The meme is a capsule of knowledge that is absorbed almost instantly. This speed and penetration capacity, in our perspective, is due to the fact that it is based on previous knowledge, and can easily introduce new ones. It can reinforce ideas because, in addition, by making them laugh, it makes emotional connections or reaches pre-existing ones. Implicit memory is also a support for the meme.
In the meme above, the character choice alone, makes the meme acquire a specific tone, it suggests insight and observation capacity. Everything we know about that character's intellectual capacities is transferred to the text and the idea encapsulated in the meme.
Then the text itself, first, uses the question and an insult, both are infallible resources to capture attention. Then he communicates an indisputable truth, that most people do not read extensive material, in which case, if we are not one of those people or not, we already agree with the meme and we are predisposed to receive the following information.
Then we have the way we present the sequence. The character's posture at the beginning, rebukes us from a safe distance, and brings us closer to a truth. In the end, the close-up gives force to the idea. The movement from the distance to the steady gaze in the foreground focuses our attention.
The colors, the font, etc. There are no limits to the amount of resources that can be used in an image.
Now let's get to the important stuff.
Translation: "What if I told you, there´s a war for your mind and memes are a weapon?"
" Memetic warfare, as I define it, is competition over narrative, ideas, and
social control in a social-media battlefield. One might think of it as a subset of
‘information operations’ tailored to social media. Information operations involve
the collection and dissemination of information to establish a competitive advantage
over an opponent. Memetic warfare could also be viewed as a ‘digital native’ version
of psychological warfare, more commonly known as propaganda. If propaganda
and public diplomacy are conventional forms of memetic warfare, then trolling and
PSYOPs are guerrilla versions."
"Cyber warfare is about taking control of data. Memetic warfare is about taking control
of the dialogue, narrative, and psychological space. It’s about denigrating, disrupting,
and subverting the enemy’s effort to do the same. Like cyber warfare, memetic warfare
is asymmetrical in impact. It can be highly effective relative to cost. The attack surface
can be large or small. Memetic warfare can be used in conjunction with troops, ships,
aircraft, and missiles, or it can be employed without any kinetic military force at all. It
operates in the communications battlespace."
We all know about trolls, but did you know that the UN0 has specialized personnel to study what they call "weaponization of memes"? Look https://stratcomcoe.org/publications/its-time-to-embrace-memetic-warfare/164
Did you know that part of the surveillance on trolls is to recruit them? Yes, just like with hackers, because a meme expert is a type of mindhacker. This "memetic warfare" is at least 10 years old.
Some publications of the same organization are extremely detailed about such uses.
Why do you think that in totalitarian countries, people are even jailed for sharing a meme? Did you think it was because some politician was offended, or damaged the image of some other psychopath in charge? A meme does that, yes, but as you can see. It does much more. It expands ideas, polarizes, tilts scales that had taken a lot of time and resources to manipulate. A meme is an exquisite weapon, so complex that it looks stupid, because the best weapon is the one that doesn't look like one.
A meme is a weapon available to everyone, it does not require millions of dollars, you just need some creativity.
Let's get to work guys.
