Whose Fear is That Joke Based On? - A Discussion on Social Media in the Era of "War Content"

Whose Fear is That Joke Based On? - A Discussion on Social Media in the Era of "War Content"

The Feed Lightens War. But Reality Doesn't Lighten

 

In the past few weeks, with news of ceasefires and retaliations, war has flowed onto smartphone screens before TV news flashes. Moreover, much of it was consumed not as "news" but as meme images, short videos, and reaction templates. An article published by WIRED on April 20 views this phenomenon not merely as internet culture but as the very process of war being transformed into content. The frightening part is not that people are forgetting the war, but rather that despite seeing it so much, their understanding is not deepening.

The reactions that spread on social media were very characteristic of the current internet. In the U.S., jokes like "If I'm drafted, at least give me Bluetooth gear" and lip-sync videos to the sound of "Bazooka" went viral. In the Gulf region, memes turned into love jokes like "Iran replies faster than your crush," and posts likening festival attire to protective gear or tactical vests circulated. In fact, on Instagram, phrases like "Find someone who replies back as fast as Iran" and related trends can be found, showing that the expressions picked up by the WIRED article were not exaggerated but rooted in the real social media space.

Of course, it's easy to dismiss such humor as uniformly inappropriate, but that's only half correct. Researcher Adel Iskandar, introduced in WIRED, says satire exists where there is difficulty. When faced with fear or helplessness, humor can be a means to regain control, even if just for a moment. For those close to the scene, jokes may not be entertainment for outsiders but a way to somehow catch their breath. However, the moment this humor spreads on platforms, its meaning often changes. What was a desperate "coping mechanism" locally becomes just an amusing template on the timelines of distant users.

Accelerating this transformation is the algorithm of social media. Memes don't require precision but need to be instantly understandable, easy to mimic, and emotionally impactful. The WIRED article points out that the more a meme spreads, the more its context is stripped away, making it indistinguishable from other crises. War is originally an event where history, geopolitics, sects, economics, security, and the destruction of individual lives are intricately intertwined. However, in the feed, only the "easily understandable materials" like explosions, sirens, helmets, crying emojis, and ironic captions are rapidly reused. As a result, recipients don't get closer to reality but only gain a false sense of understanding.

This sense of "feeling like you understand" is also supported by research. The study referenced by WIRED suggests that encountering news on social media may enhance people's "feeling of knowing" but doesn't necessarily increase actual knowledge. In another context, research published in Frontiers organizes that short, easily consumable news on social media tends to create an illusion of knowledge. In other words, the more people see fragmented news and memes, the more they mistakenly believe they understand the situation. The danger of war being turned into memes is not because it makes people forget the war, but because it makes them feel like they understand the war with only fragments.

What's even more troublesome is that even nations have learned this language. According to Reuters, the U.S. White House spread videos on X, TikTok, and Instagram regarding the 2026 war with Iran, incorporating "Call of Duty"-style effects, SpongeBob, Superman, movie clips, and flashy music. Some videos were viewed over 58 million times and were criticized by experts as "gamification of war" and "minimizing victims." The observation that past public relations used to explain reasons for war are now leaning towards content that "makes explosions look cool" is significant.

On the other hand, Iran is also responding on the same playing field. TIME reported that while the total impressions of the White House videos were boasted to be over 2 billion, Iran's AI-generated Lego-style videos surpassed that, according to some analyses. The Guardian also reported that Iran's diplomatic accounts and pro-government accounts were posting AI videos mocking Trump and satirical music posts, reaching a wide range of political circles in the West. There, the goal is not to spread news but to seize the "narrative" first. A struggle for dominance is occurring not only on the battlefield but also on timelines.

The reactions seen here on social media are not simple "laughter" but are at least split into two. One is the reaction of sharing jokes to get through fear and anxiety. The other is a strong discomfort with nations and major accounts borrowing that vibe to start promoting war. Reuters reports that former government officials and researchers criticize such videos as "selling war by making it look cool." Indeed, terms like "meme warfare" and "gamification of war" are becoming visible on social media, and it should be seen that reactions of amusement and resistance to the dilution of reality are running parallel.

This structure is not unrelated to the media environment faced by the young generation in the Middle East. According to the 2023 Arab Youth Survey, 61% of young Arabs said they get their news from social media, while 89% said television is the most trusted news source. Furthermore, half said they share news on social media without verifying its accuracy. This is an interesting twist. People first learn about situations on social media, but they don't trust it the most. In other words, there is a gap between the fastest source of information and the most trusted source. Into that gap, memes, propaganda, and emotional stories all slip in.

We often think that social media has made war "closer." Certainly, in the sense that distant conflicts flow into one's feed, that's true. However, being closer and having a higher resolution are not the same. Rather, war seen through cutouts, subtitles, soundtracks, emojis, and templated comparison jokes appears close but is actually quite distant. Explosions become performances, evacuations become short videos with background music, and casualties recede into the background of "strong posts." Social media shows war, but the way it is shown flattens the pain of war.

Therefore, what is needed is not to morally condemn "don't look at memes." If you look, pause for a moment before laughing. Who is making that joke, from where, and at what distance? Is it laughter as survival on the ground, or consumption as entertainment from outside? Or is it a performance designed by a nation to consolidate support? The feed always suggests the next thing. However, war itself is not the kind of event that auto-plays to the next recommendation. The problem is not that there are people who make war a joke. It's that as we continue to view it as a joke, we lose sight of what we are actually seeing.

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