General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"The Left Can't Meme": How Right-Wing Groups Are Training the Next Generation of Social Media Warrio
Benny Johnson took to the stage at the convention center in Palm Beach, Florida, before an audience of cheering young Trump supporters in December to lead a session titled How to Own the Libs.
I ask myself every day: How do we own the libs? said Johnson, at the time a reporter for the right-wing Daily Caller. How do we do it in a way that makes a difference? Because these people deserved to be wrecked.
According to Johnson, the answer to that question is memes. These bits of humor or political propagandagenerally images overlaid with a caption designed to go viralare best known for littering social media, but some experts think they might have helped elect Donald Trump president. Or as notorious internet troll Chuck Johnson has said, We memed the president into existence.
Following that unexpected meme-driven success, well-funded conservative groups are making a more organized push to train young internet-savvy right-wingers in the art of meme-making, enlisting a growing army in what they see as the coming meme war of 2020. Turning Point USA, the conservative campus group that organized the conference, is merely one of these organizations seeking to sway hearts, minds, and elections via meme trainings. And its clear that when it comes to political memes, the leftwhich has never taken them very seriouslyis trailing the right badly, and falling even farther behind.
Snip
More: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/04/right-wing-groups-are-training-young-conservatives-to-win-the-next-meme-war/
Baconator
(1,459 posts)... but eventually they have to step outside.
Of course, sometimes that leads to assholes with memes on the brain as they shoot up a church or mosque (see NZ).
NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)The meme about the Pope endorsing Trump was shared over well 1 million times just on Facebook. The Snopes article debunking the meme was shared like 12,000 or 25,000 times.
And, just because it was shared 1 million or more times, many more than that saw the meme - I remember seeing it several times in 2016 myself, and I generally avoid politics in Facebook (I use Twitter for politics)
Response to Baconator (Reply #1)
Beartracks This message was self-deleted by its author.
RedSpartan
(1,693 posts)Shameless plug for my page, sure, but there are hundreds like it. I have yet to see a decent right wing meme.
Bradshaw3
(7,522 posts)What matters is if they work - and they have.
Mc Mike
(9,114 posts)Earl G destroys the repugs daily.
NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)but, right wing memes get shared millions of times between Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr and elsewhere.
Memes are huge with teens and 20 somethings.
Mc Mike
(9,114 posts)I have this site, e-mail, and apple tv youtube.
You probably have a better insight into ratios of shares and traffic, from personal experience.
But I think that there is a ton of bot traffic, not human traffic, inflating the righties' counts, fans, likes, retweets, etc.
I say that as a confessed luddite, not to be argumentative with a fellow DU poster who I think knows more.
marylandblue
(12,344 posts)The left isn't nearly as organized as the right.
awesomerwb1
(4,268 posts)And don't forget the right wing nuts also benefit from foreign troll farms with lots of resources.
LuvNewcastle
(16,847 posts)And RWers eat, drink, and sleep politics. They actually turn out to go to stupid meme-making conventions.
dustyscamp
(2,224 posts)DetlefK
(16,423 posts)In another forum, there was a sub-forum for funny memes and some guy posted a meme that was clearly based on the anti-semitic "greedy merchant" meme, with a jewish trader greedily rubbing his hands.
I called him out. "Dude. Delete that pick, it's anti-semitic, that doesn't belong here."
He tried to start a flame-war with me, how I'm the real anti-semite for thinking that the image is anti-semitic.
I gave him a link, explaining where the image comes from.
He ridiculed me, tried to provoke me into freaking out and insulting him. He threatened to report me to the forum-mods for harassment.
And I said... "Actually, I just reported you for posting anti-semitic content, in violation of the Forum Terms of Service. The mod will take care of you now. I'm out."
And all of a sudden he began to beg and to cry that he didn't mean it and that he's sorry.
Trolls don't want send a message, to make a commentary or art. They simply want to provoke other people into freaking out.
It's all about owning the libs.
LuvNewcastle
(16,847 posts)This is a bunch of playground bullshit. Some people want to spend their lives at recess.
awesomerwb1
(4,268 posts)I often bring it up with my friends how they need to be on social media pushing the Dem party narrative which includes memes.
Retweeting articles, retweeting breaking news, etc etc.
We're not just fighting against foreign troll/bot farms with resources. We're also fighting right wing nuts who both knowingly and unknowingly spread propaganda and can now create memes. And the quality of those right wing memes is improving.
Locrian
(4,522 posts)I think a lot of us are done with the memes - and becoming (hopefully) less influenced by them.
But I'm seeing the msm media more and more use them as jumping off points to try to appear relevant (cool, hip, etc).
And so it's an amplifier of the bullshit because of the lazy, greedy media
Very good return on investment for funding a few trolls.....
OhZone
(3,212 posts)I see about 10 brilliant anti-GOP memes every time I check Facebook, which is less often since my significant other gave up on social media before I met her.
She's wonderful btw.
LiberalArkie
(15,719 posts)The ones from the left require reading and thought. Look at the one on the home page. It takes more than a second to digest the message.
OhZone
(3,212 posts)Last edited Tue Apr 2, 2019, 04:53 PM - Edit history (1)
Examples -
Maru Kitteh
(28,341 posts)CaptainTruth
(6,594 posts)It's always attacks & put-downs of others.
It's one of the things about the right that I find most disgusting.
Initech
(100,081 posts)They can't win elections if they can't put down others. That's how they won in 2016 and if we don't stop it, it's how they will win in 2020. We have to fight back against this shit.
shanti
(21,675 posts)I don't recall behavior of this magnitude during previous R administrations.
Initech
(100,081 posts)If you see hate-filled memes or videos or anything else, do not hesitate to click that alert button. We can end trolling altogether if we do this.
BlueStater
(7,596 posts)They want to photoshop Trump's triple-chinned head on muscular bodies, let them. We have better things to do with our time.
LiberalArkie
(15,719 posts)Remember this one.
very effective for the left, but the right never got it.
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,357 posts)shanti
(21,675 posts)I've heard that before Do these morons realize that some of their family members are "these people"??
Apple Fritter
(131 posts)I feel like I am in a twilight zone because sites like Motherjones and other publications are finally analyzing this after two years...(wait 3 years?) Like they really didn't think the power of the meme was a thing? I find these huge institutions of journalists, politicians, and older media cannot understand the internet and all the new problems it's giving the human race. It's chaos and a pixilated frontier for many young people which is why I like it so much. But looking at these issues are a great leap in the right direction. So there is something called "anime right" going progressive and saying #yanggang because the want 1000 dollars and they like the guy because he's uh Asian? Asian=anime apparently. The right is created by various things. I would say many are there to be edgelords but 10-33% are really in it to be racist, fascist, or some kind hate-belief, and the rest follow the spiciest memes.
JHB
(37,161 posts)Liberal bloggers and sites (including this one) spotted the early "test marketing" of the swiftboat smear from monitoring RW sites, and tried to warn the Kerry campaign. People compiled lists refute the claims, from lengthy background pieces to boiled down taking points, that Kerry's people could use, and tried desperately to get the campaign to notice.
The campaign pros on Kerry's team dismissed the amateurs. Kerry was caught flatfooted by the smears, and his surrogates continued to be caught flatfooted in interviews (e.g., "Well I don't know anything about that"-type responses instead of counterattacking with "these claims are garbage and here's why" .