What do they have in common? The Simpsons according to the results of the national elections last sunday, Nick Vertis To Nikos Androulakis -except their name- and o Lambros Constantaras With social media users; Not in the real world, but in the internet world Generation Z manages and connects every day completely different things or people into one…. memes.

Now an integral part of digital culture, memes they could not but contain political content. But these are just humorous posts or can they involve young people in politics and even influence their preferences?

“Generation Z, familiar with technology and “cosmopolitan” since childhood, use memes to express themselves and
get in touch, he says. “K” teacher at the Department of EMM of the National University of Kapodistrias in Athens, Liza Tsalikis, pointing out that in the context of digital culture, memes constitute one form of interaction with politics and public affairswhich is immediately clear to the young public – the citizens of the world.

“In memes, we also see how humor and satire are an integral element of political self-expression.allowing meme content “travel” in different national and cultural contextshe adds, explaining that general experience that are now being shaped through digital culture on TikTok, Instagram, etc., create one common “vocabulary” used and understood by young people.

They interact but…

In foreign literature, scientists such as Kim Bernardino And Francis Solano, claim that memes make a decisive contribution to intensifying political debate and “encourage” the public to interact or argue on various political issues containing elements of popular culture and pop culture. This was already seen in the 2016 US presidential election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, where the use of memes took precedence in political messages in the Internet.

However, some communicators note that love for memes does not necessarily reflect the politicization of youth that interact or post such content on the Internet, as there is always a perception that memes cannot take elections as a serious issue.

Typical example PASOKwhich included memes in his latest campaign. In particular, the video about the 2023 national elections featured a lot of old Orthodox PASOK memes that circulate online and flood social media from time to time. Thus, the memes “summer with PASOK, summer with ND”, “Eurovision with PASOK and Eurovision with SYRIZA” and other variations of the unforgettable TV slogan “PASOK…good years” swept across our screens again.

“We know that visual content, such as social media videos, images, and memes, is associated with a much higher level of user acceptance and engagement compared to text-based content. Therefore, we can say with confidence that memes are much more likely to attract the attention of users in the election campaign,” Mr. Theoharis comments.

“Put simply, campaign management teams can use memes to appeal to young people, and then move on to potentially more effective persuasion techniques such as “microtargeting,” which is detailed targeting of political ads based on the characteristics of different users. , derived from other data that matches the user profile,” he concludes.

Memes and propaganda

Because of their emotional nature, memes sometimes facilitate polarization. Some scholars even link them to hyperpolarization, far-right activism, trolling, and the spread of disinformation online.

“There are organized groups that specialize in creating visual materials to convey certain messages. For example, some try to publish racist or misinformation memesthereby seeking to convey extreme views in a more digestible way,” says Mr. Theoharis.

This has raised concerns that young people may be more susceptible to absorbing or spreading misinformation online, but it appears that both adults and teens may notice it.

“Indeed, memes can be used for misinformation, just like everything else in digital culture. However, most of the time Generation Z understands the use of fake news and “discovers” it.concludes Mrs. Tsaliki for her part.