The Role of Memes on Emotional Contagion

Abstract

Cyberspace, centered on social media, has dominated the majority of media consumption in the present age. An overview of users' communication patterns in social media shows that Internet memes have been used as a form of online rhetoric. In addition to global memes, each country and culture has its own memes that appear in the form of image, text, videos or their combination on online social networks and express social, political, cultural and economic issues as well as global events. This study builds on reviewing various research to argue that internet memes play an important role in emotional contagion (fear, anger, happiness, etc.). The repetition, sharing and trendiness of a meme among users indicate the transmission of a special emotion and feeling. Also, the degree of virality of the meme depends on the popularity, acceptability and importance of the meme’s message. To create a meme, users must pay attention to different factors such as time, character, attractiveness, desensitization, image and audience demand. Memes can be used in various fields such as politic, economic (marketing) and other.