Meme language, its impact on digital culture and collective thinking

Abstract

Memes have become an increasingly common form of modern communication, which has recently attracted great research interest. In this article we analyze "language - memes", its influence on digital culture and collective thinking. The Internet, by expanding social content, contributes to the variability of cultural codes and consequently changes an individual’s cultural identity throughout life. The culture composed of cultural groups is defined as a kind of macro-code, consisting of numerous codes that are commonly used to interpret reality among members of the cyber community. Identity is also transmitted through the use of a specific language during interaction, which is a marker of discourse, in which Memes represent a distinctive business card. Linguists, as well as specialists in other disciplines (such as philosophy, anthropology) use each other’s work to study the interrelationships and mutual influences of language and culture. The study proposed a hypothesis about the influence of the Internet on changes in society’s thinking, the formation of the Internet culture and language, using the example of meme language, which is confirmed by the analysis of Internet survey. The interdisciplinary nature of the research is due to the use of mathematical method and the logic of meme language, its impact on digital culture and collective thinking, which is represented in the responses of respondents to the questions in online questionnaires.

Digital metamorphosis: Unraveling the evolution of global language in the technological culture

“…"Internet culture reflects a new area of language, placing it in the history of communication in the public sphere. Internet culture offers an analysis of the virtual world and the consequences of the mass thinking of society in a socio-technical environment, in which the Internet -culture, like the Internetlanguage, poses certain space-time problems" (Petrova, 2021). Online communities and influences are essential in popularizing new language trends and expressions.…”

“…Technology influenced people to adopt English as a medium for broad-world interactions. Petrova (2021) points to the growing prevalence of memes as a modern form of communication that is of great interest to researchers. This study examines the influence of memes on contemporary digital culture and their contribution to the construction of cultural identity.…”

Unveiling Namibia's Digital Humour

“…On the other hand, academics have criticised the language of memes and their contributions to language development. Petrova (2021) affirms this by asserting the negative side of memes language as it is sometimes hostile and promotes prejudiced attitudes towards individuals or certain groups of people, gender, and beliefs, just to name but a few.…”

“…To some extent, this signifies the importance of contextual beliefs. Petrova (2021) observes that with the use of the internet, the content of the memes may be understandable to every internet user irrespective of age, culture, language and nation, but Kostadinovska-Stojchevska and Shalevska (2018) and Grundling (2017) disagree by asserting that the understanding of internet memes cannot be declared as a global issue. In all corners of the world, there are certain specific characteristics, traditions, customs, cuisine, morals and ethical norms.…”

Toward a Phenomenological Understanding of Internet-Mediated Meme-ing as a Lived Experience in Social Distancing via Autoethnography

“…Internet memes serve as a shared collective language, but meme-ing also represents a single individual's embodied expression (Petrova 2021). Through meme-ing, one can convey ideas, personal experiences, and even worldviews, allowing others to glimpse one's individuality beyond mere appearance (Cavarero 2005).…”