Before this past week of class, if you asked me what a meme was I would’ve answered with “a picture with words on it.” Never even coming anywhere near considering them as anything more than that, in my mind memes were merely a silly and easy way to entertain and satirize. After this week of class, I understand that technically “meme” encompasses far more than a funny picture with words laid over it, however, that will always be the most prominent definition of meme in my mind. In From Memes to Mashups: Creating Content From Content, a meme is defined as “A unit of cultural information that replicates while still remaining whole.” This definition obviously indicates that a meme is much more than a picture with words, however, it is difficult to understand what exactly it means at first glance. After we watched the brief video from Susan Blackmore’s TED talk, the definition became clearer, as her use of the man’s glasses and woman’s earrings proved to be good examples. However, while this definition adds clarity to the term, it also adds confusion in the form of the amount that the term encompasses. Perhaps my understanding remains a bit cloudy, but, seemingly anything related to culture can be called a meme. I didn’t invent the t-shirt I’m wearing, therefore it’s a meme. The Red Sox hat I wore yesterday? Meme. The snapchat I just sent to my friend? Meme. Like most people my age, the word meme makes me think of one thing first and foremost: the internet. Meme’s on the internet spread like wildfire, whether on Facebook, twitter, etc. In the internet’s realm of sped up time and ever-decreasing shelf-life, memes in the form of a picture with words have become a fast and easy way for anyone, anywhere to make fun of something, make a point, or even just get a laugh from your friends or follows. These wildly popular internet memes indeed serve their purpose by being a unit of cultural information that replicates while still remaining whole, however, it is unnecessary to over-analyze them and their purpose.

These internet memes represent information, but more importantly their purpose is entertainment. The beauty of these memes is that they are incredibly simple and anyone can make them, however, it is for these reasons that they also should not be taken too seriously. While not to be taken too seriously, meme’s serve as a good representation of today’s culture. In the eyes-glued-to-the-smartphone era of today, meme’s are perhaps the most efficient way of sharing a joke or criticism with your fellow human beings because nobody seems to have time for anything more. Why read a paragraph on a website or social media page when an image with a handful of words on it effectively accomplish the same thing in far less time and with a higher entertainment factor? That being said, whether you like it or not meme’s are effective for what they are, however, it will be interesting to see what, if anything, they are replaced by when they fall victim to the short-shelf life of the internet culture in which they have become such a visible and important player.