LOL at Democracy? How Memes Normalize Authoritarianism
Welcome to PsyberSpace. I'm your host, Leslie Poston. Today, we're talking about something that seems harmless on the surface, memes in reaction to politics and political figures. But underneath that snarky image or clever retort is something that can sometimes become far more dangerous: the trivialization of authoritarianism. Today, Alan Pakwe miming fascism, even when it meant to mock it, can actually reinforce it, dull our sense of urgency, and fracture coalitions needed for real democratic resistance.
Leslie Poston:Stick around. This week might change some of your social media habits. Let me paint a picture for you. You're scrolling through your feed, and there it is, another meme comparing a modern political figure to a historical tyrant or turning a dangerous policy into a relatable SpongeBob image. You might chuckle, hit share, and move on.
Leslie Poston:But what if I told you that this seemingly innocuous act is part of a complex psychological and neurological dance that might be undermining the very democratic values you're trying to defend? I'm going to dig into the science behind these digital behaviors. We'll explore how they shape our collective understanding of threats, influence our political engagement, and even rewire our brains' reward systems. This isn't just about social media etiquette. It's about how we navigate the thin line between resistance and inadvertent compliance in our increasingly digital political landscape.
Leslie Poston:Just to avoid any context collapse or, as TikTok calls it, bean soup, before I continue, let me say that this is not about morale boosting signs at real life protests or anything like that. This week is strictly focused on the online world. First, let's explore what happens when we reduce serious threats to meme content. Memes compress complex issues into bite sized, emotionally loaded content. When it comes to authoritarianism or fascist policies, that compression often removes nuance and, with it, the gravity.
Leslie Poston:Research in cognitive load theory explains why this happens. Our brains naturally seek simplified versions of complex information to reduce mental effort. A meme mocking a fascist politician can inadvertently make them seem like a clown rather than a threat, reinforcing a sense of cultural dominance or inevitability instead of resistance. Repetition matters here, and the science is fascinating. In psychology, the illusory truth effect tells us that the more we see a statement or a visual, the more likely we are to believe it or at least to become desensitized to it.
Leslie Poston:This isn't just about consciously believing what we see, it's about how our brains create cognitive shortcuts. Neuroimaging studies have shown that repeated exposure to information reduces the brain's effort in processing it, leading to the mere exposure effect or increased acceptance, even when the information is negative or we're trying to mock it. There's also the phenomenon of normalization through satire. Research in moral psychology demonstrates that when we joke about something repeatedly, we decrease its perceived threat level. Shows like The Daily Show or SNL have walked this tightrope for decades and do it pretty well.
Leslie Poston:But in the Wild West of social media, there's no editorial oversight to help maintain that balance. The psychological process called habituation kicks in. Our emotional response to a stimulus decreases with repeated exposure. What starts as outrage becomes bemusement and then indifference. This kind of humor can lead to what we call discursive defanging.
Leslie Poston:It pulls the teeth out of what should be a call to action. Linguistic framing theory tells us that how we frame issues dramatically affects how people respond to them. Instead of this is horrifying and must be stopped, it becomes, l o l, could you believe this guy? That tonal shift can fundamentally alter public will, especially among those with lower levels of political engagement or knowledge. Some might argue this approach makes politics more accessible or helps people cope with our difficult reality.
Leslie Poston:And, sure, there's some truth to that. Humor can be a powerful coping mechanism. But when coping replaces confronting or when laughter becomes a substitute for action, we're crossing into dangerous territory. Let's talk a little brain science. When you post something snarky online, your brain rewards you with a little bit of dopamine, the I did something chemical.
Leslie Poston:That post can trick you into feeling like you've contributed to a cause, but in reality, you've just scratched a cognitive itch, not moved the needle politically. The neurochemistry gets even more interesting when we look at the whole picture. Your brain's reward system doesn't just release dopamine, it also activates neural pathways associated with social bonding and self expression. FMRI studies have shown that posting gotcha content or zingers on social media activates the same reward centers as eating chocolate or receiving money. The brain literally experiences a chemical cascade, dopamine for the initial post, serotonin from social validation, and oxytocin from feeling connected to like minded individuals.
Leslie Poston:This is part of a broader challenge in what some media psychologists call effective activism, where people satisfy their moral outrage through performance and not participation. This concept of slacktivism isn't just a clever portmanteau, It's a documented psychological phenomenon. Research in social psychology has identified several key factors. The illusion of contribution, the substitution effect, which is where digital action replaces physical action, and what's called moral credentialing, the tendency to feel we've earned the right to disengage after performing a symbolic action. Neural adaptation comes into play here as well.
Leslie Poston:Just like drugs or food, our brains can become tolerant to the dopamine hits from social media engagement, requiring increasingly sensational or controversial content to achieve the same emotional response. This escalation can push political discourse towards extremes while simultaneously decreasing actual political participation. The cognitive cost here is not just wasted energy. It's distraction from real world organizing, boating, mutual aid, or pressure campaigns. It's a closing of the political imagination.
Leslie Poston:Cognitive resource theory tells us we have limited mental bandwidth for any given day. So when we spend that bandwidth on crafting the perfect clapback instead of understanding policy nuance or organizing or participating in community action, we're making a specific allocation choice that has real world consequences. Whether we like it or not, online behavior becomes part of the public's impression of the ideologies we affiliate with. When Democrats bully hesitant voters, earning the nickname Blue MAGA or post smug Fillory's emails, though, comments, or just endlessly tone bullies online, it fuels a bland perception problem for the Democrats, and this isn't to single out the Democrats. The same thing happens to perceptions of conservatives after the negative online behavior of many of their more extreme constituents.
Leslie Poston:The field of political branding has evolved significantly, and research shows that individual online behavior directly impacts party participation and party perception. Studies in political communication have found that negative brand associations spread faster than positive ones and that sarcasm or condescension from party supporters can decrease independent voter engagement by up to 30% in some cases. Politics is perception, and Democrats already struggle with the image of being joyless, self righteous, or obsessed with scolding rather than solutions. These memes and snide comments often reinforce that, especially to undecided or apolitical observers watching from the sidelines. Social identity theory explains why.
Leslie Poston:People use cues from group members to determine whether they want to belong to that group. If those cues signal exclusivity or condescension, potential allies are driven away. This matters because political affiliation today functions as a kind of consumer identity. Last year, Imani Barbarin, a communications professional, said it best when she said the regular people posting about their political party or cause are the face of that cause or party online. They are the campaign, and their behavior has impact.
Leslie Poston:People are buying into a movement or ideology, and branding matters. Market research techniques applied to political movements show that emotional resonance and perceived inclusivity are major factors of attracting new supporters. If your online presence feels like nagging, gatekeeping, or smugness, you're not growing your movement. You're marketing exclusion. This is especially true when the left uses memes to punch sideways at moderates or undecideds or even fellow Democrats instead of punching upwards at systems of power.
Leslie Poston:It creates intergroup animosity and fractures coalitions, especially in high stakes election years. Coalition building research demonstrates that internal conflict weakens external effectiveness. Every time we mock potential allies instead of educating them or helping them, we're literally making fascism's job easier by dividing opposition forces. Let's shift gears. There's another side to this coin, the fear of discomfort.
Leslie Poston:People like your newly politically active but socially cautious friend often experience the intensity of political memes and discourse as deeply threatening, even when they agree with the message. This fear is not neutral. Psychological research on emotional regulation shows that when people ask others to be nicer, to be more civil, or to keep the tone down, they're often engaging in what's called emotional labor outsourcing, trying to regulate their own anxiety by controlling others' expressions. But that anxiety then gets marketed as moral authority, and that has a chilling effect on activism. That's why Doctor.
Leslie Poston:Martin Luther King Jr. Criticism of the white moderate still resonates. Research in social movement theory confirms his observation. The person who values decorum over justice likely doesn't intend harm, but the result is the same delay, dilution, and deescalization of urgency. Studies of successful movements consistently show that people prioritizing civility over effectiveness tend to maintain the status quo rather than create change.
Leslie Poston:Even the language of got making me uncomfortable is a form of marketing. It tells the group what's acceptable and what isn't. It shifts the Overton window of political speech away from truth and urgency and back toward palatable silence. Discourse analysis reveals how these seemingly innocent requests for civility actually function as power maintenance tools, preserving existing hierarchies under the guise of propriety. I did an episode called The Politeness Protocol that you can go back and listen to where you can learn more about how that works psychologically.
Leslie Poston:The psychology of comfort zones plays an important role here. When people feel their worldview threatened, they experience what researchers call system justification, a psychological tendency to defend the existing order, even when it works against their interests. So we've established every post is an ad. Every comment is a campaign. Most people don't realize this, but social media functions as a marketing platform for ideas, and you are the unpaid brand manager of your beliefs.
Leslie Poston:The field of memetic theory, which studies how ideas spread like genes, offers necessary insight here. Your online behavior doesn't just reflect your politics. It actively constructs them in the public sphere. Marketing psychology demonstrates that repetition, emotional resonance, and visual impact determine message retention, precisely what memes excel at delivering. That doesn't mean you can't be authentic.
Leslie Poston:It means authenticity is strategic. The way you engage with ideas, with tone, memes, jokes, arguments shapes how others understand those ideas. It tells the algorithm and the audience what your values are. Computational linguistics research shows that language patterns and emotional tone have measurable effects on audience reception and behavioral change. That's why memes matter so much.
Leslie Poston:A political meme isn't just a laugh. It's a framing tool. It determines what's in focus and what's marginalized, what's ridiculous and what's righteous, and framing determines public will. Agenda setting theory in media studies confirms that how issues are presented directly influences public priority setting and policy support. So if we want to resist fascism, really resist, we must become more intentional.
Leslie Poston:We need to know when we're punching up and when we're punching sideways. We need to recognize when we're performing and when we're persuading, and we need to treat memes not as throwaway jokes but as micro strategies in a long, hard fight. The concept of digital capital becomes relevant here. Just as financial capital determines economic power, digital capital, your online influence, network and messaging skill, determines your political impact. For every meme you share is an investment decision in this economy of attention and influence.
Leslie Poston:One reason memeing fascism is so effective and so dangerous is that social platforms reward it. Algorithms are built to maximize engagement, not truth. The more emotionally charged or polarizing a meme is, the more likely it is to go viral, regardless of whether it challenges or reinforces fascist ideas. Machine learning research reveals the mechanics of this amplification. Social media algorithm use engagement signals like comments, shares, or reaction time to determine content visibility.
Leslie Poston:Controversial or emotionally provocative content consistently outperforms nuanced discussion using these metrics. This creates what computer scientists are calling a feedback loop of extremification. Memes that mock fascists often use their likeness, slogans, or catchphrases often ironically, but algorithms don't understand irony. They interpret engagement as popularity, which increases visibility. This means even your mocking repost of a fascist image can help boost its cultural salience.
Leslie Poston:Network science shows how this plays out at scale. Content that triggers strong emotional responses creates what we call activation cascades rapid widespread sharing that can reach millions within hours. These cascades don't discriminate between supportive and critical engagement. They simply amplify whatever generates a reaction. This gets into a tactic long used by fascist and far right movements, co opting visibility.
Leslie Poston:They rely on any mention, even mockery, to build brand awareness. Meme culture hands them that attention wrapped in humor, and it's free PR. Historical analysis of propaganda techniques shows that fascist movements have always understood the power of ubiquity over accuracy. Today's algorithms supercharge this strategy. The concept of algorithmic literacy is crucial here.
Leslie Poston:Understanding how platforms prioritize content isn't just technical knowledge. It's a form of political awareness that's necessary for effective digital citizenship in the twenty first century. It's easy to sit here and say, don't mean fascism, but what should you do instead? The answer isn't silence. It's strategy.
Leslie Poston:Political memes can be powerful when they inform, organize, or galvanize people toward action rather than just provoke a chuckle or vent frustration. Research in digital activism shows that successful online campaigns share several characteristics: They provide clear action steps They create emotional resonance without manipulation And they build toward tangible, offline impact. Think about memes that offer instructions: how to register to vote, how to find mutual aid, or how to spot disinformation, or memes that celebrate real wins and progress, keeping people engaged in the long game. These frame participation as both urgent and possible. We've seen a recent excellent example of this with the Hands Off protest on April 5 and 04/19/2025.
Leslie Poston:Behavioral science offers insights into effective mobilization. The theory of planned behavior suggests that people are more likely to act when they perceive the action as achievable, socially supported, and personally relevant. Memes that incorporate these elements showing how individual action connects to collective impact, prove far more effective than those that simply mock or criticize. We can also shift tone. Instead of shame or smugness, aim for connection and clarity.
Leslie Poston:That doesn't mean softening the truth. It means communicating the truth in ways that leave people empowered, not alienated. Communication research demonstrates that messages framed around shared values and collective benefit generate more engagement and action than those based on shame or fear. Finally, treat your digital space like a shared organizing space, not just a diary or a dunk contest. Ask yourself, is this post building solidarity?
Leslie Poston:Is it helping someone understand something new? Is it moving us closer to action? If it's not, maybe it's time to log off and go do something that does or find a way to do some mutual aid. The future of digital resistance is in understanding these dynamics and using them intentionally. We need tactical media, strategic use of communication tools to achieve specific political goals.
Leslie Poston:This means treating every digital interaction as an opportunity for movement building rather than just self expression. Thanks for listening to PsyberSpace. This is your host, Leslie Poston, signing off. Today, we explored the danger of trivializing fascism through memes and social media behavior. And remember, online actions don't just reflect our politics, they shape them.
Leslie Poston:The science is clear. Our digital habits have real world consequences. And as we navigate this new abnormal, let's be more intentional about how we engage, more strategic about what we share, and more thoughtful about the impact of our online presence. And as always, until next time, stay curious. And don't forget to subscribe so you'd never miss an episode.
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