1981
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Explorations in Media Ecology
  4. Volume 19, Issue 1
  5. Article
Volume 19, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 1539-7785
  • E-ISSN: 2048-0717

Abstract

Since 2016, a culture of participatory leftism has emerged on Facebook that has yet to be substantially documented. Scholars have established ideographic criticism of memes as a critical/cultural tool for analysis. However, there is little to no work on broader, systems-based analyses of alternative social media platforms, and the role they play in the creation and maintenance of political identities. These socially mediated communities, alternatively known as Leftbook (or Left Facebook), advertise themselves as places to learn about Marx, socialism and philosophies centred on labour, revolution and worker freedom. Research from traditional online group pages suggests there is a distinct split between neutral observers and harsh critics of Leftbook. These online spaces often result in odd, hilarious and peculiar behaviours that the untrained eye is quick to dismiss as meaningless Internet drivel. However, humour and satire have long been used tactfully by counterculture organizations/movements to communicate the absurdity of the status quo. For instance, Waisanen argued that unlikely sources of comedic rhetorical criticism creatively influence and critically reframe political discourse; guiding audiences towards new possibilities of insight and democratic civil discourse. Using Johnson’s explanations of memetics as a guiding theory, I discuss Burke’s various works on human paradox, identification, Dramatism and the comic frame to provide insight on notions of: identity performance, ‘slacktivism’ and burgeoning political resonance within this digital environment. I code preliminary themes of the post content of one Leftbook page, ‘Sassy Socialist Memes’, over the course of a month. My guiding research questions are ‘[a]s platforms such as Leftbook become environmental, how do they contribute to a mode of socio-political identity construction for members of the Left?’ and ‘[a]s extensions of political identity, how does the ‘Sassy Social Memes’ page impact experiences of political organizing and engagement?’.

© 2020 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/eme_00022_1
2020-03-01
2023-06-03
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Altheide, D. L., and Schneider, C. J.. ( 2013), Qualitative Media Analysis, Los Angeles and CA:: Sage Publications;.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Burke, K.. ( 1937), Attitudes toward History, , 9th ed.., Boston, MA:: Beacon Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Burke, K.. ( [1945, 1950] 1961), A Grammar of Motives and a Rhetoric of Motives, , 1961 ed.., Cleveland, OH:: Meridian Books and The World Publishing Company;.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Burke, K.. ( 1968;), ‘ Dramatism. ’, in D. L. Sills. (ed.), The International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, New York:: Macmillan and The Free Press;, pp. 445–52.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Burke, K.. ( 1984), Attitudes toward History, , 3rd ed.., Berkley, CA and Los Angeles, CA:: University of California Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Cassidy, J.. ( 2006;), ‘ Me media. ’, The New Yorker, The Online Life , 15 May, pp. 50–59.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Cinnirella, M., and Green, B.. ( 2007;), ‘ Does “cyber-conformity” vary cross-culturally? Exploring the effect of culture and communication medium on social conformity. ’, Computers in Human Behavior, 23:4, pp. 2011–25.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Conroy, M.,, Feezell, J. T., and Guerrero, M.. ( 2012;), ‘ Facebook and political engagement: A study of online political group membership and offline political engagement. ’, Computers in Human Behavior, 28:5, pp. 1535–46.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Davison, P.. ( 2012;), ‘ The language of internet memes. ’, in M. Mandiberg. (ed.), The Social Media Reader, http://veryinteractive.net/library/the-language-of-internet-memes. Accessed 8 November 2018.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Dawkins, R.. ( 1976), The Selfish Gene: Richard Dawkins, Oxford:: Oxford University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Ernst, D.. ( 2018;), ‘ Jordan B. Peterson: Liberals are failing to police “pathological extremism”. ’, The Washington Times, 13 April, https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/apr/13/jordan-b-peterson-leftists-failing-to-identify-mar/. Accessed 10 October 2018.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Girard, R.. ( 1961), Deceit, Desire, and the Novel: Self and Other in Literary Structure, Baltimore, MD:: Johns Hopkins Press;
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Gladwell, M.. ( 2010;), ‘ Small change. ’, The New Yorker, 4 October, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/10/04/small-change-malcolm-gladwell. Accessed 10 October 2018.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Goffman, E.. ( 1959), The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, New York:: Doubleday;.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Goffman, E.. ( 1967), Interaction Ritual, New York:: Doubleday;.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Jenkins, H.,, Clinton, K.,, Purushotma, R.,, Robison, A. J., and Weigel, M.. ( 2006;), ‘ Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. ’, MacArthur Foundation, Chicago:: Digital Media & Learning: Grantee Publications;, 19 October, https://www.macfound.org/media/article_pdfs/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF. Accessed 10 October 2018.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Johnson, D.. ( 2007;), ‘ Mapping the meme: A geographical approach to materialist rhetorical criticism. ’, Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 4:1, pp. 27–50.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Karlsson, J.. ( 2017;), ‘ Leftbook is disingenuous, ineffective, and a byproduct of Obama-era politics. ’, A Medium Corporation;, 27 October, https://medium.com/@Jenny_Karlsson/leftbook-is-disingenuous-inneffective-and-a-byproduct-of-obama-era-politics-c0bf3f3f4c9e. Accessed 10 October 2018.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Kleinman, A.. ( 2017;), ‘ There’s an underground, alternative Facebook that you never knew existed. ’, Mic , 21 November, https://mic.com/articles/184265/weird-facebook-leftbook-explained#.awLOdah8W. Accessed 10 October 2018.
  20. Lorenz, K.. ( 2017;), ‘ Leftbook, we need to talk. – Kyri Lorenz. ’, A Medium Corporation;, 1 July, https://medium.com/@kyrianne/leftbook-we-need-to-talk-3991558e25d8. Accessed 10 October 2018.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Marwick, A.. ( 2013;), ‘ Memes. ’, Contexts, 12:4, pp. 12–13.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Mcgee, M. C.. ( 1980;), ‘ The “ideograph”: A link between rhetoric and ideology. ’, Quarterly Journal of Speech, 66:1, pp. 1–16.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Pedersen, J.. ( 2014;), ‘ Inside the inscrutable world of Weird Facebook. ’, The Daily Dot , 5 August, https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/weird-facebook/. Accessed 10 October 2018.
  24. Postman, N.. ( 1985), Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Dis-Course in the Age of Show Business, New York:: Viking;.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Reime, T.. ( 2015;), ‘ Memes as visual tools for precise message conveying a potential in the future of online communication development. ’, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Department of Product Design;, https://www.ntnu.no/documents/10401/1264435841/Design Theory Article - Final Article - Thov Reime.pdf/a5d150f3-4155-43d9-ad3e-b522d92886c2. Accessed 8 November 2018.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Rooney, C.. ( 2017;), ‘ Memes: Shared experience, implicit meaning and social commentary. ’, Glossi Mag, Stuff & Things , 6 June, http://glossimag.com/memes-shared-experience-implicit-meaning-social-commentary/. Accessed 8 November 2018.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Rosenmann, A., and Safir, M. P.. ( 2006;), ‘ Forced online: Push factors of internet sexuality: A preliminary study of online paraphilic empowerment. ’, Journal of Homosexuality, 51:3, pp. 71–92.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Strate, L.. ( 2004;), ‘ Editor’s note. ’, Explorations in Media Ecology, 3:2, pp. 81.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Suler, J. R.. ( 2002;), ‘ Identity management in cyberspace. ’, Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 4:4, pp. 455–59.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. UrbanDictionary.com ( 2017;), ‘ Leftbook. ’, UrbanDictionary.com , 8 May, https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Leftbook. Accessed 10 October 2018.
  31. Waisanen, D. J.. ( 2009;), ‘ A citizens guides to democracy inaction: Jon Stewart and Stephen Colberts comic rhetorical criticism. ’, Southern Communication Journal, 74:2, pp. 119–40.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Zhao, S.,, Grasmuck, S., and Martin, J.. ( 2008;), ‘ Identity construction on Facebook: Digital empowerment in anchored relationships. ’, Computers in Human Behavior, 24:5, pp. 1816–36.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Zittrain, J. L.. ( 2014;), ‘ Reflections on internet culture. ’, Journal of Visual Culture, 13:3, pp. 388–94.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Bowen, Bernadette. ( 2020;), ‘ “Lol you go to gulag”: The role of Sassy Socialist Memes in Leftbook. ’, Explorations in Media Ecology, 19:1, pp. 23–36, doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/eme_00022_1
     [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/eme_00022_1
Loading
  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): ideograph; Leftbook; leftism; memetics; participatory culture; social media; socio-political identity

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error