The Twitter page Ukrainian Memes Forces was created in February of this year, the month when Russia’s invasion started. It is dedicated solely to memes about the invasion, the involved countries, the helping countries and other events related to the situation.
It now has over 214k followers and it just shows how important it is to look at things in a sarcastic or ironic view to maintain sanity. Even the state of Ukraine shared memes on their Twitter reflecting what awesome people Ukrainians are.
Memes help to boost morale and process the horrible things we are witnessing and Jennifer Grygiel, an associate professor of communications at Syracuse University who specializes in social media and memes, says, “That's how warfare is conducted in the information space. It's about narratives and public belief.”
Instead of propaganda posters and letters people send to their loved ones, we are now creating the narrative and how we fight against misinformation coming from Russia. Social media plays an interesting role during this invasion because never before have we seen live updates and soldiers simply posting videos from the war zone.
It also makes the war seem a lot closer to us and allows us to be more compassionate towards the people there as we learn about the horrible things done there not just from stories, but by actually seeing them.
On the other hand, Ellie Mae O'Hagan says that it can have an opposite effect and make the news feel unreal when they are seen through a filter on Instagram, becoming "an exaggerated version of reality which ultimately blurs the boundaries between reality and simulation altogether."
Humor might also create distance between us and the problem we are facing, but laughter and sarcasm are actually often used as defense mechanisms; according to Claire Brummell, an expert on human behavior, dark humor can make us relax more and connect with others going through the same trauma.
Memes are a special genre on social media that often uses dark humor. They have proven to be unifying and so powerful that a Canadian man by the name of Christian Borys thought it was a good idea to stamp them on a t-shirt, specifically the one of Virgin holding an antitank missile, to make some money that he could donate to help Ukrainian orphans.
When it was clear that Russia was not just training at the border with Ukraine, the sales of the t-shirts went up to $170,000 a day. The creator of the idea told The New York Times, “The internet speaks in memes and it just became this crazy, viral sensation. I think it’s because people were looking for a symbol of support, a way to support Ukraine, because they saw the whole injustice of everything.”
Memes are not just funny pictures anymore. They are their own culture on the internet, a way of communication, a way to express your opinions through illustrations and a means to show your creativity by creating something new out of content that is there for you to use.
Do you agree that looking through memes is a good way to relax and disconnect from the world even though they often touch on very heavy topics? Do you feel that memes about Ukraine help you cope with the stress of a war happening so close? Let us know your thoughts and also don’t forget to upvote the memes to show us which ones you agree with the most.
And also, Слава Україні!
