Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash

Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash (BSDMS) is a Facebook group where members can share and discuss Internet memes relating to American politician and junior United States senator Bernie Sanders. Sanders is a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. As of April 18, 2016, the group had nearly 435,000 members. History: The group was created in early October 2015 by college students Will Dowd and Sean Walsh with the purpose of supporting the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. As of April 18, 2016, the group had a member count of 435,000. As of April 19, 2016, the group had 43 administrators. The Facebook page has over 50,000 likes. By contrast, on March 2, 2016, the largest Hillary Clinton meme group, called "Hillary Clinton Dank Meme Stash" had 500 members and mostly posted about pro-Sanders issues. On April 25, 2016, BSDMS was temporarily affected by the 2016 Bernie Sanders Facebook groups suspension. SpinMedia's website Death and Taxes's Jamie Peck said that "I myself can report that porn is still popping up in popular FB group Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash, and its members are not amused." Seattle's alternative newspaper The Stranger's Matt Baume said "the group Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash is still up and running." Spin-offs: A spin-off dating group, Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Singles, was founded by nonprofit director Beth Hannah, who works for the Human Resource Development Council in Havre, Montana. Members post either Internet memes, personal advertisements, or selfies. Many of its members are vegan. On February 22, 2016, the group had over 9,900 members and a team of 20 administrators. Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Singles, in turn, inspired the online dating service, Bernie Singles. The latter website was founded in February 17, 2016, by Arizona State University student Colten Caudle and co-owner David Boni. It received 1,000 registered users within the first hour. The website allows users to search for other users based on geographic region. Recently, Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash inspired the Facebook page Ted Cruz Meme Page dedicated to the United States Senator from Texas Ted Cruz and his former presidential campaign. Content: The content of Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash is user-submitted. Members of the group create posts as commentary for Sanders and his presidential campaign. Many of the posts edit the politician into popular culture, i.e. a Pen & Pixel rap album cover, as well as Internet memes as Pepe the Frog. Memes may include image macros. While predominantly based on Facebook, content from BSDMS is also shared on Reddit, Tumblr, and Twitter. Voting selfies are also uploaded. The group's moderators aim for positive commentary on the candidate. Bernie Bros are usually berated via the Facebook's comment feature and banned. Memes that are sexist, racist, or ad hominem attacks against Clinton are not approved. Dowd has said little coordination goes into the creation of memes. Co-founder and former moderator Walsh has said, "This generation's memes are that generation's C-SPAN or Huffington Post. Seriously, memes are going to be very prevalent in politics. They're going to get ideas into your head." Art: On February 12, 2016, new media artist Matt Starr organized the art exhibition "Weekend with Bernie" for Wayfarers Gallery in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York. The exhibition included Ryder Ripps's installation "Faces of Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash" featuring Skype video chats with members of the group as well as a painting of American rapper Lil B as Sanders by Canadian record producer Ryan Hemsworth. The exhibition raised over $10,000 in donations to the Sanders campaign. Memes: The meme "Bernie or Hillary?" that pitted Clinton and Sanders as opponents was popularized in the group. The meme features a political poster comparing the two candidates on a particular issue. The Daily Dot's Stephen Thomas has called the meme "hugely popular." On February 10, 2016, another meme, this one an email originally sent to Clinton supporters during the New Hampshire primary, was also popularized via the group. One of the supporters was Maddi Epping, a slam poet from Des Moines, Iowa. The email contained the subject line "I'm not kidding, Maddi". Epping posted a screenshot to the group. The meme became a trending topic on social media platforms and was referenced in several news outlets. "Ted Cruz–Zodiac meme" is another popular meme. The meme is based on the claim that United States Senator from Texas Ted Cruz is the serial killer Zodiac Killer. The bartender Julie Lazano of the dive bar Grand Prize in Montrose, Houston, named a cocktail after the meme which she said she found via the group "around the turn of the year." Reactions- Reception: Vice's Carles .Buzz described it with "the Facebook group continues to generate memes for Bernie supporters that transcend the traditional media coverage of their beloved Presidential candidate. The memes are explanatory, deconstructive, self-aware, and incendiary." American electro house musician Steve Aoki has called the group "eternally entertaining". Oberlin College student newspaper The Oberlin Review's Josh Ashkinaze reviewed the group as "an odd page because political memes usually take a critical stance towards their subject." Yahoo Politics's Alyssa Bereznak called the group the second most popular of the eighteen large groups dedicated to him. Indiana University of Pennsylvania student newspaper The Penn's Jason Daquelente called BSDMS "one public group that has received a lot of hype." Pacific Standard's Wilson Dizard says the BSDMS membership "revel in Internet language and inside jokes that don't appear on an equivalent Clinton page." Thought Catalog's Jacob Geers reviewed it favorable stating "this Facebook group that didn’t look like anything I’d ever seen before." Geers said the "dank Bernie Sanders memes" were "truly hilarious." Fortune's Ryan Holmes called it a "collection of hilarious, if incongruent, Sanders memes and mashups is ready-made to go viral." New York's Hudson Hongo says the Bernie Sanders meme community is "just one, small, only slightly connected part of a more expansive, and much weirder, segment of Facebook." The Daily Telegraph's Helena Horton called the group "comedic". The Tab's Roisin Lanigan said "it's quite a weird place to begin with" but that the dating spin-off Bernie Sanders Dank Memes Singles is "one of the weirdest ones." Daily Kos's Nerdstrom said BSDMS would help win Bernie Sanders the 2016 United States presidential election. Business Insider's Dan Turkel described it as "a page where Sanders fans share bizarre jokes and images about the 74-year-old Vermont senator." Brit + Co's Tannara Yelland said it was "full of 'dank memes' aka memes that are sick af." Impact: Since the group's creation, many publications have speculated on whether Internet memes would help with Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign. The Washington Post's Caitlin Dewey believes memes are more participatory than news articles or official campaign letters besides persuading voter apathy through humor. Vice's Carles .Buzz finds that memes curated by the group appeal more to a progressive than their radio station's Facebook page. Fortune's Ryan Holmes found it interesting that the memes have "little – or nothing – to do with Sanders' actual campaign." The Daily Kos's Nerdstrom thinks an online community like BSDMS is what the rival presidential candidates lack. In Northwestern University's news magazine North by Northwestern, Facebook page Cats for Kasich founder Noah Erner called it "one of the many pop-culture phenomena that connect younger voters to politics." Business Insider's Dan Turkel points out how the group highlights enthusiasm among young Internet users. Brit + Co's Tannara Yelland finds that Sanders' Internet appeal via memes resonates with Millennials.