Meta-Meme: a responsible researcher's tool for the analysis of Internet Memes

I'm Giovanni Schiazza, a PhD researcher at the University of Nottingham with the Horizon CDT. I have a BA in Politics and International Relations and an MSc in Political Psychology. Before the PhD, my research revolved around understanding the impacts of Internet Memes on political knowledge and piloting a meme engagement scale to explore its structure in relation to individual differences.

My PhD research focuses on responsibly developing a tool to support internet meme researchers from a diverse range of disciplines and backgrounds. The literature on tools for the analysis of memes is increasing (for an overview see Beskow et al., 2020) suggesting that a fully automated analysis of IMs can be performed. Different machine learning techniques have been employed, on different types of memes and media formats. There is yet to emerge a tool for the analysis of internet memes that reflects the needs of different researchers. One of the main problems in Internet Meme (IM) research is the lack of systematic tools and frameworks that researchers can use to analyse IMs. To address this gap in the literature, this PhD proposes to create a tool (Meta-Meme) for analysis that combines statistical techniques with machine learning. Meta-Meme helps researchers establish a conventional way to start the analysis based on aggregate IM data.

To ensure the value and responsibility of the tool, I employ a Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) approach to conducting science and research.
As part of RRI research, I am inviting meme experts and researchers to take part in workshops and interviews to responsibly co-create notions, concepts, and opinions on memes that will directly inform the design of the tool.

By co-producing the tool's building blocks with the interested communities, we ensure that Meta-Meme is accessible to a diverse range of researchers with different backgrounds, research approaches, and understandings of memes.

The co-production workshops will run between May and August 2024, and interviews will be available throughout 2024.

Delphi methodology will be employed during the co-production efforts to structure, collect and ensure fairness when sharing opinions and understandings of internet memes. Workshops or interviews employ Delphi methodology which involves expert selection, anonymity, generation, aggregation and evaluation of participant statements and ratings.

The findings of the PhD will help develop the proof of concept of the tool, as well as serving as an RRI case study from which to draw guidelines for other researchers wishing to employ RRI in their research and innovation processes.

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We will collaborate with over 40 partners drawn from across FMCG and Food; Creative Industries; Health and Wellbeing; Smart Mobility; Finance; Enabling technologies; and Policy, Law and Society. These will benefit from engagement with our CDT through the following established mechanisms:

- Training multi-disciplinary leaders. Our partners will benefit from being able to recruit highly skilled individuals who are able to work across technologies, methods and sectors and in multi-disciplinary teams. We will deliver at least 65 skilled PhD graduates into the Digital Economy.

- Internships. Each Horizon student undertakes at least one industry internship or exchange at an external partner. These internships have a benefit to the student in developing their appreciation of the relevance of their PhD to the external societal and industrial context, and have a benefit to the external partner through engagement with our students and their multidisciplinary skill sets combined with an ability to help innovate new ideas and approaches with minimal long-term risk. Internships are a compulsory part of our programme, taking place in the summer of the first year. We will deliver at least 65 internships with partners.

- Industry-led challenge projects. Each student participates in an industry-led group project in their second year. Our partners benefit from being able to commission focused research projects to help them answer a challenge that they could not normally fund from their core resources. We will deliver at least 15 such projects (3 a year) throughout the lifetime of the CDT.

- Industry-relevant PhD projects. Each student delivers a PhD thesis project in collaboration with at least one external partner who benefits from being able to engage in longer-term and deeper research that they would not normally be able to undertake, especially for those who do not have their own dedicated R&D labs. We will deliver at least 65 such PhDs over the lifetime of this CDT renewal.

- Public engagement. All students receive training in public engagement and learn to communicate their findings through press releases, media coverage.

This proposal introduces two new impact channels in order to further the impact of our students' work and help widen our network of partners.

- The Horizon Impact Fund. Final year students can apply for support to undertake short impact projects. This benefits industry partners, public and third sector partners, academic partners and the wider public benefit from targeted activities that deepen the impact of individual students' PhD work. This will support activities such as developing plans for spin-outs and commercialization; establishing an IP position; preparing and documenting open-source software or datasets; and developing tourable public experiences.

- ORBIT as an impact partner for RRI. Students will embed findings and methods for Responsible Research Innovation into the national training programme that is delivered by ORBIT, the Observatory for Responsible Research and Innovation in ICT (www.orbit-rri.org). Through our direct partnership with ORBIT all Horizon CDT students will be encouraged to write up their experience of RRI as contributions to ORBIT so as to ensure that their PhD research will not only gain visibility but also inform future RRI training and education. PhD projects that are predominantly in the area of RRI are expected to contribute to new training modules, online tools or other ORBIT services.