Third, the ironic edge of meme culture is intentionally useful in its ability to mask serious ideological claims as ‘edgy’ jokes, eschewing any responsibility when external forces attempt to hold alt-right groups accountable for online abuse. Second, the ‘memeification’ of real-life violence also facilitates a process of desensitisation by presenting extreme content as ironic or light-hearted, making it more consumable and allowing the radicalisation process to occur in a more subtle manner. First, the use of humour in the form of memes as a collection of ‘inside jokes’, particularly at the expense of an externalised group, intensifies an ‘us vs them’ narrative which promotes social othering. Drawing on existing research, this Insight identifies three central ways that memes contribute to alt-right culture. The use of online memes is a cultural stamp of the alt-right community the packaging of political ideology into humorous or ironic media shared within a collective as a set of inside jokes and references is a key tool in the radicalisation process.
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