Exploring generational othering through Internet memes
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3223527 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Giulia Giorgi (0000-0001-8198-7449, University of Milan, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 74 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 194-215 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-29 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Sociological Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00380261251314555 |
| OpenAlex | W4406947244 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 35 |
This article investigates the modalities through which Internet memes are involved in the process of generational othering. Existing research has emphasised that taking the distance from other cohorts is central to the reinforcement of generational cohesion. Nonetheless, studies empirically observing how generational categorisation occurs remain scarce. Internet memes, i.e. images or videos created and circulated online, can shed light on this process for their ability to express intergenerational conflicts and target specific cohorts. Using data coming from 41 semi-structured interviews, the article explores how memes contribute to the identification and portrayal of generational 'others', taking the Italian context as case study. The analysis leads to the identification of two generational 'others', the Old and the Young, whose characterisation relies on stereotyped beliefs related to digital literacy, media consumption, worldview and moral values. It is argued that memes partake in the process of generational othering as multimodal carriers of messages, which foster the construction, dissemination and consolidation of stereotypes associated with young and old people. Furthermore, the study shows how the memeification of conventional cohort labels (e.g. 'boomer') produces a semantic shift in the segmentation of generational categories, in which cultural aspects have a more prominent position than biographical age
Epistemology · Media studies · Sociology · The Internet · World Wide Web · Child Development and Digital Technology · Computer Science · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Philosophy · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics
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‘#OkBoomer, time to meet the Zoomers’
Memes, youth and memory institutions
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Analysing Discourse
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Generational “we-sense”, “they-sense” and narrative
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Internet memes as contested cultural capital
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Gamergate and The Fappening
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A critical examination of ageism in memes and the role of meme factories
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The Time of Generations
Handbook of Research on Advanced Research Methodologies for a Digital Society
Generation, Youth and Social Change in Australia
Purposeful Sampling in Qualitative Research Synthesis
Global generations
The Rani of Sirmur
Exploring legacies of the baby boomers in the twenty-first century
The 'Boomer remover
Problematizing a popular panacea
Post-Brexit Boomer blaming
From political to social generations
Generational Conflict and the Sociology of Generations
Categorization
| Highly cited | No |
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