Memes for Expression

This portion of the exhibit serves to show the role and importance of images as everyday writing. The use of memes in the posts below emphasizes the multimodality of everyday writing. The images, in conjunction with the writing provided in the captions help to communicate an overall message to the user's followers. Furthermore, the images included in these posts can be labelled as everyday writing even when separated from the text in the captions. The memes were created autonomously and were not prompted by any assignment. The people who created the memes use image and text together to communicate a message in a humourous and relatable manner. Sometimes, the memes in the "finsta" posts do not match with the written captions, but they are a form of everyday writing meant to make the post stand out and gain attention.

Brianna Love's post shares a meme that details her uncomfortable feelings when approached by males at a club. Her caption adds context to the meme and reveals a personal side of herself that is not visible on her public Instagram.

Autom's meme and the writing in her caption of this "finsta" posts reveals an intimate detail about Autom; the fact that she struggles to wake up and attend class each day. Her post is relatable and the writing present in both the meme and the caption invites people to respond, agree, and sympathize with her.

Sheridan's post uses a meme without writing. However, the writing in her caption completes the context of the image. Sheridan's writing reveals that she is feeling stepped on, tired, and run over by the people and responsibilites in her life at that moment.

Lindsay's post includes a meme that is unrelated to her caption. The meme is a form of everday writing by itself, but when examined in the context of her "finsta" post, it appears to function as writing that grabs the attention of her followers. The image provides a humorous relief from the tense atmosphere that her written caption creates.

Emily's post centers the meme as the main form of everyday writing. In the post, the meme communicates the struggle of wanting dessert after finishing every meal. The meme does the communicating for Emily and she does not have to add much writing of her own to the caption. The post reveals a personal struggle and is more honest than posts that appear on her public page.

Brianna's "finsta" post above uses the writing within the image of the meme to communicate. The writing in the meme reveals that Brianna may struggle to find successful and uncomplicated relationships. This is a topic that she does not post about on her public page.