CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Memes have been established as objects that bear meaning beyond mere

internet frivolity. Studies in vernacular cultures have framed memes as “the propagation

of content items such as jokes, rumours, videos, or websites from one person to

others“, and as a form of “pop polyvocality” or “a pop cultural tongue that facilitate[s] the

diverse engagement of many voices“. Other studies from media and communications

have found that memes are a “shared social phenomenon“, and still others from the

socio-cultural perspective have asserted them as a “common instrument for establishing

normativity.

Specifically, we studied the popular Facebook page “Student Problems” on which

over 7 million subscribers participate in producing, circulating, gatekeeping, and

consuming memes focused on mental health issues, student debt, racism, sexism, and

other struggles associated with student life. Aside from the humour proliferate on the

Facebook page, the Student Problem brand’s flagship website also dishes out tips via

(moderately sincere) Student Guides and an online shop of blatantly self-ironic

merchandise, such as a “Cry Cushion” with the inscription “place head and cry. (2018)

Evidently, self-deprecating relatability is the order of the day, in which

condescending, pessimistic, and vulnerable displays of student struggles have arisen in

opposition to the rise of pristine, prestigious, and celebratory content propagated by

social media Influencers and everyday humblebraggers. As vehicles of emotive visual

display, Student Problem memes allowed users to build a sense of community,

camaraderie, and commiseration, albeit clouded in the language of humour and wit.

Although our study also considered findings from a workshop with undergraduate

students in two batches, and a media watch of press coverage on student issues over

several months across the world, in this post we focus on the content analysis of just

the Facebook page and briefly discuss three themes from our sample of 179 memes

collected between March and May 2017.