From newslore to news, from news to newslore: History of a meme

Abstract

New technologies and new forms of media have changed the mechanisms for selecting information triggers and their presentation in news reports. Thanks to convergence of various types of media channels, posts from social media networks have begun to serve as information triggers. The distribution of such triggers wholly replicates the distribution of information triggers formed under the infuence of more usual mechanisms, although a political agenda is emphasized a bit more than other topics. Among all the social media, Twitter and Facebook are the most frequently cited. In this article, we analyze the meme “glutton cat”/“pilferer cat” and trace the interaction between traditional mass media and social networks. In general, this interaction can be expressed as two simultaneous processes: a certain event draws the attention of social network users after it is discussed in traditional media, and the popularity of this event in social networks becomes a further news trigger for traditional media. The two types of media channels generate information triggers for each other. The meme we analyze, which functions in both spaces, demonstrates that traditional media play a more signifcant role in shaping memes, and that there exists a closer connection between various types of media, their inconsistency notwithstanding.