FILE - President Joe Biden puts on sunglasses after making a joke about becoming the “Dark Brandon” persona during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, April 29, 2023. Both presidential campaigns this year have embraced digital memes, the lingua franca of social media. FILE - People leave after Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump spoke at the “People’s Convention” of Turning Point Action June 15, 2024 in Detroit.
The term “meme” was coined in 1976 by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, who used it to refer to a piece of information that is imitated and shared, be it a slogan, a behavior, an idea. “If you do it well, you tap into something that the group agrees upon or is feeling suspicious about; you tap into something that connects with the audience,” said Rebecca Ortiz, an associate professor of advertising at Syracuse University who has researched the influence of memes around political identity.Biden’s campaign has created its own stockpile of photos and videos for distribution on official Biden-related accounts.
The campaign did not offer any details about its digital team or its use of memes. Spokesperson Steven Cheung issued a statement calling out Biden’s videotaped flubs of speeches and moments of apparent confusion.What are some examples of their content?