WITH HUMOR ABOUT TRANSPORT AND WILD BOARS: HOW INTERNET MEMES REFLECT THE LOCAL CULTURAL IDENTITY OF RUSSIAN CITIES

Abstract

Despite the enormous popularity of memes on the Internet, new interesting aspects continue to emerge in the process of studying this phenomenon, especially when it comes to local memes. They arise among a certain circle of people and are therefore understandable only to a limited number of Internet users. In the context of the problems of this article, the term "urbotext" can be considered as a designation of memes that symbolically unite city dwellers. The article examines the features of Internet memes currently spread in online communities of several large Russian cities (Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Novosibirsk, Omsk). Local meme culture specifically reflects typical urban problems, including traffic jams, poor public transport, marginalization of the outskirts, drug addiction, etc. At the same time, the author of the study discovered some common memes that are used in different cities to define the main local social problems. However, most often, memes use specific humor characteristic of a particular locality. The author's analysis showed that messages with memes in citywide communities more often receive positive reactions from users, especially in cases where they are used situationally, emphasize a specific news item, thereby truly reflecting the specifics of the cultural identity of residents. In addition, memes allow you to look at a typical problem from a non-standard angle, that is, they help to rethink the processes occurring in a particular city in a new way. Since memes today have a high viral effect, it seems to us that they can be actively used to disseminate information about city social projects aimed at solving local problems.