Meme, Myself, and I...

Every time I get on either Facebook, Instagram, or even Snapchat, there are memes everywhere. Like 75% of my timeline is memes. The other 25% consists of a mixture of actual posts, selfies and advertisements that no one cares about…if we’re being honest here. Anyway, I realized, even before this class, that memes were a huge part of society. Not just because they’re funny (most of them) but also because of how real they are. Memes do so much more than just give us a few laughs throughout our days, they spread messages and get all manners of ideas across the world.

I decided to read Knobel and Lankshear’s article Memes and Affinities: Cultural Replication and Literacy Education. It gave me tons of info to write about in this analysis on memes, but the ideas I picked up on the most were about the means in which memes are represented and what that means.

I just want to put it out there that I love memes. They speak to my personality in volumes. Those who know me personally, know that I am a pretty, I guess you can say “sassy” person. I tend to be pretty sarcastic most of the time and I will admit that sometimes you can’t tell the difference. However, that is beside the point. <<<There I go with the tangents again. I love memes because the humor is just so wonderfully sarcastic and completely honest and I can appreciate that. There’s something for everyone in the meme world; everyone can relate to something. BUT, in order to get that “something” from the memes, there needs to be a medium through which they are conveyed.

            It’s crazy to think that memes started gaining popularity through science of all things. I mean, who’d have thunk it? Now we see them in all forms of electronic media. But the manner in which they are presented is only a small part of why memes are so popular. According to Knobel and Lankshear, “Electronic networks, along with personal predilections and interests, provide for propagating and dispersing memes” (1).  This is pretty straightforward if you ask me. Basically, depending on your personality and how you think of things and what you believe to be funny or interesting decided whether or not the meme is seen by others. Because ultimately, we share them.

            This meme right here is one of the realest things I’ve read, and it’s not the first time I have read it either, which speaks to the popularity of the meme. Looking at it, makes me think of the Baseline Characteristics of Memes (2) subtopic in Knobel and Lankshear’s article. The 3 things that make up a “successful” meme are Fidelity, Fecundity, and Longevity. Fidelity refers to all of the wonderful qualities that make it passable as a good meme. Things like the picture, the words used, if there’s a popular phrase in there…anything. Whatever makes you say “This is so funny, I’m going to remember this forever! I’m also gonna screenshot this and share it, so that I’ll have it on my wall for future reference.” If that sounds dangerously precise, it’s because I’ve done it before ☺. Anyway, that’s fidelity. Fecundity…I just want to bring attention to the fact that it is a weird word. I also want to note that it is essentially, how fast the meme spreads. Because you know, the more that word gets around, the more popular you are. Lastly, is longevity. This one has no underlying/ambiguous meaning like the rest of the sneaky points in here. It simply means how long the meme stays popular for. Now I don’t know all of the specifics of this meme, but I do know that the reason it caught my attention—rather than just being on Google—was because 1) I related to it, being that I am a college student and this happens often…sadly. 2) I recognized the old guy from the XX commercials and I realized that this meme is phrased in the same way the old guy phrases all of his commercial lines (not that he writes his own script but you get the point). 3) I even said it in the man’s voice…in my head at least. Those 3 points all speak to the fidelity of this particular meme. As for the other 2 characteristics, I don’t know for sure and I also doubt that there are even stats on this at all, but you understand.

            “To reduce the study of memes to marketing strategies alone is to miss the potential fruitfulness of this concept for understanding mindsets…” (1). This quote just enhances the statement I made earlier about how memes do so much more than sit on the internet and make us laugh. There’s always other interpretations that you can take away from them which is why the table on page 6 regarding the Ideological or Worldview System makes so much sense. It looks into your values and worldviews and beliefs. This system asks the questions of “what deeper meaning is being conveyed?” “What do they tell us about different social groups?” and “what do they tell us about the world or a particular version of it?” For example:

Deeper meaning? This is definitely not just talking about couches, benches, and their varying levels of comfiness. It’s definitely a dig at stoners, or anyone who smokes weed in general or is high. What does this say about different social groups? People who are under the influence have some deep thoughts apparently. And lastly, what does this tell us about the world? Maybe we should all think like this and the world will be a better place.

            Anyway, to end this blog entry, I’d like to post this meme that I think is pretty funny. It at least gave me a few chuckles☺