Memes and Metamodernism: An Analysis of a Medium

As smartphones and social media become increasingly pervasive in a technology-dominated world, a new medium of discourse is rising: internet memes. Internet memes evolve and become more self-referential and self-conscious, and new subcultures and genres of memes develop. Memes that address controversial and emotionally provocative subjects are becoming increasingly more popular, and a contradiction emerges from this: the medium of memes, one of humor, is at odds with its content. Analyzing memes through a lens of metamodernism helps us to understand how the medium operates interstitially, as memes oscillate between sincerity and irony. Additionally, a metamodern understanding of memes illuminates how memes can be used to manipulate groups of people, but also how memes can be used to facilitate community in a socially fragmented world.