The Meme Wars of the 2016 Election Were More Powerful than Fake News.
I am a Huge Fan of Memes and I Believe They had Just as Much Impact as the Supposed Fake News on the Results of the 2016 Election.
Memes, gifs and other forms of media are my favorite ways to get a point across. All of this talk that Fake News was the cause of Hillary Clintons loss led me down memory lane. The 2016 election was the first time the memes were weaponized and they did their job! Sure cartoons in newspapers were the memes of the past but the amount that we saw during the 2016 election just boggles the mind.
People today are headline readers. They have less of an attention span than a goldfish. This is why I suspect that memes and gifs had more of an impact on 2016 election than the so-called Fake News.
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Memes and Gifs Appeal to Our Inability to Pay Attention.
The imagery can be taken in, understood and we then form an opinion all within seconds. If you don't think repeated imagery can help mold your opinion you are wrong. Over the years my opinions and stances on issues have changed greatly and it is not because I all of a suddenly had an epiphany.
In 2016 we saw many groups in both camps go to war with memes. The odd thing I found was that if Bernie Sanders would have won the nomination I think he would have been elected. If you just looked at the memes and social media momentum he was clearly crushing Hillary Clinton. This election proved that the DNC and the media had it wrong from the beginning and put their backing behind the wrong candidate.
Some of My Favorite Memes of the 2016 Election Meme Wars.
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This is How I Felt During the Election.
I believe this was the first presidential election that was fought on the battle ground of the internet rather than on traditional media outlets. We have seen an epic shift in politics. The voters no longer have to get dressed and go stand out in the rain to have their voice heard. We can now sit at our computer or mobile device and create content that helps form opinions.
My Favorite Gif of the Meme Wars, What is Yours?
About the attention span thing... the other day I made a meme with two lines of text. People were responding as if they'd only read the first line. I guess I've gotta get to the point quicker now.
It sure is not getting any easier to keep peoples attention. When I make memes for clients I sometimes worry that there is too much text and your experience proves it.
Great Post. The memes are strong here .. keep fighting the good fight!
Thank you for stopping by. I would love to see Steemit be a source of great memes for all subjects.
The meme thing is getting worn out and tiring