It was a different story when internet culture was not as pervasive a decade+ ago, and jokes/memes were swapped to sort of show you were part of the in-group. Now, internet culture is pretty much just mainstream popular culture at this point, so everyone is part of the in-group and it greatly cheapens the whole thing. I think it's pretty horrible too, but on reflection, I'm honestly just getting older... i'm already settled with doing things the new ways of doing things will not be as appealing.. I'm not sure if it really had any effect on any elections, but social media is definitely where the battle is being fought nowadays, and now it seems people are both more antisocial and polarized than ever... that can't be a good cobination
Memes have been around since antiquity.. The 'Keep Calm' meme has been around since World War 2. The Gadsden flag 'Don't tread on me' was a 1700s meme. Just Say No was a War on Drugs meme from the 70s, just like Reefer madness.. Hitler was actually the first modern 'meme' president to be elected as he frequently made use of film, art .. the mainstream media, etc. for propaganda. Shakespeare was arguably the first politically incorrect literature writer ... but that award probably goes to the ancient greek poets like Homer. Memes are just that - ideas that go viral and are catchy.
Mad because people are using different ways to express themselves? They're creating something out of something else and that makes them...dumb? Creativity=Unintelligent now. Trump has got more people interested in political s than any president ever. And since when does anybody like any president, sky daddy himself could win and people will still find a reason to complain.
People expressing themselves is one thing, Taking satire to a completely new level is another. Glorifying the act of eating tide pods is taking it a little too far.....