The What
Have you ever thought about what draws people into online communities? In the case of my online community is the allure to scroll? Is it to be part of something that makes you happy? I would say both of these are reasons someone probably considered joining the meme page. Have you ever wondered what divides an online community? Is it politics and harassment? Well today is your lucky day because I am going to be talking about just that.
What divides the community???
Nothing really divides the community except for politics and views on the world such as religion. The reddit site says to leave any religious political views and harassment out of the comments. Based on the Pinterest and Instagram site I checked it didn’t have any negative comments. According to the Facebook forum site I stumbled across it mentioned that someone is trying to scam people by pretending they are winners to a fake contest to get personal information such as social security numbers. This was the only division in the wholesome meme community I really saw. However, there is a style that is more popular than another. The most popular style is a meme that is uplifting but also relatable. Some of the popular memes can be funny or just relate to something a lot of people have like depression for example.
What brings the community together?
Uplifting memes that are usually relatable bring the community together. Creativity brings this community together because some people make their own memes. They have the same passion of creating memes. Particular topics that seem to get the most engagement are funny memes or memes with an animal on it. Another thing that gets alot of attention are memes with emojis on them. My community gets the most excited about funny or relatable memes and comments on them. The following image below was the most commented on. I would say the reason for this would be because it is relatable and funny. Out of all the posts on Reddit on march first the top posts had either a person, animal or fictional character in it. Based on wholesome memes on pinterest the top memes have emojis on them. I think the reason animals are so popular in the meme community is because they provide a sense of comfort.
Reddit image
Reddit image
Popular meme
The following above image is popular on Reddit because it is relatable and comforting for many people with anxiety and depression. User abcdddffu says “I’m 18, I meant the subreddit lol. I agree with what you said tho, I’ve been dealing with my problems for a long enough time at this point its just keeping the strength to hold out until things get better. I liked the quote cause knowing I’ll come out stronger gives me some strength.” This to me resonates and makes me understand why people join this community. The user is content in his opinion that the meme has helped with his depression. I think that having a relatable depression/anxiety meme for someone going through depression and loneliness makes them feel like they aren’t alone and gives them hope that things will get better.
Summary
So as you can see nothing really divides the meme community. However, I have gone over lots of ways the community is brought together. Some of the reasons I mentioned were comedy, relatability and uplifting memes. If I were you, I would go checkout the wholesome meme forum pages because it is instantly gratifying and uplifting.
