MEMES AS A TOOL TO INFORM FROM ONLINE MEDIA IN ECUADOR: EL COMERCIO AND LA HORA TUNGURAHUA CASE

Abstract

The present study analyzes the characteristics of memes published by El Comercio and La Hora Tungurahua to share their journalistic products during the first quarter of 2022 on Instagram. A mixed methodology was designed, and the content analysis technique was applied with an observation sheet to study 162 publications under three categories subdivided into the following aspects: geographical scope, journalistic genre, language, format, type of humor, interaction tools, topics and audience reactions. The study confirms the use of memes as a tool that enhances attention and viralization of informative content, as it is part of the new narratives that have boost the exercise of cyber journalism. However, there is evidence of the predominance of practices that do not promote higher levels of interaction, greater diversity of journalistic genres, or a wider view in the selection of topics and participation of virtual communities. In general, an omission was determined in the use of memes on political topics and promotion of cultural and health issues. Also, a directly proportional relationship was identified between the predominance of informative topics, still image formats and low audience participation.