First Draft of Paper #4: Rhetorical Inquiry of Self-Identity of Twitter Memes

Jose Mejia

Mrs. Reyes

English 1302

4/18/2017

First Draft of Paper #4: Rhetorical Inquiry of Self-Identity of Twitter Memes

Have you ever used memes? If you have, do you ever feel as if sharing a meme shows the type of person you are? Twitter is a daily used app that’s gotten international recognition, especially due to its popularity in transcending internet memes. A single picture, video or “gif” can lead to the beginning of an unforgettable, almost always humoristic meme. On social media platforms no one is able to show who they truly are. Memes however, allow anyone to show a true identity as to how they perceive themselves to be. The question that drives me to gathering more insight at on this is, how do memes allow users to construct self-identity on Twitter? Not only does a meme spark a trend, but it tends to spark debate and adds a charisma to those posting about it.

Debates seem to be sparked at a consistent rate in the present time, mainly because of the types of social Medias we’ve grown to use. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr are a few of the main platforms for which memes are able to make their presence known. A meme isn’t characterized as a ‘meme’ until it’s introduced and revolutionized by or from any sort of Internet platform. Whether it was you or the person next to you, a meme can relatively be easy to get a hold of because of the way the world is today with all the newest ways of technology taking over our daily lives. Since the beginning of the year 2017, memes have only gotten much more attention than ever before. Being a user of all these Internet platforms allows me to stay up to date with any sort of breaking or new information related to ‘new memes’. A Facebook user recently put up a calendar which showed all the months of this coming year. The months of January, February, and even March are seen with a collage of images in them. These images aren’t just pictures, but Internet memes which took over the entire month and brought upon an identity to anyone who used them throughout the entire month. This sort of movement is within itself a self-identity being presented because someone who themselves is a user of ‘memes’ created the image to signify the evolution of the Internet meme.

To have more insight on how memes characterize self-identity on an individual, having the knowledge of how a meme is begun helps with the process on how someone is perceived as to speaking in a certain way because of it. The more someone uses a meme to express their feelings or in response to a certain peer is self-identification within itself. Debates tend to spark because of memes, but not in a negative manner per say. Broader visual rhetorical images involving social disturbance are more incorporated in bringing debates up for discussion. In an argument however, memes seem to present themselves upon certain individuals to let the ‘meme’ “speak” in their part.

Analysis of Self-Identity Controversy

In order to further understand the way a meme is characterized when used by an individual, getting familiar with how self-identity is constructed is an immense asset as to how to know when it’s viewed as credible. A researcher mentioned that when knowing how to use a meme in a specific argument, not only do you use it in your own sort of persona but you gain credibility as to what it is you’re in favor or oppose of (Ding, Zhao). In compliance with self-identity, a person cannot be defined as to who they are by simply words in a social media platform. Many arguments are began through platforms and people have the right to their opinions through use of the affordances that are provided. Zhao explains, “Internet memes have become a resistant tool utilized by dominated groups to seek social justice.”(pg.4) the power invested in that statement by the author shows and solidifies the importance of how a meme is to our society and culture now. Not only does a meme influence itself in arguments and debates, but personifies itself to someone and gives them an attitude per say. According to Zhao, ‘memes’ are only expanding and the generation in which is involved with this movement, will only gain much more appreciation on how to influence the future of self-identity.

Visual Argumentation

Memes are in essence images that are taken and formalized into often a humoristic visual rhetoric. The expansion of a certain meme can contain a source of so much identity within itself, that when someone uses it to their opinion or advantage, they initiate somewhat an argument because of it. An author who was involved in an infamous riot kiss picture of a couple after a Stanley Cup Finals hockey game mentions that the picture, “sparked” an immense amount of debate because experts and several visual analyzers spoke in saying that the picture was, “fake” and “photo shopped”(Hahner). Furthermore, Hahner goes into specific context on this image and the impact it had on the society around it. The author states, “Accounts of controversy provide a productive avenue to pursue the multiplicity of arguments created by the riot kiss photograph” (pg.3). In retrospect with the previous paragraph, the controversy of the image is being shown as a debating situation. The image is controversial but what stands out the most about the ‘meme’ is that it wasn’t twitched or changed to be humoristic. The image itself was self-characterized in this case as a sweet moment of a couple sharing their emotions in a celebratory environment ironically surrounded by a riot.

  Discourse Communities related to Memes

            Certain groups or individuals characterized as being part of a specific society define themselves as being a part of a community. In this case, pertaining to a discourse community also incorporates the way they use such memes. In my previous paragraphs, I mention a writer by the name of Zhao. Zhao Ding is an Asian American, and when going into detail on what he mentions in his reading he says how certain memes are, “related to race”. Race is an immense contributor on as how a meme can be used. Not only is race defined as a discourse community, but really anything can be defined as that. Many scholars, mainly women have argued upon the injustice of females getting less recognition than the average male (Sam Sanders). Sanders in his research is explaining the meme showing contrast between Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton and their Presidential takes. This ‘meme’ caused a lot of debate because it showed humor, but the humor was then seen as a negative as to it was making fun of Hilary Clinton. Many feminism experts took this image as an insult to all women because of the way Clinton was getting seen by the public. Sanders mentions in a claim made by a feminist who favors Hilary, “women: can’t be funny, that they are calculating, stiff and that they are inherently unlikable.”(pg.7). Whether the meme was meant to be humoristic to all who saw it, a debate and an argument will always be brought upon any sort of controversial image.

             As I look upon the entire concept, I’ve learned that a meme isn’t really a ‘meme’ until society makes it into one. How we characterize it, is what’ll then allow us to use it context when having a simple conversation or even an extensive formal argument. This trend will only devour itself through Twitter at an alarming rate for the rest of the years coming by. Somewhere out there, there’s a meme being made without anyone realizing it. Are memes ever going to stop being popular? With the society we coincide with and the generation we live in, images, social Medias and extensive ways of communicating won’t ever stop. They’ll only get more complex and elevate immense discourse communities who choose to accept the ‘meme’.

Works Cited 

Sanders, Sam. "#MemeOfTheWeek: Bernie Or Hilary. Sexist or Nah?" NPR. NPR, 05 Feb. 2016. 

Hanher, Leslie A. "The riot kiss: framing memes as visual argument." Argumentation and Advocacy, vol. 49, no. 3, 2013, p. 151+ . General OneFile 

Ding, Zhao. "The Internet Meme as a Rhetoric Discourse: Investigating Asian/Americans' Identity Negotiation." ProQuest Dissertations and Thesis (2015)