Global Journal of Human-Social Science, A: Arts and Humanities, Volume 22 Issue 7

Social Media and Meme Trolling: The Impact of Trolling through Memes in Kashmir Muzafar Hamid α & Dr. Syeda Afshana σ © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue VII Version I 33 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 A Corresponding Author α : e-mail: muzafarganie.scholar@kashmiruniversity.net Co-author: e-mail: afshana@kashmiruniversity.ac.in Abstract - Memes have become part and parcel of everyday life. In the 21 st century, they have changed the way people can absorb and disseminate information simultaneously. The growth of meme culture has given people a remarkable space for trolling on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. This paper will analyze the impact of engagement through memes on the youth of Kashmir. That is why meme pages have become rich news sources for the youth. Memes have become an inseparable element of the internet lexicon. Trolls, along with memes, have replaced traditional news sources like newspapers as the key source of information for teenagers. Memes are now recognized as a cultural unit because they are passed down from person to person. Trolling with memes is a common trend now in Kashmir. Since, the people of Kashmir are very much fond of memes; consumption is high among the youth of Kashmir. Though memes are not easy to understand, they help gain more information than any other source. Social media in Kashmir has evolved into a new forum for discussion and debate on contentious issues, providing an opportunity to sway public opinion. It has many people who are end-users of troll memes and provide a forum for its creators. Using questionnaires as a tool of data collection, the research concludes that memes are used as a tool for trolling people, but their impact on people is not long-lasting, though it improves the digital engagement of students on digital platforms in Kashmir. Keywords: memes, social media, internet memes, kashmir, trolling. I. I ntroduction Memes ccording to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a meme is "a thought, behavior, or fashion that becomes a craze or is in the form of satire on any individual using a mix of photographs, text, or video combined and is used for fun.” This meme can spread through imitation from person to person within the culture or outside of the culture and carries its symbolic meaning and represents a particular phenomenon or theme (Merriam-Webster, 2021). A meme is a cultural idea, symbol, or practice that can be conveyed from one mind to another by writing, speaking, gestures, rituals, or other repeatable events. People who support the concept of memes as cultural units of communication define memes as cultural analogs to genes, as they respond the same as genes: they self-replicate, mutate, and can withstand selective pressures (Graham, 2002). A a) Digital Natives A Digital native is a young person who has grown up in the digital era, having grown up through computers, Internet, video game consoles, and later mobile phones, social media, and tablets (Prensky, 2001). The term digital native is frequently applied to millennials, Generation Z, and Generation Alpha; the latter two are sometimes referred to as "neo-digital natives," "genuine" digital natives, or "digital integrators" ((Wikipedia contributors, 2022)). Many academic scholars regard the phrase "digital native" as a persistent myth that is not based on empirical evidence, and many call for a more nuanced approach to understand the relationship between digital media, learning, and youth (Margaryan, 2011) (Bennett, 2008). b) Internet memes Memes created and spread through Internet from one person to another are known as "internet memes ." Internet memes are an element of online culture ( Börzsei, 2013). They are easy to create and do not require high technology to spread because social media platforms are enough for their dissemination. Internet memes are produced for any known or unknown person and can make that person famous within no time. They impact people from small children to the elderly (Shifman, 2013). In many memes, there are marks of popular culture (particularly in picture macros of other media), which can sometimes lead to copyright concerns. Many recent memes have bizarre, illogical, and non-sequitur elements and "dank" memes have evolved as a new type of image macro memes. Mimicry and remix are two methods that have been proposed for the spread of Internet memes (Shifman, 2013). When the original meme is remixed, it is altered somehow, whereas imitation occurs when the meme is copied differently from the original. The study's findings, ‘Online Memes, Affinities, and Cultural Production,' suggest that the internet contributes to a meme's durability (Knobel, et al., 2018). Memes do not have to follow a definite format (YS, 2022). Superimposing writing over photographs of people or animals, especially stock photos, can convert them into memes. Rage comics are a subgenre of memes that illustrate a range of human emotions and end with a satirical punch line (Boutin, 2012).