How do Internet memes speak security?

Insights into Internet Memes

Internet memes are phenomena that rapidly gain popularity or notoriety on the Internet. Often, modifications or spoofs add to the profile of the original idea thus turning it into a phenomenon that transgresses social and cultural boundaries. It is commonly assumed that Internet memes spread virally but scientific evidence as to this assumption is scarce. In this paper, we address this issue an...

Crowdsourced Explanations for Humorous Internet Memes

The subculture of humorous images is a pervasive phenomenon on the Internet. Some social media websites (e.g. 9GAG1, Reddit and 4chan) provide platforms for people to share their images and comments. These websites are often occupied by experienced users, and most of the newcomers have trouble fitting in such communities. Among all the types of humorous images, Internet memes are relatively har...

Do you speak chemistry?

I n his famous fantasy epic, The Lord of the Rings, British writer and Professor of English Language and Literature, J. R. R. Tolkien, invented the Ents: tree-like creatures who were some of the oldest beings in his fantasy world of Middle-earth. In Tolkien’s story, the Ents used a unique and ancient language to communicate with each other in a very deliberate way. Tolkien described this langua...

Racial microaggressions and perceptions of Internet memes

Although more blatant forms of discrimination have declined, racial prejudice continues to manifest itself in subtle ways. For example, People of Color experience racial microaggressions (i.e., subtle slights or ‘put downs’) in their face-to-face interactions (Nadal, 2011) and in online contexts (Clark et al., 2011). This study investigates whether experiencing subtle racial discrimination offl...

How a Centralized Internet Affects Security