The meme as a digital liberating singularity in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: an informational approach

Abstract

Unlike previous pandemics, the COVID-19 pandemic is unique in that, for the first time, social isolation is not isolation but a migration imperative. World 4.0, the digital society, has endowed people with a capacity for interconnectedness through using social networks for entertainment. In particular, stickers and memes, as founding grammars of discourses, narratives, ways of feeling, and imaginaries, can demonstrate, from an informational sociobiological approach, the phenomenon of memes in the COVID-19 pandemic. This article highlights the meme as a shock of laughter for the mind and body, becoming the phenomenon that has prevailed and strengthened throughout the pandemic. It proposes some reflections on the role of memes as a shock of personal enjoyment and reflection unveiling the contemporary social context. We present four moments of the memes during the pandemic, in the first the memes reflect the new emerging condition with subjectivities such as mockery, reduction, and denial. The second moment shows the unfathomable encounter between the person and the pandemic, where the panic in the meme turns into humour. The third moment shows the terror beginning to unravel. Here, the meme operates as a shocking power of laughter in epicconscious activity. In the fourth moment, the memes reflect the establishment of a new normal. The meme is already a vehicle for unexpected situations as a consequence of the pandemic phenomenon.

Quality of life in families under quarantine: a cross-sectional study in seven countries during the first outbreak of COVID-19

“…This may be explained at the multidimensional level of the QoL since interestingly the highest dimension was social relationships, even in Spain where the averages were low, and the pandemic had high peaks in infections and deaths, an average of 40 points in the QoL score. Social relationships have been seen to be maintained during confinement, and these relationships have been important vehicles for communication and emotional support worldwide, and as such, they have been preserved ( 32 , 33 , 37 ). During the period of restrictions established by the health emergency, populations must be protected and provided with truthful information and economic and social support ( 36 ).…”