Republic of the Philippines

Region IX Zamboanga Peninsula

JOSE RIZAL MEMORIAL STATE UNIVERSITY
The Premier University in the Province of Zamboanga Del Norte
Dapitan City

In partial fulfilment
of the requirements
for the subject
SocSci 210
(Advanced Sociology)

A Research Proposal

The Effect of Memes on the Social Media Engagement among Filipino Teens

Submitted by:

ADAM KETH J. LAQUIO

KRYSTAL KAREN Q. VALLECER

MA-Social Sciences

Submitted to:

CORAZON B. OCHOTORENA, Ph. D.

Professor

May, 2019
 Table of Contents

Chapter One:
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1
Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................. 2
Significance of the Study ............................................................................................. 3
Scope and Limitations of the Study ................................................................................. 4
Definition of Terms ......................................................................................................... 4

Chapter Two:
Review of Literature and Studies ................................................................................ 5
Definition of Meme ......................................................................................................... 5
Internet Memes ......................................................................................................... 6
Culture of Memes ........................................................................................................ 7
Political Meme ........................................................................................................ 8

Chapter Three:
Research Methodology ........................................................................................... 10
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 10
Purpose ................................................................................................................... 10
Qualitative Research ....................................................................................................... 10
Participants .................................................................................................................. 11
Pilot Study .................................................................................................................. 11
Questionnaire .................................................................................................................. 12
Interview Procedures ...................................................................................................... 12
Researcher’s Journal ...................................................................................................... 12
Confidentiality ...................................................................................................... 14
Analysis .................................................................................................................. 14

Appendix A: Questionnaire .......................................................................................... 16

Appendix B: Interview Protocol .............................................................................. 18
Appendix C: Informed Consent ............................................................................. 19

References .................................................................................................................. 21
 Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

Introduction

For Filipinos, memes have become a legitimate way of communicating feelings—

outrage, disgust, happiness, contentment, and good ol’ Pinoy humor (Manila Bulletin,

2017). The 2016 presidential elections both in the Philippines and the United States, had

the deranged campaign periods that preceded them. The pageants that Filipina delegates

won, government decisions that have Filipinos of different political convictions, and

many other events have been the target of this online expression called memes. Being a

social media-savvy and politically enthusiastic, Filipinos expressed our opinions through

the highest form of online expression in the Internet through memes.

This is the reason why Internet memes are interesting for critical media studies for

several reasons. For one, these memes are a relatively recent discursive form that has yet

to be analyzed thoroughly by communication or language researchers and social

scientists in explaining its impact on any discourse. Another significant aspect of these

Internet memes is the ease in which they are created and disseminated. Once a meme is

created, it can be posted in any number of places online, including social networking

sites, especially Facebook, and other web sites that primarily function as meme

aggregators.

This study focuses on the impact of internet memes on any discourse among

Filipino teens on the internet.

Statement of the Problem

Richard Brodie (2009) and Susan Blackmore (2000) argued that humans are

merely hosts and propagating machinery for memes. They maintain that humans

developed to receive and spread memes, such as language – versus the other way around.

From this point of view, information is selfish and strives to get copied, regardless of the

consequences. As long as it serves the interest if the source of the meme, it does not

consider any other potential effect the meme that was spread. These sources of the meme

uses social media to gain recognition so that their influence could spread anywhere and

serve their purpose. In 2014, TechCrunch journalist Josh Constine explained the results

of a Facebook social influence study with the headline ‘Facebook Data Scientists Prove

Memes Mutate and Adapt Like DNA’, stating that ‘memes adapt to their surroundings in

order to survive, just like organisms’ (Constine, 2014). One defining trait of an Internet

meme is viral transmission. Viral media and particularly viral marketing are not

necessarily exclusive to Internet activity but have become closely associated with online

culture.

This study focuses on the impact of internet memes on the political discourse

among Filipino teens.

Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:

1. What are the perceptions of Filipino teens on the uses of memes?

2. What are the necessary differences on the perception of Filipino teens on the

uses of memes?

3. What are the similarities among the perception of Filipino teens on the uses of

memes?
 4. Is there a necessity on the uses of memes?

5. How does memes affects Filipino teens’ social interaction on the internet?

6. What is the relationship of age and the using of memes?

7. What is the relationship of the socioeconomic background of the person on the

using of memes?

8. What is the relationship of the educational background of the person on the

using of memes?

9. What is the relationship of the gender of the person on the using of memes?

9. What are other reasons on Filipino teens using memes on social media

interaction?

Significance of the Study

In The Language of Internet Memes, Davison (2012) defines an internet meme as

“a piece of culture, typically a joke, which gains influence through online transmission”

(p.122).// Due to their “nonserious” nature, memes, despite their viral spread, were not

given serious attention specifically in the academic setting. These study wanted to extract

the impact of memes on the Filipino teens.

Understanding these impacts will make the public more aware of the positive and

negative effects of memes on the social interaction and discourse on different subjects on

the internet. Although this study was conducted in two cities, the result can be used in

some other areas in the country.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

The study is limited in determining the impact of memes on the internet discourse

among Filipino teens. The study is conducted at two urban cities, namely Dipolog and

Dapitan, which are located in the province of Zamboanga Del Norte.

The following limitations are applicable to this study:

1. This study investigated the perceived impact by teens by the using of memes on

the internet.

2.The generability of this study may be limited to the teens of Dipolog City and

Dapitan City.

3.This study is limited to selected teens.

Definition of Terms

Memes. concept, catchphrase, or piece of media that spreads, often as mimicry or

for humorous purposes, from person to person via the Internet.

Teens. Individuas ages 13 through 19 years old that utilizes internet memes.
 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the different literature and studies that were gathered by the

researcher to gain valuable information that are relevant and similar to the present study.

The review of literature for this study will address the following topics: (1) Definition of

Meme, (2) Internet Meme, (3) Culture of Memes, and (4) Political Meme.

Definition of Meme

In 1976, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins published The Selfish Gene. In

it, he made the case for a new unit, a ‘cultural replicator’ that spread ideas and behaviors

in an infectious, gene-like fashion among individuals and populations alike. He called

this unit the ‘meme’, short for ‘mimema’, an ancient Greek word meaning ‘that which is

imitated’ or ‘imitated thing.’ The concept of the meme is based upon the principle of

Universal Darwinism, which argues that any information that is varied and selected will

produce design, whether that is biological or cultural. That is to say, Dawkins believed

that information – whether in the form of a gene or a song – is interested in one thing,

which is to be spread far and wide. Dawkins argued that these ‘viruses of the mind’ –

which can be anything from the Happy Birthday song to religious beliefs – have a certain

agency of their own, and propagate themselves to ensure their survival.

Internet memes occur in many forms, the most common ones are GIF files,

YouTube clips and image macros, however, it should be noted that not all memes
circulate across the Internet with “extraordinary speed and scale” (Blommaert and Varis,

2015, p. 7). According to Ross and Rivers (2017), image macros memes is an image with

text superimposed over the top. Image macro memes spread the most voraciously due to

the ease of adaptation and understanding.

Internet Memes

The exact origins of the very first internet meme are somewhat contested. As

Lessig (2008) and Jenkins (1992) have argued, participatory culture did not start with the

internet. In fact, some of the earliest and most popular memes were very similar to offline

‘memes’ from the 1970s and 1980s. One key example of this is the demotivational poster

meme. Demotivational posters (or demotivators) were parodies of the motivational

posters found in offices and classrooms across the United States.

Digital communication has been the media in the last decade, and it’s the media

that allows most participation, especially political participation. In Social Media,

everyone has an equal voice, the President of the United States and your downstairs

neighbour can use Twitter, Facebook or Instagram in the same way, and potentially have

virtually the same reach. Like any other communication mechanisms, social media has its

own set of language and rules. One form of language that has become almost

synonymous with social media is memes. Social media communication is constantly

using memes as language tools, as “most Facebook users likely encounter a meme and/or

distribute a meme daily” (Wiggins and Bowers, 2015, p. 1890). The term meme was

introduced by the biologist Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene (1976).

Dawkins defined memes as small cultural units of transmission, analogous to genes,

which are spread from person to person by copying or imitation. The term did evolve in

common internet language. According to Knobel and Lankshear (2007), the word meme

is employed by Internet users mainly to describe the rapid uptake and spread of a

“particular idea presented as a written text, image, language 'move,' or some

other unit of cultural 'stuff''” (p. 202). Internet memes have been defined as the

“propagation of content such as jokes, rumors, videos, or websites from one person to

others via the Internet” (Shifman, 2013, p. 362).

According to Knobel and Lankshire (2007 as cited in Varona, n.d.) successful

internet memes are characterized by the presence of the element of humor which can be

‘quirky,’ satiric, and sarcastic. Another element is intertextuality, which refers to ‘cross-

references to everyday and popular culture events, icons or phenomena.’ Anomalous or

peculiar combinations of images and other elements are likewise observable.

‘Incongruous elements’ incorporating reality and fantasy are also common in digital

humor (Kuipers, 2002 as cited in Varona, n.d; Shifman, 2007 as cited in Varona, n.d).

Culture of Memes

As internet memes are produced by the masses, they represent popular culture

products. Popular culture is related to Gramsci’s concept of hegemony. Hegemonic

power works to “convince individuals and social classes to subscribe to the social values

and norms of an inherently exploitative system" (Stoddart, 2007). For example, in his

study Meme World Syndrome: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the First World

Problems and Third World Success Internet Memes, Chandler (2013) identified several
binary oppositions between the meme series that indicated ideological beliefs about the

nature of wealth disparity and inequality.

As internet memes are produced by the masses, they represent popular culture

products. Popular culture is related to Gramsci’s concept of hegemony. Hegemonic

power works to “convince individuals and social classes to subscribe to the social values

and norms of an inherently exploitative system" (Stoddart, 2007). For example, in his

study Meme World Syndrome: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the First World

Problems and Third World Success Internet Memes, Chandler (2013) identified several

binary oppositions between the meme series that indicated ideological beliefs about the

nature of wealth disparity and inequality.

Political Meme

As several meme scholars have noted (Milner, 2013; Shifman, 2013a, 2013b;

Miltner, 2014), humor is a key component of many memes, and a large part of what helps

them gain traction among online audiences. However, the humorous nature of memes

also makes them an ideal venue for political critique and commentary. From the days of

the court jester through to the political cartoon, humor has been a method for skewering

both people and institutions in the highest echelons of power. Furthermore, as Pearce and

Hajizada (2014, p. 68) have argued, humor can also ‘make a difference in mobilization

and dissent.’

As said by Shifman (2014), political memes are about making a point and

participation in a normative debate about how the world should look like what is the best

way to get there (p. 120). The first big election that had massive participation thru new
digital media, was Barack Obama’s 2008 election. Since then, memes have had an

important role within the new landscape of internet political participation, appearing in

the Arab Spring, any big election and in almost all social movements. According to

Lance Bennett (2012), among the most interesting aspects of this era of

personalization has been the rise of large-scale, rapidly forming political participation

aimed at a variety of targets, from more traditional parties or candidates, to direct

engagement with corporations, brands, and transnational policy forums. Like many other

forms, memes allow users to engage with minimum effort and maximum discourse. The

identity politics of the “new social movements” that began following the 60s focused on

group identity (women, minorities, homosexuals, immigrants, and native people) or cause

issues (specific rights) still exists, of course, but they have been joined by more

heterogeneous mobilizations in which diverse causes such as economic justice (fair trade,

inequality, and development), environmental protection, and war and peace are directed

at moving targets from local to national and transnational and from government to

business (Lance Bennett, 2012, p.21).

 Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Introduction

Meme is now a prt of the social reality and it plays a big part in our current

sociological interaction. This study is designed to investigate effects of internet memes

on the Filipino teens.

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of using internet memes among

Filipino teens in order to understand this new culture. The research question that will

guide this study is: What is the impact of using internet memes among Filipino teens?

Qualitative Research

The research design involved the utilization of qualitative research methods in

addressing the research questions. The methodology involved examination of the

perceptions of Filipino teens. Qualitative methodology was appropriate for this study

because, as Rossman and Rallis (1998) have noted, “there are few truths that constitute

universal knowledge; rather, there are multiple perspectives about the world” (p. 29). By

exploring the perceptions of individuals who have had experiences with using internet

meme, it was possible to obtain “multiple perspectives” that further our understandings

on the using of internet memes. Merriam (1998) noted that qualitative research offers
“the greatest promise of making significant contributions to the knowledge base and

practice of education,” because it is “focused on discovery, insight, and understanding

from the perspective of those being studied” (p. 1). The research question for this study

centered on the perspectives and definitions of teens who had experienced using memes;

thus, qualitative methods were most appropriate.

Participants

For this study, teens were interviewed. The participants were actively recruited

from Dipolog City and Dapitan City. Teens from differing racial and ethnic categories

who are attending schools or not and who are already working or not were selected to

answer the questionnaires.

Pilot Study

A pilot study was conducted to review the questionnaire and interview questions

and prompts and evaluate their effectiveness. It can help the researcher decide between

two competing study methods i.e. interview and self-administered questionnaire.The

participant for the pilot study consisted of teens from Zamboanga Del Norte National

High School . Three participants was utilized because the findings revealed enough about

effects of using memes on teens to warrant the use of the questionnaire and conduct

further interviews.
Questionnaire

The questionnaire was developed in order to identify potential participants. The

responses of the participants provided insight as to the effect of their internet interaction

(Appendix A).

Interview Procedures

Semi-structured interviews were used. As Seidman (1998) noted, through

semistructured interviews that guide the conversation, but allow for participants to

provide information that is important to them but not necessarily reflected in the

interview questions, “we can come to understand the details of people’s experience from

their point of view” (p. 112). It is understanding the participants’ points of view and

allowing their voices to be heard that requires qualitative methods, specifically

interviewing, to be utilized to answer the research question.

During the semi-structured in-depth interviews, a set of interview questions

(Appendix B) was used to guide the researcher and explore the effects of using internet

memes by teens.

Researcher’s Journal

The researcher kept a research journal throughout the data collection and analysis

process. Immediately after each interview or set of interviews, the researcher made a

journal entry. These journal entries included notes on the researcher’s perceptions of the

participants and recollections of how the participants behaved and spoke during the

interviews. These notes were helpful in allowing the researcher to recall the meanings of
what participants said in the interviews during the analysis process and identify any

distractions or comments the researcher felt were important to the findings. This was not

an “objective” data source; rather, it was subjective. In the journal, the researcher

recorded all personal impressions that could possibly have an impact on the analysis

procedures. By recording subjective information of this kind in the researcher’s journal, it

was possible for the researcher to make notes on what should be guarded against

regarding subjectivity during the process of analyses. For instance, it is possible that the

researcher had negative subjective responses to participants who seldom use memes.

Writing about these negative responses and feelings in the researcher’s journal provided a

“place” in the study for the researcher’s perceptions. Another role of the researcher’s

journal was that of recording ongoing thoughts about conducting the interviews. In the

process of interviewing the participants the researcher might encounter some participants

who seem to want to give advice to someone. At this point it was decided to ask some

participants about what kind of advice they would give for men.

Finally, the researcher listened for emerging patterns and themes during the

process of conducting the interviews. Thoughts on patterns and themes to be investigated

during the analysis process were recorded in the researcher’s journal. Because a constant

comparative approach to data analysis was utilized when the transcripts were completed,

the notes from the researcher’s journal formed the basis for beginning the analysis

procedures.
Confidentiality

At some point, there is some sensitivity of the topic. The interviews were

conducted in an office or areas in a park that provided ample privacy while at the same

time providing the participant with a comfortable environment that placed the interviewer

and participant at a table with chairs that were alike and in a room that offered little to no

distractions. The conduct of the interview is done after answering the questionnaire.

Analysis

The interviews were tape-recorded, with permission of the participants, and then

the tapes were transcribed verbatim. Some notes were taken by the researcher in order to

assist in accuracy and transcription, but the note taking was limited to allow the

researcher to focus on the participants and their answers to the prompts. The

transcriptions were analyzed using the constant comparative method.

The constant comparative method of data analysis involves the “process of taking

information from data collection and comparing it to emerging categories” (Creswell,

1998, p. 57). Merriam (1998) defined the constant comparative method as the researcher

beginning “with a particular incident from an interview, field notes, or document” and

comparing with “another incident in the same set of data or in another set” (p. 159).

These comparisons are conducted throughout the data collection processes so as to

inform collection of further data. This means of analyzing data allows the researcher to

refine interview questions and probes as needed and to focus in on responses that are

comparable to incidents described by either other participants or the same participant.

This research is biographical research, in which the researcher tends to focus on

epiphanies, stories, and historical context (Creswell, 1998) utilizing the constant

comparative method of data analysis.

 Appendix A: Questionnaire

Name _____________________________________ Phone number _______________

E-mail address ______________________________

Part A

1. What is your age? _______________

2. What is your race/ethnicity? _______________
3. What is your educational attainment?
⃝Elementary Level ⃝Elementary Graduate ⃝High School level
⃝High School Graduate ⃝ College level
4. What is the monthly income of your parents?
⃝ 0 – 10, 000 ⃝ 11,000 – 20,000 ⃝ 21,000 – 30,000
⃝ 31,000 – 40,000 ⃝ 41,000 – 50,000 ⃝ 51,000 – 60,000
⃝ 61,000 – 70,000 ⃝ 71,000 and above

Part B
Instruction: Below are the statements that describe you as meme user. Check the
corresponding space beside each item.

Most
Meme User Not at Seldom Moderately Frequently of the
all time

1. Using different social sites

2. Reacts on memes

3. Tags and share memes

4. Following meme pages

5. Mocking through memes on
social media
6. Spread Humor through
meme

7. Spread idea through meme

8. Inspires through meme

9. Influence through meme

10. Find time to look for meme

 Most
Effects Not at Seldom Moderately Frequently of the
all time

1. it makes me happy
2. it allows me to express
something
3. it helps me express what i
feel

4. it helps me express my idea

5. it avoids conflict

6. it causes conflict
7. It makes the conversation
easy
8. It makes the conversation
artful
9. It’s a good start for
conversation

10. It’s not a waste of time

 Appendix B: Interview Protocol

The interview protocol are as follows :

1. What do you think about memes? (Is it humorous?)

2. Is it a necessary on the uses of memes?

3. Which do you prefer, full text conversation of with memes?

4. What social media do you prefer? (Why?)

5. When did you learn to use memes? (In what incident?)

6. What kind of memes do you prefer? (Why?)

7. How does it affect you social media interaction? (Does it not conflict with the idea of

the other person? Does it satisfy a receiver?)

8. As a receiver, do you find memes annoying? (In what way?)

9. What are other reasons why you use memes? (Please provide the emotions you have)

10. What are other reasons why you are entertained by memes?

11. Do you recommend this to others? (What kind of memes do you recommend?)

12. Is it necessary for social media to provide memes just like how emoticons are

provided? (What kind of memes do you recommend?)

 Appendix C: Informed Consent

Informed Consent for Participants

in Research Involving Human Subjects

The Effect of Memes on the Social Media Engagement among Filipino Teens

I. Purpose of this Research/Project

The purpose of this research project is to gather data about The Effect of Memes
on the Social Media Engagement among Filipino Teens. It is hoped that this research will
provide valuable insights for men. The subjects will consist of teens from Dipolog City
and Dapitan City.

II. Procedures

This research will entail semi-structured interviews. The researcher will select
participants from questionnaires administered to women from Dipolog City and Dapitan
City. Names and other identifying characteristics will be eliminated from the transcripts
of the taped interviews.

III. Risks

There is no risk in this research where the effects of memes are only what the
reshearcher wished to gather.

IV. Benefits

There is no promise or guarantee of benefits for participating in this research

project. However it hoped to benefit the teens. It also hoped that the benefits from this
project will be for the field of education and society as a whole.

V. Extent of Anonymity and Confidentiality

All participants’ responses will be anonymous and there will be no identifying

information collected in this research project. Notes will be taken, but in the final writeup
there will not be any use of names or any other identifiers. If names are used they will be
pseudonyms.

VI. Compensation

There will not be any compensation of participating in this study.

VII. Freedom to Withdraw

 The participant is free to withdraw from the study whenever she/he feels it
necessary.

If you wish to withdraw call: 09465876085

VII. Approval of Research

This research project has been approved, as required, by the Institutional Review
Board for Research Involving Human Subjects at Jose Rizal Memorial State University,
Dapitan City.
 References

 Deconstructing Myths Via Humor: A Semiotic Analysis of Philippine Political

Internet Memes , Alma Cita Calimbo (2016)

 Meme World Syndrome: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the First World

Problems and Third World Success of Internet Memes, Robert Curry Chandler
(2008)

 Psychological effect on youth through memes on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram,

Kinza Mushfiq (2017)

 The Rise of Meme Culture: Examining the Language of Memes as a Satirical

Tool to Promote Socio-Political Awareness, Faye Margarette G. De Leon (2017)

 https://newsbits.mb.com.ph/2017/01/01/a-year-in-memes/

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_meme