Memes in Digital Culture is an academic source written by Limor Shifman in 2014. In her book, Shifman gives an extensive overview of the study, power and potential of memes; investigating memes and what they tell us about digital culture.
In particular, Shifman discusses memes as new modes of political participation. Memes play an important role in the new web-based political landscape- both in grassroots and top-down campaigns. (Shifman, 2014, p. 122).
She argues 3 ways memes provide political value online:
- Political Advocacy
- Initiating Grassroots Action
- A Way of Sharing One’s Political Opinions
She argues, user-generated content online may function as a mechanism for citizens to share their views (who would not normally in traditional conversational outlets, i.e. face to face).
Is it easier to click ‘share’ than start your own conversation face to face? (Source)
We know from Shifman that memes are facilitating political conversations, however the question remains whether they are a quality and constructive ones.
Australian Political Memes 
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