More Than Humor: Memes As Community Building and Data Collection

Background and Purpose:
Memes are often thought of as images with text added to them that spread quickly online or through text messages to express humor, politics, cultural viewpoints, or current social issues (Davidson, 2012; Majmundar et al., 2023). But memes can also be used as a creative way to collect data in research. They can help build community and provide rich, meaningful insight into people’s lived experiences (Iloh, 2021). Using memes as research data is still relatively new, with only a small number of studies exploring this approach (see Gbadegesin, 2019; Knobel & Lankshear, 2007), and there are currently no methodological studies that offer guidance on how to use memes within participatory action research (PAR). Because of this, this proposal presents a case study on using memes as a data collection method in PAR projects.

Methods:
Much like photovoice, using memes in research gives participants a way to show their experiences and put themselves at the center of their own stories (Iloh, 2021). In the study highlighted in this proposal, memes were collected before and after the intervention as part of a larger PAR project that also included interviews and survey data. Participants were young LGBTQ+ college students living together in a residential learning community. The students worked closely with the lead researcher and learning community staff to help design a study that gave them space to express themselves authentically and show their feelings and experiences in ways that felt true to them. This proposal explains how participants can partner with researchers to create and analyze memes while also strengthening community connections.

Results:
The case study identified three themes across the pre- and post-data: identity realizations, community, and in-group messages. Students used memes to describe how they felt about themselves as well as the sociopolitical events happening around them. For example, one student created a meme based on a webcomic showing a person reaching for a yellow balloon labeled “being proudly gay.” In the next panel, a pink character labeled “the state of Texas” is pulling the person away from the balloon (see meme template here: https://imgflip.com/memegenerator/Running-Away-Balloon). This image powerfully reflects the deeply harmful impact that discriminatory policies can have on young LGBTQ+ people, especially in relation to how they see themselves. Other students shared memes in both the pre- and post-data that reflected queer joy and feelings of euphoria connected to their pronouns, gender expression, chosen names, and romantic relationships.

Conclusions and Implications:
Using engaging and accessible research methods is especially important when working with young people who may not connect with more traditional approaches. This project explored memes as an arts-based tool for data collection, offering a creative and culturally relevant way for participants to express complex thoughts and emotions. Memes supported meaningful engagement and demonstrated the value of digital media in participatory action research (PAR). As PAR continues to grow, tools like this can help elevate the voices of people who are often left out of research spaces.