User:PainTepide/Neurchi

Neurchi is a French slang term in verlan which refers to online francophone communities originating on the social network Facebook where members gather to participate in internet meme culture around a variety of topics, , ,. The word neurchi is used to designate both the various Facebook groups of the community, but also to the individual members of the community. The whole community of neurchis is referred to by the term neurchisphère.

The term neurchi comes from the word " chineur " (bargain-hunter), indicating someone who searches for novel objects in flea markets. Originally chineurs were professional antiquarians or dealers, who knew how to find rare goods.

Description
The vase majority of neurchi groupes are readily identifiable as they are names after the theme tackled by the group, in the common format: "Neurchi de [relevant theme]".

Meme culture is often the central element of neurchis, however some are instead focused on sharing other content, such as press articles or debates. The themes of neurchis are varied, some share humorous content, often coming from internet culture, or centered on current events, whilst others are spaces for discussion, debate, and sharing advice. Certain neurchis are centered on political memes, whilst others are dedicated to cultural works (films, comics, etc.), to celebrities, to regional identities to sexuality or to workplace topics.

In addition to sharing general internet culture, neurchis have their own culture, with their own terms, their own jokes, and their own vocabulary. The humour often blends irony and self-deprecation. They have been described by Le Monde as " a major phenomenon of the francophone internet".

Neurchis are, for the most part, closed groups. In order to join it is generally necessary to make a request, accept the rules and respond to one or more questions. The groups are managed by a team of administrators and moderators. The latter write the group rules, accept or refuse prospective members, approve the posts of members, acceptent ou refusent les candidats, valident les publications des membres, and ensure good behaviour in comment sections by applying sanctions where necessary. One of the central rules, and common to nearly all neurchis, is the ban on " wild tags ", which refers to the practice of mentioning another user in the comments of a post without any genuine comment on the post itself,.

The group ' Neurchi de coupe de France du mème' (neurchi of the French Tournament of Memes), was composed of 70,000 membres in February 2020, of which 90% were under the age of 35, et 80 % were male. Some of the most popular groups may have tens of thousands of members. Some administrators create and manage multiple groups, sometimes dozens of group for a single administrator. The majority of administrators are students, and are under the age of 25.

History
The first neurchi, " neurchi de mèmes ", was created in May 2016 by Yugnat999, a young internet user from Paris. Neurchis were in part inspired by anglophone Facebook groups based on the same concept of sharing memes.

From the first months, multiple offshoot groups emerged. By the end of 2019 - to the start of 2020, a "French Tournament of Memes" attracted more than 70,000 members from various different neurchis.

Analysis and criticisms
Neurchis are often appreciated for their humorous side, and for certain users constitute a reason to remain on Facebook, in spite of a reduction in the appeal of the social network overall. According to Numerama, "neurchis have achieved one feat : to bring young internet users back to Facebook and make it into an edgy social network, perfectly within the social codes of the web".

Being closed groups, neurchis permit an important discretion and are perceived as benevolent spaces. Nevertheless, some groups are little moderated, or even unmoderated, and racist, homophobic, or sexist memes and comments can be published. Cases of harassment have been reported in certain neurchis and there are sometime fierce rivalries between administrators and members of different neurchis.

In some cases neurchis can become bystanders or agents in harassment, or in the propogation of extremist ideas. Sexism is sometimes present in neurchis, which are typically composed of an overwhelmingly male membership.