Dear meme-aficionados, I am a student of sociology and am currently writing my master thesis on the topic of internet memes. I would very much appreciate if you could take some time and answer the following questions, which will be used as background information for the development of my thesis. Please understand that your answers will be visible to other people as well, so I cannot guarantee anonymity if you answer directly in this forum. I believe, however, other people can profit from it as well, so if it doesn’t bother you, please go ahead. If it does bother you, you can send you answers to the following e-mail: meme.researcher@gmail.com
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1. When has your interest for internet memes started?
2. Why are you interested in them?
3. Which meme(s) is (are) your favorite(s)?
- Could you please pick one example and explain why you like this particular meme?
4. When you post/share something, even if not your own creation/remix, and people ‘like’ it, how does that make you feel? How about when they don’t like it? Does this affect you emotionally? (Do you feel angry, frustrated, happy, proud, etc?)
5. Have you ever created a remix of a meme yourself (adding caption, using a catchphrase on an image you uploaded, etc.)?
- If yes, can you post one as an example?
- How did you come up with this idea? (Describe)
- Have you received any kind of feedback on it (Comments, ‘likes’, ‘dislikes’)? If yes, how positive/negative feedback made you feel?
- Do positive/negative feedbacks affect you the same way as when you receive feedbacks from something you have just shared, but not created?
6. What is your opinion of sharing someone else’s meme-remix? (Is it ‘stealing’ someone else’s work or is it a sign of appreciation? Or none?)
- How do you feel when someone else shares your remix?7. In the meme world, does authorship matter? Is it even possible to claim authorship?
8. Any final thoughts you would like to share?
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Thank you very much for participating and sharing your expertise with me!
Cheers :)