Memes sobre as eleições 2018: uma análise da participação e representação política no facebook

Abstract

The virtual world is constantly changing, through communication established between users of social networks it is possible to produce incredible results with concrete social effects. With the daily use of these networks, Facebook has become a powerful social communication tool in Brazil, which switched as a space for building friendships and relationships to a public environment, whose media is used as representation and political participation. With the focus on relations between society, politics and technology, this work aims discover how the meme can be used as a form of political action by representatives of the left and the right on Facebook, during the 2018 elections, it was decided to analyze, through the netnographic methodology, the meme posts on the MBL (Free Brazil Movement) and “Esquerda Revolucionária” (Revolutionary Left) pages: in which one has gained more visibility and for what reason. Using the same means, we aim to find out how memes collaborate for political participation and representation on Facebook and in favor of a possible cyberdemocracy in Brazil. Contemporary political representation in Brazil relies on the role of the internet and social networks in society to spread its ideals, in addition to taking advantage of traditional methods of expanding representation. Most memes are images containing writings that are easily understood by any audience, with a sarcastic and humorous content. Thus, amid great variety of forms and communication tools that cyberspace offers, the characteristics of the meme stand out among the others for going viral. The netnographic analysis of the memes, concluded that they were used by supporters of the two spheres, right and left, as a way to act politically, because in the field pages the meme appeared numerous times containing ideologies and political values. Also, it is through interaction that the meme contributes to the formation of political representation. The individuals participate politically and form political thought, through comments and sharing of memes. Finally, the analysis concludes that it was not possible to obtain solid data regarding the contribution of memes in favor of a cyberdemocracy in Brazil.