social media, which serves as a conduit for mobilization. In the social media landscape, internet memes have emerged as a popular practice of expressing political protest. Although it is known that social media facilitates mobilization, researcher...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cogitatio
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Media and Communication |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/6658 |
| _version_ | 1797755586473885696 |
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| author | Michael Johann Lukas Höhnle Jana Dombrowski |
| author_facet | Michael Johann Lukas Höhnle Jana Dombrowski |
| author_sort | Michael Johann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Modern protest movements rely on digital activism on social media, which serves as a conduit for mobilization. In the social media landscape, internet memes have emerged as a popular practice of expressing political protest. Although it is known that social media facilitates mobilization, researchers have neglected how distinct types of content affect mobilization. Moreover, research regarding users’ perspectives on mobilization through memes is lacking. To close these research gaps, this study investigates memes in the context of climate protest mobilization. Based on the four-step model of mobilization, a survey of users who create and share memes related to the Fridays for Future movement on social media (N = 325) revealed that the prosumption of climate crisis memes increases users’ issue involvement and strengthens their online networks. These factors serve as crucial mediators in the relationship between users’ prosumption of climate crisis memes and political participation. The results suggest that mobilization through memes is effective at raising awareness of political issues and strengthening online discussion networks, which means that it has strategic potential for protest movements. By looking at memes from the perspective of their creators and examining a specific type of social media content, this study contributes to the literature on digital mobilization. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T17:48:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-418b2f4dcca542078c013cb944e48821 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2183-2439 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T17:48:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | Cogitatio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Media and Communication |
| spelling | doaj.art-418b2f4dcca542078c013cb944e488212023-08-03T10:05:21ZengCogitatioMedia and Communication2183-24392023-08-0111322623710.17645/mac.v11i3.66583069Fridays for Future and Mondays for Memes: How Climate Crisis Memes Mobilize Social Media UsersMichael Johann0Lukas Höhnle1Jana Dombrowski2Institute for Communication and Media Studies, University of Leipzig, Germany / Department of Media, Knowledge, and Communication, University of Augsburg, GermanyDepartment of Media, Knowledge, and Communication, University of Augsburg, GermanyDepartment of Media Psychology, University of Hohenheim, GermanyModern protest movements rely on digital activism on social media, which serves as a conduit for mobilization. In the social media landscape, internet memes have emerged as a popular practice of expressing political protest. Although it is known that social media facilitates mobilization, researchers have neglected how distinct types of content affect mobilization. Moreover, research regarding users’ perspectives on mobilization through memes is lacking. To close these research gaps, this study investigates memes in the context of climate protest mobilization. Based on the four-step model of mobilization, a survey of users who create and share memes related to the Fridays for Future movement on social media (N = 325) revealed that the prosumption of climate crisis memes increases users’ issue involvement and strengthens their online networks. These factors serve as crucial mediators in the relationship between users’ prosumption of climate crisis memes and political participation. The results suggest that mobilization through memes is effective at raising awareness of political issues and strengthening online discussion networks, which means that it has strategic potential for protest movements. By looking at memes from the perspective of their creators and examining a specific type of social media content, this study contributes to the literature on digital mobilization.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/6658activismclimate crisisfridays for futureinternet memesmobilizationpolitical participationprosumptionprotest movementssocial media |
| spellingShingle | Michael Johann Lukas Höhnle Jana Dombrowski Fridays for Future and Mondays for Memes: How Climate Crisis Memes Mobilize Social Media Users Media and Communication activism climate crisis fridays for future internet memes mobilization political participation prosumption protest movements social media |
| title | Fridays for Future and Mondays for Memes: How Climate Crisis Memes Mobilize Social Media Users |
| title_full | Fridays for Future and Mondays for Memes: How Climate Crisis Memes Mobilize Social Media Users |
| title_fullStr | Fridays for Future and Mondays for Memes: How Climate Crisis Memes Mobilize Social Media Users |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fridays for Future and Mondays for Memes: How Climate Crisis Memes Mobilize Social Media Users |
| title_short | Fridays for Future and Mondays for Memes: How Climate Crisis Memes Mobilize Social Media Users |
| title_sort | fridays for future and mondays for memes how climate crisis memes mobilize social media users |
| topic | activism climate crisis fridays for future internet memes mobilization political participation prosumption protest movements social media |
| url | https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/6658 |
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