“I’m here for the memes”: The civic potential of internet memes in Indonesia

This thesis investigates memes’ civic potential during the Indonesia 2019 presidential election and discovers memes’ role beyond entertainment. Memes motivated Indonesian users to learn about politics in order to understand the memes or create one. However, civic engagement with the election was ambivalent. Users post memes to discuss politics while avoiding looking political since there are risks associated with political expressions in Indonesia. The ambivalence indicates that political meme-ing is risky in Indonesia and why memes are uniquely relevant to the country’s politics. This thesis provides insight into how memes generate civic engagement amid political polarisation in a post-authoritarian country.