Memes are an increasingly popular medium for self-expression in a digital context. On the social media site Instagram, queer and politically-left meme creators are subverting hegemonic power dynamics to present humorous and original memes, with sincere self-representation at their core: what I designate, alternative Instagram memes. Queer people often face discrimination and social exclusion in their local communities, exacerbated by the isolating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which leads many to seek out and forge digital communities of their own. In this research-creation project, I analyze the themes and discourse present in alternative Instagram memes posted by myself and by my peers to examine how this content and the community around it forms a digital intimate public. The expansion of #deardiarymemes, an interactive meme project based on anonymous confessions, exemplifies how memes function as digital storytelling tools and is central to this research. Through a curated series of memes by myself and by my peers as well as 41 new #deardiarymemes, this work builds on existing meme scholarship using feminist theorypractice to present a previously unstudied aspect of meme culture: a subversive, leftist meme community sprouting from the social media site Instagram.

FULL TEXT