Proceedings of the 2026 5th International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities and Arts (SSHA 2026)

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The Resonance of Symbols: Cat Memes as a Communication Practice of Youth Subculture

Authors
Yingna Yao1, *
1School of Communication and International Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University City College, Xi’an, 710014, Shaanxi, China
*Corresponding author. Email: yuwan2114@gmail.com
Corresponding Author
Yingna Yao
Available Online 15 May 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_92How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Cat Memes; Youth Subculture; Emotional Resonance; Soft resistance
Abstract

In the recent era when digital media is increasingly integrated into daily life, Internet memes such as cat memes have involved from mere symbols of entertainment into a distinct youth subculture phenomenon. Despite it is wide spread, existing research has failed to explain in detail how it, as a distinct culture practice, resonates so profoundly with young people. The discovery that the “Crying Cat” meme is highly favored by the youth. This study will take this as the case to explore how cat memes function as a form of youth subculture dissemination. By combining the theory of memes and subculture studies, it is proposed that the essence of cat memes is a kind of “soft resistance” based on emotional resonance. This study employs text analysis to reveal that contemporary youth through the creation of the “lovable weak” symbol, employ display of vulnerability and self-deprecating humour to form an emotional sanctuary for expressing pressures and constructing identity, facilitated by platform algorithms. The conclusion posits that cat memes represent a significant shift towards emotionally practices within youth subcultures.

Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2026 5th International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities and Arts (SSHA 2026)
Series
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date
15 May 2026
ISBN
978-2-38476-577-5
ISSN
2352-5398
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_92How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Yingna Yao
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/15
TI  - The Resonance of Symbols: Cat Memes as a Communication Practice of Youth Subculture
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 5th International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities and Arts (SSHA 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 917
EP  - 924
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_92
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-577-5_92
ID  - Yao2026
ER  -