Meaning of meme magic | Babel Free

Definitions

The (supposedly supernatural) power of Internet memes to have a meaningful impact on the real world when used en masse in a targeted way.

Internet, humorous, uncountable

Examples

“The site confirms that in 2016, ‘moderator TehDonald [sic] of the /r/the_donald subreddit submitted a post⟳ promoting … Nimble America, remarking that the community had “proven that shitposting is powerful and meme magic is real.” Meanwhile, Redditor NimbleRichMan [i.e., Luckey] submitted a /r/the_donald post⟳ asking for help⟳ defeating Hillary Clinton by donating to Nimble America’.”

“As activists interested in generating a wedge between American Muslims and the LGBT community argued, “meme magic is real boys, so spread⟳ this meme. Drive⟳ this wedge” (Lyons 2017). The implication of this was that support⟳ for Trump did not mean⟳ liking the guy; it meant supporting his candidacy through extreme online versions of his campaign rhetoric and performance.”

“Meme magic—the half-joking idea that Donald Trump could be “memed” into victory through judicious 4chan shitposting—became part of the site's rhetorical landscape. Due to the valiant efforts of brave shitposters, the “God-Emperor,” as Trump was frequently known on the site, would be propelled to the White House, where he would quench his thirst with an endless supply⟳ of liberal tears.”

“Weirdness also refers to the way in which the group members' self-perception as a coherent entity is connected to a quasi-religious experience⟳ of their individual identities being subsumed by something greater than themselves – a particularly common sentiment among 4chan anons, for instance, expressed by mythologizing their collective efforts as 'meme magic'.”

“One of the first comments, which quickly became the top voted comment⟳ on the thread, simply said “meme magic”, linking to a post⟳ on 4chan that, three weeks earlier, combined a series of memes to tell⟳ a story about how Trump arrested Hillary Clinton.”

CEFR level