ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we will see how image-based play and creativity fulfil an important role in contemporary participatory culture. First, it discusses how the idea of media citizenship incorporates the importance of popular culture and entertainment in creating cultural public spheres. In these spheres, reflexive citizens, through their emotional engagement, enter into performative actions, such as discussion, critique and imagination; actions which may impact on identity, social values and political orientation. DIY citizenship further emphasises the importance of creativity and play, as in a digital world citizens become content creators. Visual content online, such as political memes, is often heavily intertextual and plays with both conventional and creative metaphors, in which especially humour plays an important role as a social lubricant. A world full of stimuli, in which complex political ideas create a distance between citizens and political spheres, relies on heuristic devices to facilitate understanding, but which also carry the risk of oversimplification and trigger cognitive biases leading to cultural stereotyping.
