Estudio comparativo sobre el potencial del meme como recurso de comunicación política: recepción, usos y significados en estudiantes universitarios (Ecuador-España)

This research analyzes the perception of students about the meme as a discursive and strategic tool in the digital political scene. The research carried out a comparative study between 178 students of Communication and Journalism careers from two public universities such as: Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain) and Technical University of Machala (Ecuador). The survey was applied as the main research technique. The article allows us to conclude that the appropriation of meanings of a political humor meme demands a specific decoding of the format and the need to know the necessary references to understand them, trying to avoid a superficial knowledge of the political fact since there is the possibility that the student little informed does not manage to distinguish the important from the banal. What is sought with this type of meme is the democratization of social debate in the face of public affairs, without falling into a desensitization effect. At the end of the study, the meme is considered to symbolize the golden age of citizen participation. Furthermore, it represents the hope of a more participatory citizenship. The challenge is to consolidate a more politically active society that goes beyond the conjunctural humor of the meme.