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G. Bret Strauch |
When most people think of memes, they think of a funny Facebook post or a viral image.
But when one University of Arkansas 鈥� Fort Smith professor thinks of memes, he sees
an expanding form of communication worthy of extensive research and classroom study.
G. Bret Strauch (Bowers), assistant professor of English, has conducted research into memes as a form of communication since 2013, although his interest in the area extended back into his years as an undergraduate student at Youngstown State University. There, he studied famed biologist Richard Dawkins鈥� 鈥淭he Selfish Gene,鈥� in which Dawkins coined the term 鈥渕eme.鈥�
鈥淢y interest started as an accident,鈥� he said with a laugh. 鈥淚鈥檝e always been fascinated by Dawkins鈥� conception of memes. For Dawkins, memes were 鈥榯hought viruses鈥� which were responsible for evolution in society and culture. And as Internet memes became more pervasive, I became interested in how these humorous, simple images transmit and shape our society and culture.鈥�
鈥淭hey can affect society in different ways,鈥� he continued. 鈥淭hey can function as propaganda and disinformation, but can also function as a community and relationship building genre, or for cultural or political critique. It鈥檚 sort of a cheap form of advertisement.鈥�
Memes 鈥� a term referring to a humorous image, video, or group of text spread rapidly by Internet users 鈥� represent to Strauch a shifting mode of communication in the twenty-first century, one in which meaning is created through conversation.
鈥淲e see the development of the novel as a finished product, but we don鈥檛 see the negotiations behind the scenes like we do with memes,鈥� Strauch said. 鈥淵ou can see arguments between users determining the actual steps at which it fits the genre. So we鈥檝e never seen the negotiation as much as we鈥檝e had now.鈥�
Memes also serve as a case study of how content goes viral, and what qualities memes possess that make them spreadable.
Since beginning his foray into research, Strauch has published several articles on the topic, including articles published in New Media and Society and a chapter in the book 鈥淎 Sense of Community.鈥� Last month, Strauch was invited to speak at Kansas University鈥檚 Reason Fest to discuss memes and how they affect culture and society.
He has also incorporated memes into the classroom. In his Hypertext Theory and Practice class, Strauch tasks students with creating their own memes, giving them an opportunity to test the boundaries of the genre and understand what makes a meme work. While it may seem like just a fun class exercise, Strauch sees understanding memes as essential for students wanting to pursue careers in social media.
鈥淭here are so many content strategist-type jobs opening up that are focused on social media, and those positions rely on understanding why content spreads and how it spreads,鈥� Strauch said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 such a simple thing that gets created and redistributed. It鈥檚 easy to see how studying memes can benefit students wanting to become digital marketers.鈥�
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