INTERNET MEMES AS A PUBLIC REACTION INDICATOR and A FEEDBACK TOOL during the PANDEMIC

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is the main informational topic of our time. It is reflected both by the members of modern academia and by the broader audiences. The latter actively express their opinions in the virtual space, and one of their ways to comprehend the epidemiological situation in the world is the Internet meme. The scientific study of this phenomenon reveals the needs and the problems of the Internet audience, which is constantly expanding. The article aims to research Internet memes as public reaction indicators and feedback tools during the COVID-19 pandemic. The empirical material of the article is the content of the Russian media space from 2020 to 2021. To reach the aim, at the beginning of the article, the authors define the essence of the Internet meme, its functions, and its specifics as a tool of social reaction; based on the obtained theoretical information, they create an algorithm for decoding the symbolic structure of the Internet meme. In the main part of the article, using the created algorithm, the authors analyze popular Russian Internet memes about the pandemic. They consider feedback tools and mechanisms in the context of political communication theory, based both on Laswell’s classical positions and on their subsequent critique. The main method of the work is semiotic analysis applied given the linguistic and cultural features of the object. As a result, the authors arrive at the following conclusions. The Internet meme is a media object with a certain status which determines its popularity in the online space: it has a sign nature (verbal and visual components), contains an actual and humorous message created based on already existing cultural patterns. Therefore, memes fulfills not only entertainment and communication functions, but also a social one. The meme is a tool of sublimation and compensation for a person’s negative social and existential tension. As a consequence, the Internet meme can serve as a channel of feedback between individuals and also in the process of political bilateral communication between state and society. The authors confirm this thesis by analyzing Internet memes about the COVID-19 pandemic that have been created by Russian internet users since the beginning of the coronavirus infection. They have become popular in social networks and messengers in Russia. Most of these Internet memes focus both on the existence of the pandemic and on the state measures to prevent COVID-19’s spread. The very subject of ridicule on the part of the Internet meme changes parallel to the way the state introduces, changes, or abolishes certain protective measures. The creation of such content follows the same scheme: the meme author has a pattern already known in the virtual space, and s/he edits it focusing on events in society. As a result, the changed details of an image or an added inscription fill it with new humorous content. A lot of the Internet memes about the pandemic are sarcastic. Therefore, their semiotic decoding can be useful for public authorities: it reveals the cause of people’s discontent, the reaction of the population to governmental measures, and thus allows the use of this knowledge for better policy decisions and more efficient communication strategies for their implementation.