Memes are really interesting because although by the original definition (“A unit of cultural information that is replicated while still remaining whole”) memes are everywhere, the contemporary phenomenon of meme culture is pretty unique. The earliest example of an internet meme I can think of is chain emails (most likely featuring the Ally Mcbeal baby) and the hamster dance as described in the “From Memes to Mashups” article. Then came Youtube Poop mashups (which I always thought were pretty terrible, but were the height of hilarity for my thirteen-year-old twin brother) and I Can Haz Cheezburger cats with weirdly spelled messages in Impact text. Now, memes are everywhere, and have even reached mainstream advertising. The modern meme is a template for a joke that is adapted over and over again in a sort of competition for who can make the funniest application of the joke, usually interacting with pop culture and current events. The problem with this, then, is that memes become over saturated really quickly, and meme shelf life is pretty short, demonstrating the Culture of Disposability we discussed in class.
I hate memes. I really do. If I see another tumblr zodiac post or left shark gif…I don’t know if I’ll make it. But that will never stop me from falling into the same trap as anyone else and adapting the meme for my own use, referencing it, and making my friends laugh/cringe/threaten to murder me. Memes are an easy joke because they have an inherent sort of cultural capital that makes them instantly recognizable and relatable. For this reason, memes could be seen as just lazy comedy. It’s like having an inside joke with the multitudes of people on the internet. There’s another side to this though, that I think is really in line with the ideals of new media, especially as far as audiences actively interacting with their media. People are not just passive viewers; there is a space for critique, appreciation, and creativity in response to what they watch, read, and listen to. Which is awesome! This is especially evident with mashups, which require one to think really unconventionally and blend multiple different media together to make something new. It demands an interaction with and synthesis of totally separate areas of culture.
A really productive way to think about modern memes comes from the original meaning of the word, and the various types of memes that exist outside of the internet (as detailed in the TED talk we watched in class). Memes are ideas that persist, and not always for Darwinian type reasons. Sometimes they may not actually provide any advantage, and they might just be for aesthetic purposes. But the fact is, they are passed on, meaning they hold a place in the narrative of human history. They offer a way of connecting and communicating. Sometimes they’re really dumb, sometimes they’re self aware and next level meta, and sometimes they’re downright pernicious, but all in all they help make up our cultural language. And that’s important. And so are cats.
