User:Leahgburke24/Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash

Johnny - On February 12, 2016, new media artist Matt Starr organized the art exhibition "Weekend with Bernie" for Wayfarers Gallery in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York.

I plan to add more about this art exhibit since I found an article. This art exhibit helped promote not only this meme page, but brought new eyes to the campaign.

Leah - In February of 2016, Caitlin Dewey wrote an article for the Washington Post about how Bernie Sanders became the lord of "dank memes". https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/02/23/how-bernie-sanders-became-the-lord-of-dank-memes/

This article highlights the timeline of Bernies successful meme uprise in the media which will further help us gather information about our topic.

Article Draft
I plan to add a some information arguing why the dank memes did in fact did help Bernie. I found some articles showing that it increased his popularity. === Lead: All signs pointed to this helping Bernie Sanders. It helped him gain attention, which he didn't receive a lot of with Hilary as the primary Democratic candidate. Bernie was tagged " the lord of dank memes". (UNLV, Rebecca Benfield, page 1) This was a positive for Bernie, this allowed him to appeal to the younger generation. Millennials often become obsessed with fads or trends this was the case for the Dank Memes Facebook group. Bernie even if he was laughed at a bit benefited from this publicity. He was viewed as a funny guy which made Americans feel they could relate to him. Even if this didn't lead to a nomination for Bernie it definitely elevated his public image. ===

=== Article body: Many publications speculated on whether Internet memes helped Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign. (Insert addition here) All signs pointed to this helping Bernie Sanders. It helped him gain attention, which he didn't receive a lot of with Hilary as the primary Democratic candidate. Bernie was tagged " the lord of dank memes". (UNLV, Rebecca Benfield, page 1) This was a positive for Bernie, this allowed him to appeal to the younger generation. Millennials often become obsessed with fads or trends this was the case for the Dank Memes Facebook group. Bernie even if he was laughed at a bit benefited from this publicity. He was viewed as a funny guy which made Americans feel they could relate to him. Even if this didn't lead to a nomination for Bernie it definitely elevated his public image. ===

=== Former moderator of the group Sean Walsh said, "This generation's memes are that generation's C-SPAN or Huffington Post. Seriously, memes are going to be very prevalent in politics. They're going to get ideas into your head."The Washington Post 's Caitlin Dewey believed memes are more participatory than news articles or official campaign letters besides addressing voter apathy through humor. Vice 's Carles Buzz found memes curated by the group appealed more to a progressive base than the Facebook pages for local radio station. While examining the popularity of both Sanders and British politician Jeremy Corbyn, Jacobin 's Peter Frase used the group as an example that "exploits the incongruity of these men's nebbishy affect when contrasted with their youthful supporters." Fortune 's Ryan Holmes found it interesting that the memes had "little – or nothing – to do with Sanders' actual campaign." The Daily Kos 's Nerdstrom thought an online community like the group was what rival presidential candidates lacked. In Northwestern University's news magazine North by Northwestern, Facebook page Cats for Kasich founder Blake Kolesa and co-founder Noah Orner called it "one of the many pop-culture phenomena that connect younger voters to politics." Business Insider 's Dan Turkel pointed out how the group highlighted enthusiasm among young Internet users. The Daily Dot 's Vic Vaiana said the group was one of the first leftist meme spaces to attract significant media coverage as well as increasing the popularity of similar spaces. Brit + Co 's Tannara Yelland found Sanders' Internet appeal via memes resonated with Millennials. ===