Memes and Civic Action: Building and Sustaining Civic Empowerment Through The Internet

The confluence of social media and viral marketing has greatly supported the fostering of civic action in developing countries. The access to social media and ready availability of technology has led to an empowerment of citizens and examples of mass engagement through social media leading to large-scale mobilisation for change. This chapter explores the necessary conditions and role played by technology and social media in enabling groups of people to self-organise and drive a social agenda. It specifically uses memes as the theoretical foundation to explore the initiation and sustainability of viral messages and their impact at a community level.