{"id":381604,"date":"2021-12-15T18:02:20","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T15:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/you-might-think-twitter-is-a-hellhole-but-its-memes-are-surprisingly-wholesome\/"},"modified":"2021-12-15T18:02:20","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T15:02:20","slug":"you-might-think-twitter-is-a-hellhole-but-its-memes-are-surprisingly-wholesome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/you-might-think-twitter-is-a-hellhole-but-its-memes-are-surprisingly-wholesome\/","title":{"rendered":"#You might think Twitter is a hellhole, but its memes are surprisingly wholesome"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3c5e5e453cb\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3c5e5e453cb\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/you-might-think-twitter-is-a-hellhole-but-its-memes-are-surprisingly-wholesome\/#Feral_hogs\" >Feral hogs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/you-might-think-twitter-is-a-hellhole-but-its-memes-are-surprisingly-wholesome\/#How_to_study_a_Twitter_meme\" >How to study a Twitter meme?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/you-might-think-twitter-is-a-hellhole-but-its-memes-are-surprisingly-wholesome\/#Why_study_Twitter_memes\" >Why study Twitter memes?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/you-might-think-twitter-is-a-hellhole-but-its-memes-are-surprisingly-wholesome\/#Learning_from_memes\" >Learning from memes<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#You might think <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> is a hellhole, but its memes are surprisingly wholesome<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>Have you ever checked your Twitter timeline and wondered what on Earth everyone was talking about? You step away for a few hours and suddenly your timeline is filled with people sw<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ing memes about an event you\u2019ve completely missed.<\/p>\n<p>We <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/jdsr.se\/ojs\/index.php\/jdsr\/article\/view\/95\">studied these \u201cmemetic moments\u201d<\/a> to understand how memes emerge quickly and spontaneously in response to key social events. We found they move even faster than we had thought, sometimes emerging, spreading wildly, and beginning to dissolve in less than a day.<\/p>\n<p>While Twitter and other social media are notorious as sites of abuse, racism, trolling, and other toxic content, we found very little of this material in our study of fast-moving memes.<\/p>\n<p>We think the speed of movement itself may provide less opportunity for negative engagement. Memes like these may be an underappreciated element of a positive social media culture \u2013 and give hints of how social media platforms can improve.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Feral_hogs\"><\/span>Feral hogs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We look closely at two memetic moments in particular. The most popular was the \u201c30\u201350 feral hogs\u201d meme, which started after a weekend of mass shootings in the United States in August 2019.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the shootings, and in particular the role of automatic assault rifles in the events, the musician Jason Isbell tweeted:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>If you\u2019re on here arguing the definition of \u201cassault weapon\u201d today you are part of the problem. You know what an assault weapon is, and you know you don\u2019t need one.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The tweet was popular, being liked and retweeted thousands of times.<\/p>\n<p>Among the replies, one stood out. William McNabb, who was not a high-profile user at the time, responded:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Legit question for rural Americans \u2013 How do I kill the 30\u201350 feral hogs that run into my yard within 3\u20135 mins while my small kids play?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The seeming absurdity of the response, along with the format of the tweet, made for ideal meme material. The jokes soon began, and the meme quickly evolved and began referencing other Twitter memes.<\/p>\n<p>For example, it could be remixed as song lyrics, or as alternative movie titles. While very funny, the meme highlighted the flimsy nature of some arguments for high-powered, rapid-fire weapons, and also led to a discussion of other serious issues, such as the ecological destruction caused by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/gimletmedia.com\/shows\/reply-all\/n8hw3d\/149-3050-feral-hogs\">feral hogs in many parts of rural America<\/a>. Feral pigs destroy crops and damage delicate native vegetation.<\/p>\n<p>As researchers, we had both watched memes like this appear and quickly disappear on our respective feeds many times. We wanted to understand how these memes functioned in the way they did.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_study_a_Twitter_meme\"><\/span>How to study a Twitter meme?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>To begin untangling the dynamics of these \u201cmemetic moments\u201d we had to take a slightly different approach to gather Twitter data. In the past memes were often organized by hashtags, but as that is now rarely the case we conducted searches of words associated with popular Twitter memes.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, we collected tweets containing the term \u201c30\u201350 feral hogs\u201d, finding a total of 54,086 tweets in the week after it first appeared.<\/p>\n<p>We then graphed these tweets over time to study the dynamics. What we found was striking \u2013 the memes appeared sharply and with immense speed, and were then followed by a quick decline.<\/p>\n<p>In the case of the 30\u201350 feral hogs meme, the initial peak only lasted 12 hours \u2013 less than one day \u2013 before it quickly dissipated.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center \">\n<p><figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px\" alt=\"The peak of the 30-50 feral hogs meme lasted less than a day.\" width=\"600\" height=\"492\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/437077\/original\/file-20211213-27-s3yj8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/437077\/original\/file-20211213-27-s3yj8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=492&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/437077\/original\/file-20211213-27-s3yj8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=492&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/437077\/original\/file-20211213-27-s3yj8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=492&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/437077\/original\/file-20211213-27-s3yj8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=619&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/437077\/original\/file-20211213-27-s3yj8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=619&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/437077\/original\/file-20211213-27-s3yj8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=619&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w\"\/><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.thenextweb.com%2Finsights%2F2021%2F12%2F15%2Ftwitter-is-a-hellhole-but-its-memes-are-wholesome-syndication%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: The peak of the 30-50 feral hogs meme lasted less than a day.\" data-title=\"Share The peak of the 30-50 feral hogs meme lasted less than a day. on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share The peak of the 30-50 feral hogs meme lasted less than a day. on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>The peak of the 30-50 feral hogs meme lasted less than a day.<\/figcaption><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/437077\/original\/file-20211213-27-s3yj8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" alt=\"The peak of the 30-50 feral hogs meme lasted less than a day.\" width=\"600\" height=\"492\" class=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/437077\/original\/file-20211213-27-s3yj8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=492&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/437077\/original\/file-20211213-27-s3yj8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=492&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/437077\/original\/file-20211213-27-s3yj8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=492&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/437077\/original\/file-20211213-27-s3yj8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=619&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/437077\/original\/file-20211213-27-s3yj8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=619&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/437077\/original\/file-20211213-27-s3yj8z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=619&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Some memes are driven by high-profile users who create a \u201ctemplate\u201d that is copied by other users, but the 30\u201350 feral hogs meme was the opposite. While Jason Isbell was (unwittingly) involved, the vast majority of the initial popular tweets were by users with small followings.<\/p>\n<p>The most popular of the early tweets were from user @BarbiturateCat. It replicated a dating site template, in which users can pick between being \u201cmale\u201d, \u201cfemale\u201d or \u201c30\u201350 feral hogs\u201d, and seeking \u201cmale\u201d, \u201cfemale\u201d or \u201ca yard with unsupervised small children to run into within 3\u20135 minutes\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Another popular tweet was from the user @nomiddlesliders who, riffing off the song Paradise City by Guns N\u2019 Roses, tweeted: \u201ctake me down to the paradise city where the hogs are feral and there\u2019s 30\u201350\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>From here, the meme developed in a range of different directions.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_study_Twitter_memes\"><\/span>Why study Twitter memes?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>So why does studying memes on Twitter matter? Often we think of memes as trivial or mundane parts of online platforms, less important than pressing social issues.<\/p>\n<p>The conditions of social media that produce virality, such as speed, are often blamed for many of its more toxic elements, such as the spread of misinformation.<\/p>\n<p>Our research provides a different perspective on how speed functions in digital cultures. The speed at which the two memes we studied grew and \u201cburst\u201d seemed to create a space for low-stakes, humorous and wholesome engagement that is often argued to be lacking on social media platforms.<\/p>\n<p>These memetic moments also show how social media spaces like Twitter can be \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/networkedpublics.org\/\">networked publics<\/a>\u201d. These are online spaces generated by user engagement with their own rules and ways of surfacing and responding that do not always play by the rules of the platform\u2019s algorithms.<\/p>\n<p>Memetic moments also serve as a springboard for <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2019\/aug\/05\/feral-hogs-memes-twitter-30-50-running-into-my-yard-small-kids\">deeper discussion<\/a> across other forms of media, underscoring the political and cultural power of memes.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Learning_from_memes\"><\/span>Learning from memes<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The harms of social media and the internet more broadly get a lot of attention, but it is also important to focus on how social media can produce genuine engagement and conversation.<\/p>\n<p>Social media isn\u2019t all toxic all the time. By empirically examining some of the instances where social media functions positively (as it does in our research), we can find potential ways to design social media platforms that amplify positive social engagement.<\/p>\n<p>This would entail changes to how algorithms arrange content and refining them to better distinguish between positive and negative engagement. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/news\/twitter-intense-tweet-warning-prompt\">Twitter is already attempting<\/a> to do this.<\/p>\n<p>Changes to the design of platforms may provide a way out of endlessly and unsuccessfully attempting to moderate the damaging aspects of social media.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/173582\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\"\/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/173582\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"\" srcset=\"\"\/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p><em>Article by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/naomi-smith-329628\">Naomi Smith<\/a>, Lecturer in Sociology, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/federation-university-australia-780\">Federation University Australia<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/simon-copland-388106\">Simon Copland<\/a>, PhD Student \u2014 Sociology, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/australian-national-university-877\">Australian National University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This article is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/30-50-feral-hogs-why-twitter-memes-are-more-positive-and-much-faster-than-you-might-think-173582\">original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/twitter-is-a-hellhole-but-its-memes-are-wholesome-syndication\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#You might think Twitter is a hellhole, but its memes are surprisingly wholesome&#8221; Have you ever checked your Twitter timeline and wondered what on Earth everyone was talking about? You step away for a few hours and suddenly your timeline is filled with people swapping memes about an event you\u2019ve completely missed. We studied these&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":381605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/12\/Untitled-design-3-3.jpg&signature=952306e2ec6523098a90ef517aa2707e","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-381604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}