The composition and amplification of mainstream political memes: evidence from 4 U.S. election cycles

Political memes represent an important medium through which people engage with politics. Using content analysis of 3,879 memes from partisan Facebook Pages with significant reach across the 2016–2022 U.S. national election cycles, we analyze political meme composition and amplification. Memes were consistent with the actors, issues, and strategies mentioned across elections. Results indicate that stably owned or newly emergent issues received more shares on Facebook as did uncivil memes. The findings are normatively troubling, as the political memes likely to be amplified are those featuring new issues, stably owned partisan issues, and elements of uncivil discourse.