Abstract:
This research is based on the assumption that social media sites – such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube –
have changed the way in which memes (culturally transmitted ideas) are transmitted or spread. It is argued
that social media have provided the most fertile environment for the replication of memes to date. The social
networking site Facebook is the main social media example used throughout the research. The way in which
Facebook is represented in film, as well as the ways in which the offline lives of the characters are affected by
their social media profiles, specifically as depicted in the film Catfish (Joost and Schulman 2010) are analysed.
Lastly, it is argued that one can construct an entirely new persona, or merely experiment with different aspects
of who you are, on social media sites. This online persona can be influenced by the memes one chooses to
spread online. Naturally, all memes carry connotations, values and judgements. These memes collate with
one’s profile and, thus, the connotations attached to the memes one shares are then associated with one’s
online persona/profile. It is found that although a social networking user tries to portray him/herself in an idealised
manner, these memetic connotations give a true impression of his/her offline persona. As a result, there is not
much difference between the user’s online and offline personae.
