What do you Meme? An Investigation of Social Media and Mathematical Identity

Abstract

Mathematical spaces extend far beyond the classroom and physical environments into sociotechnological spaces. Today’s students have more to consider than just their face-to-face experiences with mathematics inside or outside the classroom; they have the online perspectives of others to consider as well. To gain critical insight, research was conducted with semi-structured focus groups using an interactive mathematics internet meme activity. Using positioning theory, this article highlights students’ stances and three storylines as conceptual tools for better understanding their offline and online mathematical identities. Results show the two spaces are not mutually exclusive and students are succumbing and adhering to a larger hegemonic construction of mathematics found in the online communities with various points of tension found.