Internet Memes & Climate Change Discourse

 Jevon Melvin

Dr. Estes

EN443 01 - History of American English

7 October 2021

Internet Memes: Contextualizing Framing & the Logical Perspectives of Climate Change

Due to the accelerated progression of online activism, the internet meme has become a prominent part of how the general public comprehends current social and environmental crises. Online communities have utilized the internet meme as a promotional and influential tool to share an ideology and to define issues through common or familiar concepts. Through applied linguistics, researchers examine how the new media landscape forms the opinion of the public within the climate change discourse developing on social media in specific. Andrew S. Ross⎼ from the Sydney School of Education and Social Work at the University of Sydney⎼ and Damian J. Rivers⎼ from the Future University Hakodate Japan⎼ implement this examination in a research article stating that internet memes “represent a multimodal example of user-generated content, where political commentary, satire, and debates over notions of legitimacy, for example, can be enacted”(A.S Ross & D.J Rivers 976).

 Memes have sourced the examination of opinion through the use of common media frames, exhibiting the “real,’ ‘hoax,’ ‘cause,’ ‘impact’ and ‘action’ frames”(979). The research applies media framing in the detection of implicit meanings and the general rationale of a person’s media language. In addition to Ross and Rivers’ research, media framing is the prime component that reveals the perspectives communicated in memes relating to climate change⎼ noted as the ‘skeptical’ and the ‘convinced’ logics (976). These main components (media frames and conflicting logics) help present internet memes as valuable contributors to how the modern world understands and perceives national issues or⎼ in accordance to Ross & Rivers’⎼“the social and political processes that informed the creation and sharing of the memes, as well as the nuances related to intertextuality and multimodality within a CDA [Critical Discourse Analysis] approach”(980).

Although these methods of the conducted research take equal accounts of each meme, the outcomes of frame and logic are different. For example, the Condescending Wonka meme that reads, “Oh you think climate change is a hoax? Tell me how you’re smarter than science”, uses the ‘hoax’ frame and the ‘convinced’ logic, questioning the audience’s belief in climate change to be a hoax while expressing their convinced opinion on the discourse (984). Another example uses the same Wonka meme and reads, “So man causes climate change… Do tell me how SUVs caused an ice age”, which applies the ‘cause’ frame and the ‘skeptical’ logic. The meme presents the specific set by expressing a skeptical tone of language while considering climate change to be a consequence of human activities, such as driving SUVs (987).

The applied framing and logic indicate the main attitudes and opinions that reveal a common stance on the specified discourse ⎼ , in this case, climate change. Internet meme creators have proven the value of their content competently, with research asserting the opinions invested in memes to be impactful forces of the audience and general public. The research article shows that, as Ross and Rivers explain, “meme-makers are able to clearly demonstrate their own viewpoint – in this case in relation to either the skeptical or convinced logic – on climate change”(991). The benefits of the research conclude that the environment of new media fits into the identities of media frames, unique sharable viewpoints, and the furtherance of future research.