Participatory Propaganda in Seven Simple Steps

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Clinton, but anyone could have made these – and
many more participated in their spread.
Memes (among other visual content) are among
the posts that perform best in terms of user
engagement on social networks such as Facebook.
Take the posts of Breitbart, for example. Breitbart
is a right-wing media outlet that supported Trump
in the election. (Indeed, Breitbart’s former head,
Steve Bannon, became a chief strategist to Trump
after he assumed the Oval Office.) In analysis
conducted by the Colombia Journalism Review,
while only 5% of Breitbart’s Facebook posts
contained images, those posts “accounted for half
of the page’s most shared” updates. 53
Memes account for a considerable number of posts
on community Facebook pages such as Wake Up
& Reclaim America, which were also expressed
supporters of Trump during the campaign. In
analysis of 1330 posts made by Wake Up &
Reclaim America in the month leading up to the 8
November 2016 election, nearly half were image
posts – and 65% of those photos were shared
by the page from posts made by other Facebook
users or pages.
Memes make for ideal inflammatory content in the
participatory propaganda model. Not only are visual
posts more likely to be shared online, memes can
help foster the appearance of grassroots support.
Given how challenging it is to trace a meme back
to its creator, campaigns can easily generate such
visual content and upload it via fake accounts.
Unsuspecting supporters will readily share memes
on social networks, encouraging participation
in a very low-impact manner. Average internet
users can also easily create memes to support
a campaign, thus participating in the spread of
propaganda more actively. In short, memes offer
variety in co-opting supporters in participatory
propaganda.
Post shared by Wake Up & Reclaim America from the Liberal
Wackadoodles Facebook Page