Paper short abstract:

Memes are used as a part of politicized discussion on current affairs. I examine one group of meme images as a template used for both, the opposing and supporting official decision-making concerning Corona outbreak. These memes are used by both individual users and different political groups.

Paper long abstract:

New ways and technologies for communication offer politically oriented activists new possibilities for getting their message heard. Different social media platforms support different kinds of styles of communication and use of material, but typically the use of these platforms is fast paced, especially when new content (e.g. posts in Facebook) is added every moment. Social media content also relies heavily on audiovisual aspects and one vernacular use of the media is posting memes in their different formats (picture, video etc.). Effective use of memes garners responses from the more or less targeted audiences of other social media users, and a successful use of memes in communicating ideas lends authority in the discussions about current social affairs carried out on the internet. In this paper, I focus on one particular group of image macro memes, the “LOL Jesus”, in which the character of Jesus is used as the focal point of delivering a political message: in these images, Jesus can, among other things, act as a proponent or opponent to the political decisions made by government official for dealing with the pandemic outbreak. My aim is to shed light on the versatility of the single type of meme as a template for different, and even opposite political perspectives. The LOL Jesus -meme is used to comment many other events this year as well, not just the Corona. Same memes are used also by different political groups, not just individuals.