With the upcoming presidential election, central Pennsylvanians are seeing a lot of memes about candidates and voting. WPSU talked with a Penn State professor and students about whether that social media content is affecting votes.
Media effects professor Shyam Sundar said a lot of people, not just young people, are getting their news from social media platforms such as TikTok, X (formerly known as Twitter) and Facebook.
Sundar said if young people see memes that resonate with them it can feel like a call to action.
“It builds a sense of community among the people who get it, who are sort of in on the joke," Sundar said. "And there are also people who might appreciate that and forward that spread the message even farther, giving more currency to that point of view that is promoted by the meme, whether it's in support of a candidate or against a candidate.”
Sundar said an example of this is the childless cat ladies memes that come from a statement made by Republican vice presidential candidate J. D Vance. People share this meme both in support of the Republican and Democratic party.
Dax Patel said he does not see memes as a way to be an informed voter.
“Usually it would be anything from, like a president saying something, and then it just be taken out of context with some subtitles, or some images or videos,” Patel said. “I used to see when Joe Biden tripped down his steps, and it'd be something related to that.”
Elliot Rose said he typically sees memes mocking both the Republican and Democratic party.
Rose said the memes have "not really swayed the needle one way or the other” on how he plans to vote.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. The polls will be open from 7 a.m.-8 p.m.