Taiwan keeps disinformation concerning COVID-19 at bay with humour and cute memes
What is it about?
How did Taiwan manage to keep both the pandemic and misinformation regarding COVID-19 under control? This paper shows that in dealing with online misinformation, the government adopted a humorous approach in publicizing its pandemic-prevention measures. Cute, funny memes in particular played an important role in its communication with the public. Using memes, the government encouraged a broad public to spread, manipulate, and otherwise engage with messages that also contained information about the pandemic. For its part, the public became creative and included members of the government in producing memetic images. Doing so decreased the emotional distance between government and governed at a time when society could have easily split over political differences.
Why is it important?
In many societies, social media and online platforms are perceived as potentially harmful, for example by creating opportunities for filter bubbles and echo chambers. The Taiwanese government, by contrast, sees digital technology in a very positive light; it has the potential to strenghten democracy by increasing regular public participation and reducing the distance between government and public. Humour plays a central role for this approach, in particular self-deprecating humour. Applying self-deprecating humour lowers the perceived status of government officials and shows them as approachable people who do not take themselves too seriously.