Misinformation and satire in the world of meme-ing.

First things first. 

Oxford Languages defines Misinformation as “false or inaccurate information, especially that which is deliberately intended to be decisive.” 

And Satire as “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.” 

In addition, Dipto and Anthony  define satire as “misinformation meant to entertain or criticize” rather than to deceive. Take the popular satirical news site The Onion , or even Saturday Night Live for example, content we generally know is a joke, yet has still left some duped. We may have said in the past that those duped lack digital literacy. 

But today, deception and entertainment are blurry terms within the digital media space. Nearly 64% of the world’s population are social media users. Meaning more people than ever before have the ability to engage with satirical art forms, such as memes. The frequency and volume, along with an infinite web of social and political contexts make deciphering the reality and intention behind content difficult. 

For some, a lack in knowledge or digital literacy is the case for being duped, yet those more digitally fluent and knowledgeable are still being led astray by more concealed deception tactics. subtle uses of exaggeration and the building off of other satirical and ironic jokes can blur the path of reality – left to sift through layers upon layers of misinformation can be disorienting in our digital world to say the least. 

While keeping Dipto and Anthony’s description in mind, we know that entertainment is the name of the game. But what is entertaining to in-groups can often leave outsiders confused or even defamed. False narratives and mockery of ones actions may seem playful at the time, but when we narrow the frame and focus on the power digital content has in public discourse we can begin to see the concerns for such satirical content. 

Early roots of satire may come from an entertainment perspective – seeking to shed light on questionable actions or attributes, but the motives behind satirical content may have morphed over time. In the case of politics to sway public perception. In business to direct consumers. And socially to stir up homogenous or popular collective beliefs. 

Now I am not advocating to ban or limit satirical content by any means, it is one of my favourite types of content to enjoy – hell I even made a colouring book surrounding comedic and often satirical themes. Nobody is free from criticism or exposure in today’s world, whether you like it or not. Yet, I do think it is important to think about how we interact with this content. 

And if so inclined, we should be asking ourselves how we want to go about not only consuming but sharing content that rides the line of misinformation. I’m not the one to tell you how to go about it. Just remember how you interpret a meme is not the same as everyone around you. 

Too all my favourite meme-ers of social political satire – keeping doing you, this may be one of the final frontiers of genuinely free speech. 

All is fair in love and memes. /s