The Relationship Between the Usage of Memes on Social Media in the Chinese Internet and a Sense of Belonging

Abstract

The concept of "meme" was introduced in 1976, and with the development of the internet, memes have gradually become a cultural phenomenon on social media. As a semantic collection, memes possess unique meanings that can create a distinct hidden information space for those who use them. During dissemination, individuals who do not understand the meaning of a meme are filtered out, forming a group of those who understand it. Within this group, people may develop a sense of belonging. In order to investigate whether Chinese internet users experience a sense of belonging when using memes and explore the relationship between user engagement and the strength of this sense of belonging when using memes, this study employed a questionnaire-based approach. By analyzing the level of meme usage participation and the sense of belonging experienced by Chinese internet users, the research sought to uncover the correlation between these two factors. The study utilized graphical analysis to reveal a certain degree of correlation.