Psychological effect on youth through memes on Facebook, Twitter &

Instagram

Submitted by:

Kinza Mushfiq
Co-author:

Ahsan Uzair Khan Shinwari

Department of Arts and Media

FOUNDATION UNIVERSITY, RAWALPINDI CAMPUS

June – 2017

1|Page
 CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION

I, Kinza Mushfiq, declare that this thesis is a result of my research investigations and findings.
Sources of information other than my own have been acknowledged and a reference list has been
appended. This work has not been previously submitted to any other university for award of any
type of academic degree.

Signature

Kinza Mushfiq

2|Page
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am thankful to Allah Almighty, for providing me with the insights and the courage for the
completion of this project. First, I am grateful to my parents and my family who supported me
and had faith in me throughout this whole journey, without them I would not have been be able
to complete this important phase of my life. I would like to mention my friends Sadaf Aman
Khan, Rijah Naseem for their never ending moral support and my deepest gratitude for one of
my friend Mr. Ahsan Uzair Khan Shinwari who helped me whole heartedly with my thesis,
who encouraged me to work on this topic and helped me endlessly. From the formative stages of
this thesis to the final draft, “thank you” goes a long way to my supervisors, Dr.Shoib Ahmed
and Mr. Salman Amin for their advice and their endless support and faith in me throughout this
journey has inspired me into becoming the person I am today.

3|Page
 DEDICATION

I would like to dedicate this thesis to my family and my friend Mr. Ahsan Uzair Khan Shinwari
for their endless support

4|Page
 Abstract

This study is about ‘Psychological effect on youth through memes on Facebook, twitter and
Instagram’. This study covers all the aspects of memes that how it originated, how it became a
trend on social sites, how youth started following and generated memes through which it affected
them psychologically, why it became so popular in Pakistan. It also explores how much time
youth spend on social sites, and what trends were followed on social media up till now.
Moreover, in this study, it was examined that how memes are used for multiple purposes
specifically for marketing and how it is taking over mediums. In findings it examined which
selected social sites (Facebook, twitter, Instagram) are used by youth also it examined which
kind of memes do majority of youth is following and what youth think about mocking people
through memes on social sites. The study was being related to two theories Uses and
Gratification and the Cultivation Theory. Social media became the most active media and mostly
youth is its audience who actively uses social sites, millions of users’ tag and share memes
everyday with each other. Basically, it is being discussed how memes became a part of youth’s
life in a short period of time

5|Page
Table of Contents
Chapter 1...................................................................................................................................................10
Introduction:..........................................................................................................................................10
What are Memes?..............................................................................................................................10
Impact of memes on society:.............................................................................................................10
Why we use memes:..........................................................................................................................10
Social media as platform for memes:.................................................................................................11
Psychological effect on youth:...........................................................................................................11
Why memes are made on celebrities:................................................................................................11
Problem Statement:............................................................................................................................12
Objectives:.........................................................................................................................................12
Benefits:............................................................................................................................................12
Chapter 2...................................................................................................................................................13
Literature Review..................................................................................................................................13
Social Media & Trends......................................................................................................................13
Memes:..............................................................................................................................................15
Global History of Memes:.................................................................................................................15
Why MEMES are popular:................................................................................................................16
Emergence of Memes in Pakistani Society:.......................................................................................18
Audience who follow Memes:...........................................................................................................19
Celebrity Memes:..............................................................................................................................19
Psychological Effect on Youth:.........................................................................................................19
Future of Memes:..............................................................................................................................20
Hypothesis.........................................................................................................................................20
Chapter 3...................................................................................................................................................21
Theoretical Framework..........................................................................................................................21
Uses and Gratification theory:...........................................................................................................21
The Cultivation theory:......................................................................................................................22
Study’s Major Concept and Conceptualization..................................................................................23
Operationalization:............................................................................................................................23
Chapter 4...................................................................................................................................................26

6|Page
 Methodology.........................................................................................................................................26
Survey Research................................................................................................................................26
Population..........................................................................................................................................26
Units of Analysis...............................................................................................................................27
Chapter 5...............................................................................................................................................28
Findings.................................................................................................................................................28
Chapter 6...................................................................................................................................................32
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................32
References.............................................................................................................................................33
Survey.......................................................................................................................................................38

7|Page
Chapter 1
Introduction:

What are Memes?

A meme, an expression given by Richard Dawkins is "a thought, conduct, or style that spreads
from individual to individual inside a culture". Image fills in as a segment for exchanging
cultural ideas, images, or practices that can be transmitted starting with one personality then onto
the next through composing, discourse, motions, ceremonies, images or other marvels with a
mirrored subject. Dawkins depicted images as a type of social proliferation, a path for
individuals to transmit social recollections and social thoughts to each other. an image is a
thought that goes from psyche to mind.

Internet is a platform for instant communication through which we use to spread modern memes
to each other. A link to a YouTube video of Rick Astley, a file attachment with a Stars Wars Kid
movie, an email signature with a Chuck Norris quote, or a gif of minions these are a few
examples of modern meme symbols and culture spreading through online media. A 'meme' is a
virally cultural symbol or social idea. Most modern memes are decrypted images that are
intended to be funny, with full of sarcasm and humor. Other memes can be videos and verbal
expressions.

Memetics targets specific audience like it can be for everyone and also for limited number of
people who can get what it means ,for example a meme of accounting subject will only be
understandable by accounting students or those who have knowledge of that subject. Similarly
political memes are understandable by the people related to politics or may be general public
(mostly) everyone understands There are also seasonal memes like that are related to a current
affair program or game or any ongoing scenarios in the world.

Impact of memes on society:

In expanded society, we associate, impart, make, and live in indivisible physical and advanced
domains. Correspondingly, the web image is regularly established in a physical event, spread
carefully, and (re)enacted both physically and carefully. The impact of memetics could be
positive or negative on the society. As for positive Meme can help portray real life problems,
social, cultural, ethical, stereotypical norms of society in a funny but expressive manner. Like
political problems e.g. ye Bik gai hay gormint meme, panama case. To explain voices of
hundreds made into a picture to give a message that the government is not working etc. Memes
are bringing change in our society in a way that to explain something people use memes, whether
it is a social issue or any other political issues.

Why we use memes:

Memetics provide an opportunity to connect with all sorts of people and they are like emojis that
we like to use in our conversations. Memes are the easiest way to communicate with friends and

8|Page
family. In order to convey and express our feelings, we use relevant memes. They have
absolutely affected every part of popular culture as well as our emotions. Whenever online users,
came across such content they experience different emotions such as joy, sadness, happiness,
fear etc. Another characteristic of memes is that it encourages participation and share ability on
social sites. It allows people to contribute and be part of a community. Many popular meme
composers within the culture or worldwide participates on platforms such as weblogs, Twitter,
Facebook, Instagram. These platforms allow a user to interact with people all around the world,
it has become their voice and a language through which they express themselves or convey
social issues of their society. Today memes hugely influence modern language and culture. They
showcase the lives of youth and interest that live their lives through memes. Marketing
professionals promote their product by using memes and convey their ideas to the targeted
audience on social media. Online users are making memes stronger by sharing and tagging
another user around the world. People are transforming from nobodies to overnight fame by
generating memes.

Social media as platform for memes:

The most important point is that why memes are only shared through Facebook. Twitter and
Instagram. In these social sites millions of memes are shared on daily basis because that is the
only platform where millions of people actively use these social sites from all over the world. It
is a mass level of communication so people who make memes use social media as a platform for
their targeted audience.

Psychological effect on youth:

Internet memes usually consist of a joke and/or a funny image. They can influence a large
amount of youths today and shape them into the person they are and will become. Because they
are so trendy, we need to be more aware of the types of memes shared on the internet and the
damages it can do. Kids learn by what they see and try to mimic the behavior. Memes are
displayed in areas on the internet that the youth can easily gain access to. Images of messages
with the pictures become en-grained into a developing child’s mind. The viral tool will be very
hard to control as time moves on due to the popularity. Memes are getting too far out of hand for
the youth to the point in which cartoons and characters of children movies are used in negative
ways. Psychologically, teenagers start adopting behavior of memes and see everything like
memes. Whatever meme is about whether it is a social issue or a joke about a racist eventually
they will adopt the behavior or will create an image of someone who is being targeted. Memes
about thug life, or cash me outside, or anything related to their life eventually it will affect them
psychologically.

Why memes are made on celebrities:

Memes are something through which both humor and sarcasm are conveyed to public. When it
comes to celebrities or popular personalities, there are countless memes that were made over the
past three years. Now days, a single bad or funny image of a celebrity can generates countless
memes. For example, this year memes on latest TCV of TapalDanedar featuring Sanam Saeed
and Adeel Hussain, memes on girls crying for wanting FAWAD KHAN were turned into viral
Internet phenomena. The most shared memes of celebrities on Facebook, twitter are Kanye West
and Kim Kardashian memes, Dawnson’s crying face, Fawad Khan smirk face, The Obamas
“they mad faces”, Komal Rizvi’s selfie with Abdul Sattar Edhi (etc.). On social media when
people notice something unusual or eye-catching act or even a dialogue whether its related to

9|Page
their personal life or just an expression, they make memes and share on social media until it
became viral. And people get that frame of reference which is being communicated to them
easily.

Problem Statement:
Psychological effect on youth through memes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Significance:
Social media is considered as one of the most effective way of communication, on social sites memes
became the most uprising trend which people are following across the world. The reason of this
research study and the topic is, mostly researches are done on the relationship of memes with politics
(Satirical user generated memes as an effected source of political criticism by Vasiliki Plevriti 2014) ,
memes as a language ( On The language of Internet memes by Ernesto Leon 2015), memes as way of
communication ( Internet as means of Communication by Branislav Buchel 2012). So, for a research
study as relationship of memes with media, social media was specifically chosen as a medium and social
sites Facebook, Twitter& Instagram were selected to study the psychological effect on youth through
memes on Facebook, twitter and Instagram.

Objectives:
With the objectives mentioned below makes this research study interesting:
 To fully explain and understand the meme theory.
 To analyze whether memetics can be used in marketing.
 To investigate, memes are affecting our youth psychologically.
 To find out through memes people are being mocked on social media.
 To check the memes as they became so popular in Pakistan.

Benefits:
The research briefly explores that how memes started on social media and how Facebook, twitter
and Instagram became the biggest platform for memes; it also examines that how youth are
affected psychologically through memes on these platforms.

10 | P a g e
Chapter 2
Literature Review

Social media is a platform to share, communicate or requests for feedback, or to raise questions
or give views on certain issues among a vast group of people, where in return people also have
an opportunity to share or express their views or spread information among different groups of
people from worldwide.

In 2017 Danial, defined social media into two terms the “social part” refers to
communicating with one person by sharing information and gathering information with
another. The "media" part refers to a platform for communication, like different social sites.
From these two terms social media can be described as online based communication gadget
that allows people to interact with each other by sharing information.

Social Network Sites (SNS) such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and My Space
have attracted countless users who use these sites on daily bases. a wide range of interest and
practices are support by different social sites. In different social sites they have similar features
but different cultures that emerge around SNSs. Most of the social sites support the existing
features of social sites, while other sites help to connect people based on their shared political
views or interest or activities, shared languages or sexual, racial based identities.
Social media is growing to an explosive rate where millions of users actively use Facebook,
Instagram and Twitter whether they update something, or share information, pictures etc. or
product reviewing; people are actively taking part on daily basis. If we talk about trends on
social media or social media today, that is being followed my millions of users on Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram. Now days, GIFS, Hash tags, Vines, Memes, blogs, live videos etc. became
so much popular that it became a trend on social media from past few years. (Ellison, 2014).
In 2015, Walbert discussed in his research paper that hash tags became the most powerful
trend on social media so far that people used it to draw attention of users. Hash tags were used
by millions of users to give awareness to people on social sites like Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram whether it is about harassment, bulling or women empowerment or for justice.
People found it bold and strong enough to draw attention of millions. On Facebook Hash tags
like #we all are equal, #Unity, #Say no to corruption etc. were the most powerful hash tags on
social media.

In 2016, Usman discussed that the top trends in Pakistan were Arshad Khan
Chai Wala from Islamabad, whose pictures got viral on all over Facebook, twitter and Instagram.
People shared his pictures; memes were made, and few bloggers wrote blogs about him.
Momina Mustehsan a singer who became the new face of Pakistani music Industry and became

11 | P a g e
so much popular on social media. Memes were made by her fans on every social site and still
people share memes of her on Facebook. Sheikh Rasheed at Committee Chowk A politician and
a PTI supporter who trespassed barriers and dodged police officers on motor bike to reach
Committee Chowk in Rawalpindi. His stunt and this kind of act became so viral that over
thousands of memes were made on him by Pakistanis on social media. In a test series against
England, Misbah Ul Haqq made a century and he did push-ups as victory celebration. In reaction
to his act people started posting their own videos of doing push-ups and eventually it became a
trend on social sites. In last winters, the people of Lahore faced extreme heavy smog that
caused tears in their eyes so people on social media got the opportunity to generate memes on
smog.
The content that is being shared and created by people, only few became successful to draw
attention or attracts people enough to become a trend. The widespread generation has created an
extremely competitive online environment where they share, update or discuss issues on social
sites. On twitter tweets became another trend where not only common user’s tweet but also well-
known politicians and celebrities’ tweet on daily basis. They add hash tag in their tweets to make
it effective yet to draw strong attention among the people of social community and their tweets
not only shared on twitter but also on Facebook and Instagram by millions of users. (Huberman,
2000).

In social media whether its Facebook, twitter, Instagram or VBlog live videos became
another trend in 2016. Millions of users are visiting these platforms every day to consume these
video-specific content and live video stories. (Lisa, 2016).

In 2016, Aleksejxy discussed in his research paper that the uprising trend on social
media this year is the sharing of GIF images. Gif is a graphics interchange format that was
introduced in 1987 by Steve Wilhite of CompuServe as a new way to introduce moving images.
It is an image file, like a JPG or PNG, it does not contain sound, but it contains animation,
usually created from parts of videos or multiple static images, animated GIFs have viral appeal.
Gif gained popularity through Tumblr back in 2012. People started using it right after it was
introduced on other social sites like Twitter, Facebook etc. As compared to pictures Gifs are
more appealing and viral and now became an uprising trend on social media sites and became a
part of every online conversation.

Video sharing became another biggest trend on social media in the form of vines.
Videos take less time to deliver a message to their audience. Social sites like Facebook and
YouTube started advertising through vines as it is considered as a powerful way for online
business. On daily basis people like to share videos and links on their social accounts and this
became a positive and a useful way for those who want to advertise online. They make vines and
post it online whether it is a teaser of their upcoming song or anything regarding social content.
(www.rantic.com/articles, retrieval date May 10, 2017).

Memes are known as captioned pictures that are intended to be funny and humorous. Memes acts
as a virus that spreads through social sites like Facebook, Twitter etc. It is shared and spread
from one person to another on different social sites and in result becomes viral and spreads like a

12 | P a g e
wildfire all over the world. Though memes existed on social media a long time ago, but in last
three years it became so popular and became itself as a trend on social media and it became a
part of daily life. Social sites like Facebook, twitter, Instagram are a platform for these and sites
like 9gag, Buzz feed are known as memes generator who generates and makes meme on daily
basis.

An internet meme is a new field of research and this idea was originated by Richard
Dawkins and the concept of memes was evolved since then, according to his book “The selfish
gene” which was about gene and mimeme, means to imitate. According to his book meme is
considered as a cultural idea or behavior that revolves among people. (Lars, 2016).

In 2017, Paul explained the concept of memes in his research paper that a meme is
considered as viral content on social media. Memes are about social phenomena and it acts like
an infection which travels from one person to another rapidly through social media. Memes are
full of humor and curiosity that grabs people attention in a fraction of a second.

The concept of memes and memetics was started in 1976 by Richard Dawkins in his book The
Selfish Gene. He proposed the term 'meme' which means to imitate or reenactment of something
which indicates the behavior and culture that is being transferred from one to another. However,
the concept was highly debated and targeted on the point that what and what is not a meme.
After the evolution of internet, the term meme was used on every content that was shared from
user to user online. The idea of meme was first introduced by Patrick division in 2009, which
was considered as a part of culture, and a humorous content which got viral on social sites. He
developed a structure to analyze the internet memes which involved three elements idea,
behavior and manifestation. The first ever internet meme was emoticon. The sideways smiley
face made from punctuations was composed by Scott E. Fahlman 19th September 1982 in order
to overcome misunderstandings while using sarcasm or humor in conversations. (Linda, 2013).

In early history memes were shared through emails, chat rooms, or discussion
communities because it allowed the users to share their content easily with vast groups of people
under one shelter. Later people started sharing memes in groups in order to get feedback,
comment or reaction on that meme. Memes first started with emoticons, stick figures and
hamster dance clip, Willy Wonka meme on social sites. (Sachin, 2016).

In 2014, Szablewicz explained in his research paper that Diaosi was ranked as one of the
most popular memes of all time in 2012. It was originated in Chinese internet as Diaosi is a
Chinese term which means “Losers”. The diaosi meme was originated to indicate men and who
self mockingly called themselves as losers, though this meme was popular with full of humor but
originally it affected the young citizens and created a lot of cultural chaos in China. In 2009,
John discussed the most successful memes in his article, of late 90’s memes were LOLCats,
Rickrolling which got popularity because of their inoffensive nature. The history behind
Rickrolling meme was the advertisement of the most popular music video of Rick Astleys’s 1987
hit “Never Gonna Give up” because of his awkward dance moves that became the biggest meme
of all time whereas LOLCats were the images of cats with funny and grammatically incorrect
and misspelled captions. Another popular meme of 90’s was Dragon Ball Z and Pedobear an

13 | P a g e
anime style character that emerged from Japan which got mainstreamed on all over the social
media.

In past years internet memes became more popular on social sites like Facebook, twitter.
The most common memes were the macro images which consist of a picture of an animal or an
inanimate object along with captions. These memes were copied, shared and posted by millions
of users. Such memes got international fame because they were made of social and pop culture
references. In 2005 the very first macro image was created as happy cat’ was later called
LOLCats and became viral worldwide within days. (Mach, 2008).

Memes are easy to share and people love sharing such content which grabs their attention in just
a fraction of second. On social sites memes tend to be made funny with humor and sarcasm.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are used by millions of users hence millions of memes are made
and shared on daily basis. People share, copy and make memes viral all over the world. It only
takes second to read a meme and gets the idea what is about, people love the fact of memes that
how it easily fits and became a part of their life. It took second to share and express their feelings
through memes on social media. Now online investors also advertise through memes on social
media because they know how they can grab the attention of millions in seconds.

The phenomena of communication on active social sites like Facebook, Twitter is

changing day by day. People are more into humorous and viral content. Interment Memes
connects people through humor and variety on social sites and people connects with one another
through sharing and commenting globally. (Viriya, 2015)

Internet memes are phenomena that spread rapidly and gains popularity. The original idea
transforms according to social and cultural boundaries. It evolves through commentary, imitation
etc. The most popular meme of year 2009 was ‘O rly?’ memes, in which an owl wearing hat
while pointing everything out saying o’ relies? This meme made after the ‘chocolate rain meme
‘April 22, 2007. When TayZonday a singer who posted homemade music video on YouTube and
got 57,000,000 views for his funny performance which eventually gathered millions of users
and was frequently used and reviewed. (Bonn, 2011).

In Pakistani social media memes became a new trend of the society. It all started through
Facebook, twitter and Instagram. The first ever meme was made on Brown Parents VS White
Parents. Brown parents were portrayed as ‘desi parents’ and their way of raising and teaching
children. On social media first people made vines on that, later different Pakistani users made
meme pages specifically related to societal problems, it was based on daily life problems that
people face whether it’s about their personal problems to family problems. Pages like ‘Just
Pakistani Things’, Pakistan Memes, Sarcasmistan, Na-maloom Afraad, Comics by Arsalan,
Zubaida Apa ki batein, Bilkees Keinchi, Dheikh Beta etc are some top pages on social media
sites who make memes on daily basis.

Humor is considered as a big part of a Pakistani society, especially when it comes to

memes and humorous content people like to share it with universal introduction and acceptance
of memes. Memes that are being shared on Facebook, twitter have some bitter reality of societal

14 | P a g e
and political issues and people share it publicly on such platforms to discuss it in a humorous
way without offending anyone. The most viral and famous meme of all time on social media was
“the angry auntie meme” “YE BIK GAI HAI GORMINT”. Her statement went viral because of
the bitter reality and the condition of Pakistani government. Her statement was so strong that she
got millions of supporters for her political supporters. Later with this statement millions of
memes were made along with her picture. Millions of users shared this meme on social media
worldwide. Another Pakistani meme that went viral and successfully made to other international
meme pages like 9GAG. A Pakistani former politician Amir Liaquat who hosts different
television shows. Different memes were made on his gestures and dialogues and the way he
addressed people and guests on live shows “ Aray Waah” “ Aam khaega Aam” and many more,
meme that went viral worldwide on 9GAG was “ well done calculator” with an image doing this
gesture. (S.K 2017)

In social media sites there are countless meme pages both on Facebook and Twitter. People
behind these meme pages have a witty sense of humor who knows how to convey societal
problems humorously. Firstly, the most popular page is COMICS BY ARSALAN, the creator of
this page sarcastically comments on political issues in Pakistan and talks about current affairs
through his piece artwork. Another most popular page on twitter is NA-MALOOM AFRAAD
and they gave the page description in a self-explanatory manner “YE AIK JAMOORI PAGE
NAHI HAI”. They turn current affairs into sarcastic taunt. (Moeen, 2015)
On social media there are millions of users who actively use social sites on daily basis. For them
memes became a part of their life and practically they apply memes in their life and relate it to
themselves or their situation. Meme generators target their audience first in order to make it viral
first. On social sites there are political supporters, religious supporters and those who like
humorous content. Memes are meant to engage target audience. Mostly the targeted audience is
youth who follows and shares it on their accounts.
In 2005, Nicole explained memes in her research paper as, in social sites, memes act as a
message sender who focuses on their audience first. In order to analyze the target audience,
meme senders first examine the users who are exposed to the messages passively. On competing
memes such as corrections of rumors they first aim is to see what kind of meme can go viral or
can reach to a bigger audience.
Memes with a great humor engages itself within a large community. Memes can grab
attention in a fraction of second but also, they can be ignored quickly. Great memes are
noticeable and actionable. Meme with sarcasm and humor involves user to share, connect and to
express themselves with other users (Swayne, 2009).
The online users/ audience like memes of common interest or who shares common interest
among each other. To follow memes there is no specific age group to share or to make memes.
Audience like the content based on current situations. Fresh memes or memes that are based on
current situations are highly shared and liked by the users on social sites. (Andalusia, 2014)
Now a days, memes consist of images, videos, phrases, hash tags, or a combination of
characters that provides entertainment messages of information to people all over the world.
Typically, people like memes an image with a bold phrase written in it. There are some memes
in which people take great interest on social sites. Picture memes consist of people who imitate
15 | P a g e
trendy and recognizable actions often with a similar phrase written on it.Video memes includes
popular footage or a clip or mini animations just like a gif and adding a little twist in it with a
familiar concept of user’s interest.
Image memes, known as macros, which consist of recognizable images with unique captions.
Some popular macros include grumpy cat, LOLcats. Word memes includes hash tags with a
strong punch line that posted online, hash tag memes are often considered most powerful memes
that people like to share. (Gomes, 2015).
In 2013, Conner explained in his research paper that people like memes with a sense of
cleverness and humor that allows meme to spread like wildfire. Popular memes like ‘Honey
Badger Guy ‘got sixty-one million views and shares, and successfully became viral and now
comes under the list of top fifty memes,
When it comes to memes, people love to add well known personalities and celebrities in their
content; either it is their viral footage, or any other gesture or dialogue.
People always to love to make fun of celebrities, to make a meme they photoshop their
pictures and mix it with the things they or they do. Celebrity memes is another reason that why
people love memes and share it on social sites. One of the most popular celebrity is Ryan
Gosling who is probably one of the most famous ‘meme celebrity’ up till now. His pictures with
a bold caption of “Hey girl” and then something clever and humorous are written afterwards.
Ryan is not the only ‘meme celebrity’ there are many others who became of one it, it includes
Kanye west, Steve Jobs, Sarah Palin, Willy Wonka, Kim Kardashian, Donald Trump, they all
have some most viral and hilarious memes made, inspired by them or something hilarious they
say or they do. Turner, 2012).
Celebrities are just like us. They inspire hilarious memes; one of the famous actor Keanu
Reeves back in 2010, a paparazzi photo of him eating a sandwich on a park bench posted online
on social sites and went viral, because of his sad look people made memes with his sad looking
picture with some bold witty captions that grabbed millions of attention on social sites.
(Jedeikin,2014).
In Pakistan, people made memes of their daily soap serials, and eventually their drama
artists as well. Lately it became a trend of making memes to show love and express emotions
when the drama came to an end. Sometimes memes are funny when it is based on some dramas,
because people find it funny or find something in Pakistani dramas even a dialogue, they don’t
let go it until unless they make memes on it and post it online. One of the famous dramas that
everybody was aware of it was “MaanMayaal” which got a lot of attention lately. Memes were
made on one of a character of this drama “Ayesha Khan” as “JEENA”. And meme was based on
“Jeena k maa baap nahi hai” it became so mainstream that people could not get rid of sharing this
meme on twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Other celebrities include Fawad khan, Hamza Ali
Abbasi, Fahad Mustafa and many more. (Awan, 2016).
We use social sites on our daily basis; it became a routine to check social accounts. We scroll our
news feeds and then find something interesting and somehow we start relating that content with
our daily life problems, and that content is memes that now became so popular and viral that any
user can find it online anywhere. As memes are considered as hilariously funny and humorous.

16 | P a g e
People enjoy sharing and posting it online with other online users on daily basis. On the other
hand, as memes have no specific age group, as a result youngster are considered as top followers
of memes, who share or who make meme pages. If memes bring laughter and spread happy vibes
among people with such content. On the other hand, memes are affecting the youth
psychologically. In meme follower’s majority of audience are youngsters and teens who are
naïve and do not get the concept of memes properly instead they start adopting that behavior in
their daily life.
In 2015, Belluomini discussed in his research paper that youngsters could get affected
both psychologically and emotionally, as memes have vast criteria, it has no boundaries it could
be about anything, as a result teens could be shattered directly or indirectly through comments on
memes, or they could be bullied on social sites through sharing of memes that might offend other
online users. Besides bullying, such memes that contain such content which could be
inappropriate for the youngsters could exploit them. For example, from last two years many
racial memes were made directly pointing Black Americans, or Chinese facial expressions. For
people it might be funny but for youngsters it will psychologically affect them as they
permanently made an image of Black Americans as a joke or what memes portrayed them.
Through social media people still experience racial discrimination, millions of memes,
vines, gifs are made that includes racial or stereotypical element. There were some offensive
racially biased memes which included a black person eating a fried chicken, a picture of a black
doll which is cheaper in price as compared to white Barbie dolls. (Williams, 2016).
In 2015, Ahsan talks about Pakistani memes content in his article that, there are countless
memes that makes a negative impact yet greatly effects our youth. Memes that are based on
sector based or religious based memes on calling someone with wrong names. Or pointing
someone’s stereotypical habit, memes on calling or pointing or making fun of physical
appearance or taunt them on choosing a wrong political party etc. Such memes blow people’s
mind and greatly affect youngsters who follow such memes to a threatening degree.
Social media plays a vital role for providing a platform for memes to get viral and shared.
Youngsters share memes on daily basis and there are countless that are offensive memes For
example making fun of Fasting in Ramadan and creating memes on that on daily basis using
such images, bold captions, statuses and comments that actually exploit teens and children who
use social media on daily basis. Psychologically they adopt that behavior and the fact that
everything is for fun without taking it seriously. Such memes directly make fun of their own
religion without knowing the fact that they are posting online worldwide and how in result
people going to react on that. Children who follow such memes in back of their minds the
concept of making fun of fasting will get flustered and eventually they will adopt the behavior as
well. (Rifat, 2015)
In 2013, Tyler discussed in his research paper that on social media, memes about
promoting alcohol, weed, and marijuana became viral all over the social sites. Memes like Willy
Wonker saying “Oh you don’t smoke weed? I see.” Snoop dog memes with his picture along
with a bold caption “I’m not smoking anymore, but I ain’t smoking any less. Such memes with
disturbing images and written content forces youngsters to smoke or try weed, alcohol as they
think of trying it as cool.

17 | P a g e
 In 2015, Zenara explained in her article about Pakistan’s new rising trends on social media
are memes, and of course memes cannot leave women behind, there are countless memes that are
based on stereotypical thinking. When it comes to young girls as they are being targeted, memes
like an image of a dark complexion girl with a bold caption “Oh, you are dark, you are not a
marriage material! Such stereotype memes shatter the young soul psychologically and
emotionally whenever they came across such memes on social media. Same goes with age
memes who targets girl’s age and being unmarried with a meme picture saying “25 years old,
still unmarried! How she looks, and a compared picture of an old women saying “how her family
sees”

Memes never disappointed online users with its content; almost millions of memes are made and
shared. And the future holds more memes with a positivity and variety of content in it. People
who make memes are now finding a positive ground for it to spread love and empathy through
memes on social media. (Locke, 2017)
The best and most important meme of 2016 which is now considered to be called as
future meme and named as “increasingly verbose”, “deconstructive comics or continuously
explained memes” These memes consist of an idea in which the image repeatedly changing and
decaying every time until its nothing but a rough doodle and the text written on it becomes
barely comprehensible. (Hathaway, 2017).
From the past few year’s memes are all about dark humor and sarcasm mostly relatable to
daily struggles, sadness, anger and disappointments of life. But now the trend in memes is
changing with the passage of time. Now the content includes more positivity in it, with positive
quotes, loving yourself and the importance of friendships and supporting each other. (Fegguson,
2017).

Hypothesis

 More the memes are explained and more likely to understand the meme theory.
 It is more likely that the memes can be used in marketing purpose.
 It is more likely that the memes are affecting our youth psychologically.
 It is more likely that through memes people are being mocked on social media.

18 | P a g e
Chapter 3

Theoretical Framework

Social media is a platform where people communicate, post and share content with each other. In
social sites memes are becoming the uprising trend; memes are humorous content with full of
sarcasm that people share with each other worldwide.
This study is planned to analyze “Psychological effect on youth through memes on Facebook,
Twitter Instagram. The basic purpose of this study it to examine that our youth get
psychologically effected through memes on social sites i.e. Facebook, twitter, Instagram. The
framework of this theory depends on two theories i.e. Uses and Gratification and The Cultivation
theory. The theory is briefly defined with the current study.

Uses and Gratification theory:

The fundamental model of employments and satisfaction takes after i.e., it is a crowd of people
focused, approach and specific to every society and gathering. The respondent effectively
discovers the specific media substance and media's needs. Herta Herzog was the first who began
chip away at utilizations and satisfaction that is being demonstrate in 1944. She found that
respondent have cozy association with media and its substance. As indicated by Jay Blumler and
Denis McQuail (1969), they found a reason of expectation to show for viewing the political
communication. In 1972 the McQuail, Blumler and Brown proposed that how the crowds utilize
the media and its substance: Diversion; utilize the media to occupy our consideration until
further notice unwinding; Personal Relationship; societal estimation of data in discussions; the
substitute of the media for comradeship; Personal Identity or Individual Psychology; to test the
arrangement by means of character and they may apply on our circumstances; Surveillance; use
as the media to data related (Nawaz, 2006).

There are more presumptions which are recognized in Uses and Gratification hypothesis by the
Katz et al (1973-74): the gathering of people assumes dynamic part and utilize media as
objective introduction; the activity in connecting needs to a particular decision rests with the
group of observers; the media rivals are different hotspots for fulfillment; individuals have
enough mindfulness of their media. They bring up the five needs Gratified by Media.
1. Subjective Needs: it is identified with inquisitive data, learning, and understanding.
2. Compelling Needs: it is identified with enthusiastic, lovely, or stylish sense.
3. Individual Integrative Needs: it is identified with improving validity, status and certainty.

19 | P a g e
4. Social Integrative Needs: it is identified with improving association with family and
companions, and so forth.
5. Pressure Release Needs: it identifies with idealism and preoccupation (Nawaz, 2006).
As per Uses and delight is one of the hypothetical methodologies that numerous specialists used
to quantify and comprehend the hidden inspiration. Utilizations and delight point of view are the
inspirations driving an individual making a media determination and the fulfillment of an
individual who gets from their decision, (in the feeling of picking Facebook, Twitter
&Instagram). The social estimation of social locales that offers will be not quite the same as
individuals to individuals contingent upon their social foundations. it is additionally critical to
comprehend the fundamental part of social esteem that will be affected by the utilization of
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram that they may use likewise to fortify the level of their life
fulfillment and their own association from both disconnected and online informal organizations.
In this review the utilizations and satisfaction of main considerations of social site clients are
mingling, excitement and to look for data. It legitimizes the utilization of "Employments and
Gratification hypothesis". This hypothesis recognizes the way that individuals utilize web-based
social networking and utilize social destinations (Facebook, twitter, Instagram) to get data,
amusement through images and associate with different clients.

The Cultivation theory:

Development hypothesis was created in 1969 by George Gerbner, and from that point forward,
TV's consequences for individuals have been examined for quite a few years now. Development
hypothesis in its underlying structure is basically a correspondence hypothesis inferring that
rehashed introduction to TV, after some time, will change a watcher's impression of
reality .expressed, "We have discovered that the measure of presentation to TV is an essential
marker of the quality of its commitments to the methods for considering and acting" .
Development hypothesis created from the Cultural Indicators extended in 1967 done by George
Gerbner (Potter, 1993). From the Cultural Indicators extend, it was inferred that TV was a
medium that could be utilized to engage individuals into parts and practices .Gerbner's general
finding was that the social parts on TV calculated into the social parts accepted as a general rule.
One of the key standards behind development hypothesis is rehashed introduction. It is
recommended that the additional time an individual spends in the TV world, at that point the
more individuals will report having social substances that are compatible with the social
substances seen on TV (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, and Signorelli, 1980). More particularly,
"developed hypothesis is effected with the total impacts of ''huge introduction of expansive and
heterogeneous publics to midway delivered, mass-appropriated, and monotonous frameworks of
stories'‘. Moreover, accentuation is put on how media can draw one's observations with
expanded introduction to content, and the level and variety of presentation influences the quality
of the developing impacts (Williams, 2006). Basically, if the substance is more constrained,
development hypothesis at that point predicts that the developed impacts ought to take after as
needs be, with the end goal that if substance were more restricted to the substance that would
assume a bigger part in creating observations (Williams, 2006). The thought of predominately
identified with "mainstreaming," another key rule of development (Gerbner, 1998).
"Mainstreaming" is the similar consistency of perspectives that start to create because of
overwhelming, long haul introduction to the web-based social networking world (Gerbner,
1998). It signifies that substantial presentation may involve regular varieties in points of view

20 | P a g e
that would usually create from different elements (Gerbner, 1998). Redundant components are
critical for development. Just monotonous, reliable introduction to tireless, regular examples can
be required to develop stable and broadly shared impression of reality (Gerbner, 1998). With
overwhelming introduction to these steady messages, individuals start to adjust their perspectives
to the truth that they are presented to and mainstreaming (Gerbner, 1998).
As indicated by Social media is another rising media outlet that could fill in as a decent
specialized instrument for social locales like Facebook, Vblog, and Twitter &Instagram. Web-
based social networking can impact individuals' discernment besides It applies development
hypothesis to web-based social networking and particularly takes a look at regardless of whether
web-based social networking can develop online clients intrigue, consideration and reaction
towards social substance being shared on social destinations.
In this study the major factors of “The Cultivation theory” was interest, response towards the
content of social media. It clearly justifies The Cultivation theory. This theory identifies the fact
it has the ability to influence people’s mind through social content being shared on social sites
like Facebook, Twitter and how it approaches online users’ response and their reactions on the
content. The more they are exposed to the content the more it will influence their minds.

Study’s Major Concept and Conceptualization

An idea is a theoretical thought shaped from summing up related perceptions (Wimmer and
Dominick, 2010). Ideas are just imaginary pictures or discernments. Ideas might be difficult to
watch straightforwardly, for example, equity or love or they may have referents that are promptly
detectable, for example, a tree or a table (Bailey, 1983). The present review's significant ideas
and their conceptualization are given in the accompanying request:
1. Using different social sites:
Conceptually it refers to how much users are exposed to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
2. Time spending on social sites:
Conceptually it refers to how much time users spend on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
3. Following of memes:
Conceptually it refers to how much users follow memes on social sites.
4. Kind of memes:
Conceptually it refers to what kind of memes do online users follow on social sites.
5. Tagging and sharing of memes on social sites:
Conceptually it refers to how often the users tag or share memes on social media.
6. Idea about memes:
Conceptually it refers to what online users think when they hear the word ‘meme’.
7. Following of meme pages:
Conceptually it refers to how much online users follow meme pages on social sites.
8. Mocking through memes on social media:
Conceptually it refers to that whether people are being mocked on social sites through memes.
9. Psychological effect of memes on youth:
Conceptually it refers to whether memes effect youth psychologically on social sites.

Operationalization:
The way of moving from the reasonable meaning of a developed to a particular exercises or
measures that enables a specialist to watch it exactly (Neuman, 2007). “Operationalization is a

21 | P a g e
process of transforming abstract construct into set of concrete indicators that can be observed
and measured. “At the point when a researcher operationalizes, it indicates the "exercises or
operations that are important to gauge them" (Smith, 2000). Operationalization is a piece of the
experimental research.
Operationalization of Major Concepts:
Real ideas of the review are operationalized in the accompanying way:

1. Using different social sites:

Operationally it refers that which social site do users use more often?
o Facebook
o Twitter
o Instagram

2. Time spending on social sites:

Operationally it refers that how often users use social sites?

o Frequently
o Very
o Moderately
o Seldom
o Not at all.

3. Following of memes:

Operationally it refers that how much users follow meme pages on social sites?
o At most three or less
o More than three
o None

4. Kind of memes:

Operationally it refers that what kind of memes do online users follow on social sites?
o Political based
o Celebrity based
o Other

5. Tagging and sharing of memes on social sites:

Operationally it refers that how often the users tag or share memes on social media?

22 | P a g e
 o Frequently
o Very
o Moderately
o Seldom
o Not at all.

6. Idea about memes:

Operationally it refers that what is the first thing comes in users mind when they hear the word
‘meme’?
o 'Ye bik gai hai Gormint'
o Proud of you
o Zalima coca cola pila de
o Boss mene apko bola kia hai?

7. Following of meme pages:

Operationally it refers that how much online users follow meme pages on social media?
o More than three
o At most three or less
o None

8. Mocking through memes on social media

Operationally it refers that whether online users think that people are being mocked on social
media through memes
o Yes
o Maybe
o No

9. Psychological effect of memes on youth:

Operationally it refers that whether memes effect youth psychologically on social sites? Like
they say 'we walk memes, we talk memes and we are memes!
o Yes
o Maybe
o Not at all

23 | P a g e
Chapter 4
Methodology

Strategy implies the art of strategies and contains the gauges and standards utilized to manage
the decision, structure, process and utilization of techniques, as coordinated by the investigating
worldview (Sarantakos, 2004). Strategy is the review or portrayal of strategies
(www.en.wikipedia.org, recovery date: 19th June, 2011). Methodology alludes to the methods
and consistent methodology through which an examination arranges, or approach is executed.

Survey Research
According to Wimmer and Dominick (2010), “Surveys are now used in all areas of life.
Businesses, consumer groups, politicians, and advertisers use them in their everyday decision-
making process”. This research was conducted to find how memes effect our youth
psychologically through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Survey research method was adopted
to find out that which social site they actively use the most and how much they tag or share
memes on Facebook, twitter and Instagram on daily basis and also what kind of memes they
follow on social media. The fundamental goal of this review was to see if both Users and
Gratification and The Cultivation models were suitable. Keeping in view the study technique was
thought to be a well-suited strategy for gathering data and information dissecting, which was
exhibited in those chosen online social destinations for examining images.

Population
Populace is characterized as, "the universe of occasions from which the example is drawn"
(Reinard, 2008). The populace was the adolescent (male and female) respondents of online
networking locales fundamentally Facebook, twitter and Instagram.

Units of Analysis
“Units of analysis are the people whose characteristics social researchers observe, describe, and
explain (Babbie, 2001)”. In this study it consists of male and female youth.

Sample
It means to gather information from the whole populace to fortify the results. For all intents and
purposes the researcher was not able to review the whole populace; subsequently the analyst
goes for an example. Wimmer and Dominick (2010) state; "a specimen is subset of populace that
is illustrative of the whole populace". As indicated by Babbie (2001), "a specimen is an
exceptional subset of populace watched for purposes making derivations about the way of the
aggregate public itself".

 Probability
It concentrates on the gathering's size in the populace as the sole impact on what number of
its individuals will be incorporated into the example. Behind the arrangements in populace,
the researcher utilized the stratified sampling method.

24 | P a g e
  Non-probability
This test focuses on choosing test individuals as per their capacity to meet particular criteria.
The researcher favored purposive examining technique for gathering data.
Sampling Method
In this review, testing strategy produced populace subgroups to meet the prerequisite of this
review. The stratified strategy was chosen for detail of the statistic attributes and populace was
partitioned on the premise of age. This approach sufficiently sorted out the populace. With the
end goal of information gathering the objective of two hundred respondents was stratified. In the
wake of determining the strata in stratified technique, the non-purposive inspecting strategy was
embraced to gather information.
Sample Size:
For data collection a total of two hundred respondents, consisting of youth both males and
females aged 20-27 were selected randomly from Foundation University Rawalpindi Campus.

Data Collection:
After detail of the statistic attributes of the respondents and assurance of their subgroups through
stratified examining, non-purposive strategy for information gathering was favored. Up close and
personal system was embraced and every one of the respondents were reached by and by. The
surveys were similarly isolated between the guys and females.

Pre-testing:
Prior to the gathering of information to check the legitimacy of the survey, a pre-test was taken
in the homogenous populace comprising of twenty respondents from Foundation University at
the time of April 2017. It gives a chance to discover shortcomings and imperfections in the
inquiries plan. In pre-testing a few changes were made in building up the last poll. The
arrangement was reconsidered, and the request of the factors was upgraded to encourage the
recordings of exact reactions. After finishing the strategy two hundred respondents were met
while giving those polls. After information gathering from twenty chose respondents, analyst
encourage information in SPSS and apply 'Pre-testing Reliability Statistics' and the consequences
of unwavering quality demonstrates Cronbach's Alpha it implies there was consistency in factors
(Independent and ward) and leading pre-testing a few changes were made to build up the last
surveys.

Data Reduction:
Investigation information of most comprising parts of appointing a code numbers when
contrasted with letters or words. After the calculation of the coding procedure, the subsequent
stage was to apply measurable strategies keeping in mind the end goal to work out the
discoveries. To meet this reason SPSS programming was utilized. Initial, a consolidate
information nourishing document was made in which join and combined sections for every
factor are naturally accessible. In this procedure, all the relegated numerical numbers to all
reactions were put away in the machine.

Data Presentation:
The information is exhibited as diagrams and tables in order to make it justifiable. Distinctive
factual tests are likewise connected for deciding noteworthiness and testing speculation. The

25 | P a g e
responses that were received fitted into five categories frequently, very, moderately, seldom and
not at all and it retained in the same manner.

Chapter 5
Findings

In social media, social sites like Facebook, twitter and Instagram are the most popular sites that
gained popularity in a very short time. Millions of users use these sites where they share and tag
memes on daily basis. Mainly it includes youth as an online audience who actively take part in
sharing, tagging and generating memes with other users from all over the world. However, the
results of the study show notable difference among the users who actively use social sites
(Facebook, twitter and Instagram). In results, online users use Facebook 75%, Twitter 3%,
Instagram 21.5%. It was a significant difference that how youth actively uses Facebook more
than twitter and Instagram.
Table 5.1, Youth using different social sites

Facebook 75.5%
Twitter 3%
Instagram 21.5%

Table 5.2 Time sending on social sites

4% 0%
21% Frequently

Very

Moderately
54%
Seldom

21% Not at all

The results reveal that youth mostly spends time on using social media. Most of the users
frequently uses social media as per to the results (frequently 54%, very 21.5%, moderately 21%,
seldom 4%) while not at all consist of only 0.4% users who do not spend time on Facebook,
twitter and Instagram.

26 | P a g e
Table 5.3 Following of memes

8% 22%
18%

Frequently
Very
Moderately
15%
Seldom
38% Not at all

The results reveal youth moderately follow memes on social sites i.e. Facebook, twitter and
Instagram. As per the results 22% frequently online users follow memes on Facebook, twitter
and Instagram while 15% very, 38% moderately, 18% seldom and 7% not at all.

Table 5.4 Kind of memes

21%
Political
based

Celebrity
55% based

24% Other

The result shows that youth does not follow kind of memes specifically and it shows that
majority follows other memes as per the results political based are 21%
Celebrity based memes are 24% while other memes consist of 55% that youth follows on social
sites (Facebook, twitter and Instagram)

Table 5.5 Idea of memes:

27 | P a g e
 4%
21%

'Ye bik gai hai

Gormint'

54% Proud of you

Zalima Coca pila
de

22% Boss mene apko

bola kia hai?

The result shows that majority of youth knows this tag line ‘ye bik gai hai gormint’ which is
government-based meme and the most popular tagline on social media sites (Facebook, twitter
and Instagram). According to the results youth knows these taglines when they first hear the
word meme ‘ye bik gai hai gormint’ 54%, proud of you 21%, zalima coca cola pila de 21%.

Table 5.6 Psychological effect of memes on youth:

28 | P a g e
 10%
38%
Yes

Maybe

53% Not at all

The result shows that majority of youth moderately thinks that memes affects youth
psychologically through Facebook, twitter and Instagram. As per the results 37% youth thinks
that yes memes effect youth psychologically, 53% thinks maybe and 10% youth thinks that
memes not at all affects youth psychologically.

Table 5.7 Mocking of people through memes on social sites:

4%

Yes
49%
47% Maybe

Not at all

The result shows that majority of youth thinks that people are being mocked through memes on
social sites Facebook, twitter and Instagram. As per the results
49% users think that yes people are being mocked on social media while 47% youth thinks that
maybe people are being mocked, and 4% thinks not at all.

29 | P a g e
Chapter 6
Conclusion

This research was designed to explore that whether youth are affected through memes on social
media. Social sites like Facebook, twitter and Instagram are the top sites to which youth are
being exposed, these sites are used by millions of users and online users share and tag countless
memes with other users. The study indicated that youth knows about memes even with a simple
tagline like (ye bik gai hai gormint, zalima coca cola pila de etc.) they easily recognize it on
Facebook, twitter or Instagram while using it.
It also indicates that memes are generated on daily basis by youth whether its government-based
memes, celebrity based or another meme which includes social problems, student problems etc.
The result of the respondents technically supports the hypothesis that majority of people are
being on social sites through memes and how people shows sarcasm and humor in memes in
order to mock people: racial memes or religious based memes is a dark side of memes through
which people are being mocked on basis of their religion and culture.
This research clearly supports the hypothesis that majority of people clearly understands the
meme theory and how likely memes are used for marketing and promotion purposes, top
transportation network companies like Uber and Careem used memes on social sites like
Facebook, twitter and Instagram for their marketing to reach millions of targeted audience.
Memes like ‘why you no book Careem’ were used for careem’s marketing.
The findings of the research clearly exposed that memes became so popular in Pakistan and how
youth actively taking part in tagging and sharing of memes and how they became a part of it
started affecting youth psychologically. Majority of youth accepts the fact memes are affecting
youth psychologically on social sites as they get themselves involved in memes that they relate
every situation with memes and how memes that based on religion, culture, or racial memes, it is
effecting our youth negatively.
An open-ended question was asked from the respondents that “What do you think that why
memes became so popular in Pakistan? Many respondents said that memes give a lighter and
funny side of serious issues, and it became a trend and people like to follow trends on social
media.

30 | P a g e
References

Ellison.Nicole.B. Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media Michigan

State University.
https://www.danah.org/papers/JCMCIntro.pdf
Retrieval date: April 29th, 2017
Nations. Daniel (2017). What Is Social Media? Explaining the Big Trend

https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-social-media-explaining-the-big-trend-3486616
Retrieval date: April 13th, 2017
Introduction to social media
https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-social-media-explaining-the-big-trend-3486616
Retrieval date: April 14th, 2017
Castillo W. (2015) University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
http://college.usatoday.com/2015/01/09/the-power-of-hashtags-in-social-media/
Retrieval date: May 13th, 2017
AdilUsman.M (2016) The top ten social media trends in pakistan throughout 2016
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/viral/the-top-ten-social-media-trends-in-pakistan-throughout-
2016/
Retrieval date: April 30th, 2017
Huberman.B Trends in social media: persistence and decay.
https://www.academia.edu/18177140/Trends_in_Social_Media_Persistence_and_Decay
Retrieval date: June 1st, 2017.
Lisa.M (2016) The biggest social media trends of 2016
https://www.emarsys.com/en/resources/blog/biggest-social-media-trends-2016/
Retrieval date: May14th, 2017.
Aleksej.D (2016) GIF The biggest digitl marketing trend for 2017
https://freelancetnt.com/gif-the-biggest-digital-marketing-trend-for-2017/
Retrieval date: May 8th, 2017
Moreau.E. (2017) The Rise of animated GIF

31 | P a g e
https://www.lifewire.com/rise-of-animated-gif-3485813
Retrieval date: April 27th, 2017
Social Media evolution: 2015
http://www.rantic.com/articles/social-media-evolution-2015/
Retrieval date: May 10th, 2017
Lauren.M Cat Pictures and Communication: The phenomena of internet memes.
https://www.academia.edu/6991739/
Cat_Pictures_and_Communication_The_Phenomenon_of_Internet_Memes
Retrieval date: May12th, 2017
Taecharungroj.V The effect of humor on virality: The study of Internet memes on social media
https://www.academia.edu/23030740/
The_Effect_of_Humour_on_Virality_The_Study_of_Internet_Memes_on_Social_Media
Retrieval date: May7th, 2017
Bauckhage.C, Fraunhofer IAIS Bonn, Germany, Insights into Internet Memes
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/eaee/cfe9501e96b78b6c6fc073d0822c9c0c7b13.pdf
Retrieval date: May 12th, 2017.
S.K(2017) This latest social media trend in Pakistan is giving new meaning to the saving
“Money talks”
https://www.parhlo.com/latest-social-media-trend-in-pakistan
Retrieval date: May 14th, 2017
Heba.M (2015) Top Pakistani Funniest Pages to follow on facebook.
http://www.brandsynario.com/top-5-pakistani-comic-pages-to-follow-on-facebook/
Retrieval date: May 15th, 2017
Paul.G (2017) ‘What is a meme’?
https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-meme-2483702
Retrieval date: May 13th, 2017
Lars.K University of Copenhagen, Royal school of Library and information Science. Internet
Memes
https://www.academia.edu/16399010/Internet_Memes

32 | P a g e
Retrieval date: May 18th, 2017
Linda.B Utrecht University, Make a meme Instead: A Concise History of internet memes
https://www.academia.edu/3649116/
Makes_a_Meme_Instead_A_Concise_History_of_Internet_Memes
Retrieval date: May 20th, 2017
John.L Internet Memes: A Theory of Popularity
https://www.academia.edu/23120583/Internet_Memes_A_Theory_of_Popularity
Retrieval date: May 20th, 2017
Nicole.Z University of Michigan University of Michigan, Audience Analysis for Competing
Memes in Social Media.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~qmei/pub/icwsm2015-carton.pdf
Retrieval date: May 22nd, 2017
Eric.S(2009) What is behind viral success? Great Meme marketing
http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/viral-success-great-meme-marketing/139609/
Retrieval date: May 21st, 2017
Andalusia.M(2014) What are memes? How to use memes in marketing?
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140806053125-337594420-what-are-memes-how-to-use-
memes-in-marketing
Retrieval date: May23rd,2017
Ellen.G (2015) Meme-tastic marketing- Using pop Culture to connect to your audience.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/meme-tastic-marketingusing-pop-culture-connect-your-
audience-gomes
Retrieval date: May 24th, 2017
Jedeikin.D(2014) Five Celebrities that became Memes
http://www.smosh.com/smosh-pit/articles/5-celebrities-became-internet-memes
Retrieval date: May 25th, 2017
Pakistani drama Celebrities (2016)
http://www.fashionuniverse.net/news-alert-jeena-ke-maa-baap-nahi-hein/
Retrieval date: May 18th, 2017

33 | P a g e
Ellen.B(2015) The Internet made me depressed: Emotional contagion through social media.
http://www.socialworker.com/feature-articles/technology-articles/the-internet-made-me-
depressed-emotional-contagion-through-social-media/
Retrieval date: May 25th, 2017
Amanda.W (2016) Interpreting Racist Internet Memes
http://imdiversity.com/diversity-news/interpreting-racist-internet-memes/
Retrieval date: May 22nd, 2017
Richard.B(2015) Uses and Gratification Motivation for Using Facebook and the Impact of
Facebook Usage on Social Capital and Life Satisfaction among Filipino Users
http://www.sersc.org/journals/IJSEIA/vol9_no4_2015/19.pdf
Retrieval date: May 19th, 2017.
Cheryl.C(2013) Three tips for Marketing better with memes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2013/07/02/three-tips-for-marketing-better-
with-memes/#a1b83cd7bb8c
Retrieval date: May 25th.2017
Ahsan.M (2015) These 11 things are highly offensive to Pakistani People
https://www.mangobaaz.com/simple-ways-to-offend-pakistani/
Retrieval date: May 25th, 2017
Haider.R (2015) Stop Posting funny meme and jokes about fasting, Pakistan!
http://pakteahouse.net/2015/07/09/stop-posting-funny-memes-and-jokes-about-fasting-pakistan/
Retrieval date: May 26th, 2017
Tyler.G(2013) Top Funny Cannabis memes
http://www.ismokemag.co.uk/top-funny-cannabis-memes-2/
Retrieval date: May 25th, 2017
Zenara.W (2015) Pakistani Stereotypes
http://emarketingblog.nl/2015/12/pakistani-stereotypes/
Retrieval date: May 2nd, 2017
Charley.L (2017) the story behind that ‘future that liberals want’ photo

34 | P a g e
https://www.wired.com/2017/03/future-the-liberals-want-meme-photo/
Retrieval date: May 27th, 2017
Jay.H (2017) Deconstruction Comics’ and the future of memes
https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/increasingly-verbose-deconstruction-comics-meme/
Retrieval date: May 27th,2017
Sian.F (2017) Freelance writer based in South Africa, the future of memes is Wholesome
http://www.complex.com/life/2017/01/wholesome-memes
Retrieval date: May 10th, 2017
Richard.B (2015) Uses and gratification motivation for using facebook and the impact of
Facebook usage on social capital and life satisfaction among Filipino users.
http://www.sersc.org/journals/IJSEIA/vol9_no4_2015/19.pdf
Retrieval date: May 10th, 2017
J. Gallion Indiana University, Purdue University Fort Wayne, Applying the uses and
gratifications theory to social networking sites
https://www.academia.edu/1077670/
Applying_the_Uses_and_Gratifications_Theory_to_Social_Networking_Sites_A_Review_of_Re
lated_Literature
Retrieval date: May 15th, 2017

35 | P a g e
 Psychological effect on youth through memes on Facebook,
Twitter & Instagram.

Survey

1. How often do you use social media?

o Frequently
o Very
o Moderately
o Seldom
o Not at all

2. From the social sites listed below which one do you use more often?
o Facebook
o Twitter
o Instagram

3. Do you follow memes?

o Frequently
o Very
o Moderately
o Seldom
o Not at all

4. What kind of memes grabs your attention first?

o Political based
o Celebrity based
o Other

5. What is the first thing that comes in your mind when you hear the word ‘Meme’?
o 'Ye bik gai hai Gormint'
o Proud of you

36 | P a g e
 o Zalima Coca pila de
o Boss mene apko bola kia hai?

6. How often do you tag or share memes on social media?

o Frequently
o Very
o Moderately
o Seldom
o Not at all

7. How many meme pages do you follow on social media?

o At most three or less
o More than three
o None

8. Do you think memes are affecting our youth psychologically? Like they say 'we walk

memes, we talk memes, we are memes?

o Yes
o Maybe
o Not at all

9. Do you think through memes people are being mocked on social media?
o Yes
o Maybe
o No

10. What do you think that why memes became so popular in Pakistan?

37 | P a g e