On April 25, the day before the primary voting booths opened in Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, a number of popular Facebook groups in support of Bernie Sanders had disappeared - much to the anger and frustration of the community’s members. They named and tagged the event as another #BernieBlackout.

Knowing that not too long prior, a pro-Hillary Clinton Super PAC had invested more than $1 million into a new initiative called Correct the Record, the Sanders community believed them to be at fault for the group disappearances. Soon after, as explained in this article by Kim LaCapria, not only were those accusations true, they were planned. Individuals have been paid to go online, create fake accounts, “correct” any less-than-supportive information on Clinton’s history, spam group pages with offensive imagery, and anonymously report them. Though the Facebook groups have been restored, another raid (flashback to the 4chan v. Tumblr War) called “Barrier Breakers 2016” by the same Correct the Record PAC may soon be in the making to further aid the Clinton campaign.

The Internet is proving to be of ever-growing importance this election season. Beyond acting as another platform to present a candidate’s stance on the issues and their plans for their future presidency, it allows audiences to read articles and criticisms of each candidate, watch every recorded debate and interview, access their voting information, and share whatever they find important. Arguably, the support behind candidate Sanders has likely grown mostly through the Internet (seeing that television news networks don’t want to cover him) - and yet, for a candidate who relies on individual contributions and volunteers, he has grown to be an even greater opposition to the “inevitability” of a Clinton nomination that many would have believed.

While there are plenty of articles out there about how Sanders has changed the game of politics by growing such a mass following of America’s future voters to reenter the political world under a new anti-establishment progressivism, I suggest we take a look at the new setting the political world will be entering as well.

While for such a long time, it was primarily those age 45 and over who would have the greatest turnout rates on voting day, the Sanders campaign has convinced large numbers of those younger to join him. This becomes interesting when one remembers that - since the Internet and personal computers went public in the 1980s - individuals up to their thirties have lived with the Internet for either their entire lives or almost their entire lives. And even if the Internet back then was far from what we have now (I mean, even I remember AOL), this younger generation of digital natives is moving their attention from already untrusted news networks to online communities and forums. And now that they can participate in the political discussions they’re watching, they have proven that they want to do much more than just comment.

For example, of the groups affected by the #BernieBlackout, such as "Bernie Sanders is my HERO" and "Bernie Sanders Activists" (at over 60 thousand and over 48 thousand members, respectively), not only do individuals share relevant articles and video clips, the community actively supports each other. Members answer each other’s questions, allow themselves to discuss ideas or vent emotions, and share volunteering information. They encourage other members to donate, remind them to vote, and when problems to arise - especially at the voting booths - I have seen advice, pictures, and explanations of what to expect, updates on the polls, and even hotlines to the state Election Boards if anyone happened to be wrongly turned away from voting. When Sanders loses, members encourage others to keep fighting. When Sanders wins, members remind each other that there’s still work to do.

Social media has definitely been a useful tool in fighting the political revolution that Sanders speaks so often and so passionately of.

But I don’t want to neglect the humorous commentary that exists through it, either.

"Bernie’s Dank Meme Stash", at a whopping 443 thousand members and counting, has been the subject of articles on various platforms, including Vice, ReverbPress, and even the Washington Post. The same community support exists as with other groups, but the definite majority of what you will see is - not surprisingly - memes on Bernie Sanders. Some more political than others. Some more creative than others. Some that follow a format and some that look like quick Photoshop mashups. Some even obtain a Dank Seal of Approval of some sort, which will often be illustrated by yet another meme. But quite a bit of it will at least put a smile on your face, putting a laughable spin on such a grueling election season. Supporters for other candidates have Dank Meme Stash groups as well, but none are as large or as influential as the Sanders original.

I mean, look at this:

For now, I can’t say exactly what this could mean about memes - whether or not that old photoshopped video of Obama and Kim Jong Un will one day be studied for its representation of U.S. and North Korean relations in future history classes (and I bring it up because my old history teacher showed it to my class), I don’t know. But what I can say is that BDMS has done a great job of keeping up excitement, energy, and fun throughout the months, all the while trying as much as possible to keep the group truthful and informed.

And so I return to Correct the Record. As much as people hate trolls - let alone paid trolls - these new tactics are making it even clearer that other candidates, even on the Republican side (think Ted Cruz’s failed attempt to do Simpsons impressions), are realizing that they need to catch up in getting the attention of the online community, and they are willing to do whatever it takes to pander their way into our hearts.

Unfortunately for them, they’re new to this game.

We were born in it. Molded by it.