“An Xiao Mina is a wide-ranging explorer of the frontier where technology meets social change. Her keen understanding of the contrasting ways that social media operate in different countries means she is ideally placed to offer a global perspective on their growing social and political impact.”
—Tom Standage, deputy editor of The Economist and author of Writing on the Wall: Social Media – The First 2,000 Years and The Victorian Internet
“As internet culture has moved from niche to mainstream, and as it has developed into an unprecedented global force, we’re evermore in need of incisive, clarifying work about what exactly we mean when we say ‘internet culture.’ It’s a rare thinker who can look at the internet as it actually is—a spectrum that runs from memes and image macros to social movements and sophisticated forms of political speech—and draw conclusions that include the richness of that spectrum without shying away from the humor and playfulness of the web. But An Xiao Mina is just such a thinker. To truly attempt to understand internet culture, one must occupy many places at once. Mina lives across digital spaces and cultures, and she brings that perspective and authenticity to all her work and now, finally, in book form with Memes to Movements.”
—Scott Lamb, VP of International, BuzzFeed
“No one does a better job than An Xiao Mina of tracing the deep connections between the inventive and playful culture of memes . . . and political conversations among people who often lack other outlets for public speech . . . . Memes to Movements is a fascinating and important look at the way that people are adapting internet culture to vital ends.”
—Clay Shirky, author of Cognitive Surplus and Here Comes Everybody
“Weaving together global cases of meme culture, activism, and misinformation, An Xiao Mina brilliantly reveals how internet culture, social movements, and political agendas are intimately entwined. Memes to Movements is essential for anyone invested in activism or geopolitics. By analyzing the evolution of digital social and political activity, this book offers a critical intervention at a moment when the public is anxious about technology and political life.”
—danah boyd, author of It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens
“A visionary and sweeping history of the internet phenomenon, Memes to Movements is a must-read for anyone concerned about how our wildly complex society can evolve with the tools technology has given us—for better or for worse. It is an all too timely book that shows how urgently we need to understand the impact of the algorithms, codes, and hidden structures that have become tools of both liberation and oppression. Whatever your thoughts about our digitized world, this brilliant and original book will challenge them to evolve.”
—Paul D. Miller, aka Dj Spooky, author of Rhythm Science
INTRODUCTION
Hands Up, Umbrellas Up
CHAPTER 1
The Revolution of the Cat
CHAPTER 2
All About the Feels
2.1: Hoist High the Profile Picture
2.2: Behold, the Llamas
CHAPTER 3
Ahem, Attention Please
3.1: From Spain to Uganda and Back Again
3.2: Enter the Panda Man
3.3: The Hoodie That Sparked a Movement
CHAPTER 4
Narrating Our Way to Power
4.1: Attention to Narrative
4.2: Racial Justice and the Inter/National Narrative
4.3: Symbols of Iteration
CHAPTER 5
Chaos Magic
5.1: The Meme Election
5.2: Bodies and Minds
5.3: Fake, Fake, Fake, Fake
CHAPTER 6
March to Culture
6.1: Where the Wind Blows
6.2: The State of Affairs
6.3: A Contested Welcome
CHAPTER 7
What Does It All Meme?
7.1: The Rise of the Goat
7.2: Signs and Seeds
Acknowledgements
Endnotes
Index
