Discussion

ago

When memes hurt and how to tell

Memes - as many bounties on Just About have proven over the years - are an essential aspect of online communities. They rely on shared references that evolve into their own form of language. Our Community Code of Conduct is a guide to help decide whether content or behaviour is welcome on our platform, but what if the content or behaviour draws on cultural references that we simply don’t understand? Or coded language intended to go unnoticed by those outside a certain community (‘dog whistling’)?

This isn’t to suggest memes aren’t allowed; quite the opposite. How can we be open to well-intentioned meme-ing without risking harmful content slipping through the cracks?

Share your thoughts in the replies.

Created at 4:16pm, 21st May, 2024. Page last updated at 3:07pm, 27th May, 2024.

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FirestormGamingTeam 5/21/2024, 4:22:41 PM

Okay so for me, banter memes such as this one

It's an ongoing joke between me and Alex cause I rib him when he miss places bounties and it's innocent enough. But I would say the type of memes not allowed would be memes that are designed to hurt people or cross a line into certain topics that should not be happening.

Horror and Cats 5/21/2024, 4:25:58 PM

I think we might just have to rely on the community’s hive-mind knowledge base, then utilize the flagging feature to ID the people and cite what the coded messaging references so JA can ultimately make a decision.

For instance, I saw a review on Shudder for a movie directed by a black auteur and starring an all black cast. The review said “13% of the movie is responsible for 50% of the entertainment.”

13/50, 13/52 and sometimes 13/90 are codes white supremacists use on news and social media sites, referencing a 30 year old report from the Department of Justice.

So, if I saw that on here, I’d flag it and give an explanation why, even citing sources.

BoomerMod5/21/2024, 5:55:39 PM

Horror and Cats

I remember seeing there were examples like this hidden in some old comic books 😟

(anyone reading this...maybe don't share the images here!)

Horror and Cats 5/21/2024, 6:25:35 PM

Boomer

Yeah, I’ve found bigots are physically incapable of not exposing themselves in one way or another.

Paul 5/21/2024, 6:45:28 PM

Horror and Cats

I never knew about that code, some people are just trash.

Horror and Cats 5/21/2024, 7:06:43 PM

Paul

Agreed, man. Agreed.

Sturmer 5/21/2024, 4:42:22 PM

if words are sharp as knives, then memes are katanas!

Lanah Tyra 5/21/2024, 4:58:52 PM

I think memes are a special kind of jokes and come with the same downsides as the common verbal jokes. Interpretation.

Often we interpret jokes differently and someone who doesn't understand a particular joke will get offended, even if the joke - or in this case the meme - had no harmful intentions.

So we need to make two categories here, same as with any posts: does the content/wording of the meme fall under anything which would be not allowed under the code of conduct? If yes then treat it the same way.

But if it's not anything harmful then we just need to be adults about it and try using them in conversations where appropriate and consider that not everyone will understand them and might react to them differently than we expect.

BoomerMod5/21/2024, 5:53:50 PM

Lanah Tyra

This sort of granularity is something I'm really interested in! I'll have to share some work-in-progress notes from my thesis that talk about this 😁

Lanah Tyra 5/21/2024, 8:55:17 PM

Boomer

Oh would love to read that!

Kane Carnifex 5/21/2024, 4:59:15 PM

Personally i don't have this "line", there is no need for it.

We have a Book in Germany called "Black & White" and it's about daily racism from Noah Sow. (Can recommend it, the Problem or better the root cause is deeper)

ISBN: 978-3-7460-0681-9

We have a child game in Germany called “who is scared of the black man”. For Children they think about the monster in the DARK, fantasy stuff they may got in contact already (aka Harry Potter Dementors) But none of them was referring to a body color.

If you see in this game a color of a human, what has changed YOU from your Childhood?

^^ You can use this for every aspect of qustion you have.

There is a meme which is referring to “First World Problems”.

-> Skeptical African Kid Meme

Something like “You use fresh water to flush your shit” sounds horribly for somebody who does not have access to fresh water at all.

I was personally in the Ivory Coast to support a school building project. Imagine a young white guy in a country in which I need to take medicine upfront to not get ill.

So let's focus on something easy. They have no Rubbish System. No trucks, no facilities, nothing… they could just copy any system from the world or just fusion the best System ever. Yes, they want a rubbish system but they want to have it for free handed. Because they don´t trust the western world if they hand something over we betray hard. And now they stuck in an mind crysis.

Is it funny? Yes, but it's also sad because it's true. Can i change it? I could if you would give me world lead for just some time. I know how to play Sim City.. this will be super easy.

BoomerMod5/21/2024, 5:48:03 PM

Kane Carnifex

I'll admit I was a little concerned by the game who's afraid of the black man, but it refers to a person infected with the bubonic plague (the black death).

That's a good example of when understanding the meaning of something relies on cultural context.

Kane Carnifex 5/21/2024, 5:51:17 PM

Boomer

Woah , thanks for this little information. Didn´t knew it. <3

CelestialFlea 5/21/2024, 5:02:04 PM

I would say don't be afraid to ask for second opinions from someone who is familiar with that culture, or to utilize external resources and tools to determine the meaning behind memes. Chat GPT can analyse images these days though you could also use it to give definitions, translations etc. Grok also isn't too bad if you've Twitter premium and might be slightly better for deciphering references as it has access to more recent content, tweets etc.

And as I said, don't be afraid to ask for a second opinion, even outside the mod team, perhaps from trusted members. I'm sure folks would be more than happy to shed light on certain references.

BoomerMod5/21/2024, 5:50:18 PM

CelestialFlea

I'll keep that in mind when we start thinking about new ways to get the community involved 😊

mar1gold 5/23/2024, 8:58:09 AM

Tbh most of the memes I enjoy revolve around a dog that is called Mohu but everyone calls him Scoobert <3

All the memes are just vids of this dog with some voiceover about how they love to eat mulch so I don't think I can really add more input to these thread!

I would say that sometimes if a meme just feels a bit off you can find out pretty quickly by searching up the format <3