Destructive Meme:
This meme I found on Reddit promotes very harmful, racist/anti-semitic and divisive statements that are shown to be said by soldiers fighting during D-Day. This sarcastic type of content reinforces very destructive and dangerous viewpoints as it makes inappropriate narratives towards specific groups that can contribute to prejudice behavior and other forms of discrimination. When more content like this starts to spread, it can desensitize people to the reality of the unfairness and hostility people who are part of these groups face. As more people post images like this, it can lead to a false idea that it is okay to promote these hurtful ideas and make light of serious social issues.
Being from a military background, another reason I found this meme to be disrespectful is that it downplays the sacrifice made by thousands to serve and protect our country and freedom. The meme misrepresents history and displays the soldiers to be promoting hatred and discrimination instead of defending our country. It blemishes the true reason for their service as well as the values they stood for and believed in.
Reworked Meme:
I reworked the meme from above so that it promotes a more positive and healthy message, instead of having discriminatory and harmful comments. Changing the meme to have statements that focus more on freedom and equality gives a more respectful representation of what these soldiers fought for. Unfortunately, I believe that reworked meme would have much less viral quality than the destructive one. More often than not, viral posts include something offensive or controversial, therefore being spread much faster as people feel strongly about it. Although the reworked meme focuses more on important values and has a respectful approach, it just may not spark as many reactions or get the same attention.
Having more positive content than negative surfacing across the internet has been something social media platforms and other corporations have tried to embrace for a while. A lot of the time when I am online, either in my spare time or even working on an assignment, I feel as if I see some type of negative media presented. One way to balance the amount of positive and negative media we seen online would be to further reform algorithms so they are designed to present much less negativity. These algorithms often promote such harmful content based on the amount of attention these posts get and the number of reactions it receives. Increasing the sensitivity of the algorithms could filter what kind of posts are allowed and not allowed even more than they do now. Another way we could prevent the spread of negative content online is to encourage more uplifting social and cultural norms, even though that may be very tough and take some time. Education systems, public media forums and individuals themselves would need to make a shift to allow a community that heavily focuses and celebrates positive and constructive news. Since social media role models and influencers have a powerful role in shaping our norms and society, I think a major step to spreading more positive content would come from them sharing their voice about the matter.
