The Influence of Memes
Memes. They’re everywhere. In the past 5 years, they have invaded every inch of the internet. They’re all over Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, Reddit, and every other social media site. For those that don’t know what a meme is, Merriam Webster defines a meme as “an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online, especially through social media.’’ Like the definition, states Memes are usually images or videos with a caption on them, and they are most commonly found and spread on social media.
The word meme was coined by an English scholar named Richard Dawkins in his book “The Selfish Gene.” A meme according to him is an element of culture, like an idea, behavior, practice, or style that spreads from one person to another through imitation. The link to modern-day memes and their explosion of popularity is quite complicated. This sudden emergence of memes came out of nowhere. All of a sudden Instagram and Twitter feeds became flooded with these pictures with captions. If you want to learn more about the history of memes an article that goes more into depth is Wil Fulton’s article I Found the World’s First Meme With Help From Meme Historians.
Why though are memes so popular? Is it because they are funny? Well, yes that definitely has an impact, but there’s more. Limor Shifman, a professor of communication and journalism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and author of Memes in the Digital Culture, thinks that memes “appeal to our need to be part of a larger group, and simultaneously our desire to be individuals.” When a person likes an Instagram or Twitter meme they become part of the group that enjoys or subscribes to that meme. They feel that they are part of that group even if they are unaware of it. And what do people normally do when they join a group? They try to recruit more people. Thus, this can be an explanation for why people share memes. I know that if I or one of my friends’ see a funny Instagram meme we share it with our Instagram group chat. We want to see our friends laugh at the meme that we find funny. I want to validate the belief that I share the same sense of humor as my friends, and I want to know that I can make them laugh.
This explanation can be seen on a much more dramatic and larger scale today. Recently, around August and September of 2019, memes about storming Area 51 began to appear on social media. The post stated that there was going to be a raid on a mysterious US Air Force base suspected of keeping UFOs and other extraterrestrial life. It stated that the US Air Force “couldn’t stop all of us” as in everyone storming the base. This joke became a meme and spread like wildfire. Around two million people had posted that they were going to attend this event. This raid however never occurred. Instead, a party called Allienstock was attended by thousands of people instead of two million. Another event was sponsored by Bud Light in Las Vegas. They even made special cans for the event. This though is still remarkable. Thousand of people showing up in the middle of the Nevada desert because of a meme is pretty crazy to imagine. A bunch of images or videos can persuade thousands to travel to a desert? Pretty crazy. One person when interviewed stated that “This is the first time since Roswell that people like us are all coming together. Even if nothing happens, we tried.”
Another interesting application of memes is meme marketing. Meme marketing is when brands and corporations use memes for marketing purposes. These memes are targeted at millennials and other younger audiences that are more into social media and memes in general. These brands use memes to convey messages they want to get across to audiences. For example, a fast-food chain might make a meme on a new addition to their menu. This strategy is much more effective than prior methods of marketing. It is quite an interesting way to use memes to influence the behavior of consumers. If these brands are successful in drawing the public to their memes they have the potential to make a lot of money.
Another trend that memes are a part of are the numerous amounts of internet challenges. Some of these challenges are for some really good causes. One example includes the ice bucket challenge that was used to fund efforts to find a cure for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), A nervous system disease that weakens muscles and impacts physical function. Some other challenges are comical like the cinnamon challenge where an individual tries to swallow a spoonful of cinnamon. Spoiler alert this is utterly impossible, and the person attempting this challenge usually ends up spitting out the cinnamon and coughing for about two solid minutes. Most recently, the bottle cap challenge has taken over as the new internet challenge. It consists of participants recording themselves performing a roundhouse kick to a bottle to graze the cap with their foot, causing the cap to quickly spin-off. All of these challenges are memes. They are memes that persuade others to join in on the challenge. Some people participate in these challenges for entertainment, but I guarantee that many join in because they don’t want to miss out. They want to be a part of the group.
Memes are also a way for people to validate their own ideas. Today there are many different kinds of memes. There are memes about cats, memes about sports, and memes that are described as “edgy”. These edgy memes are often very offensive and even racist. In fact, these edgy memes are usually the most popular. The most popular meme pages on Instagram pride themselves on being edgy. They even advertise for each other claiming that if you want to see edgy content, follow their friend’s meme page. Instagram, completely aware of these meme pages, has taken down many meme pages for violating their terms and services. In other words, the pages that are racist and offensive. Instagram isn’t the only place where edgy and racist memes are displayed and shared. 4Chan has emerged as a social media site where the far-right flourishes. Ever since the Trump campaign began the increase in activity from far-right viewers has increased. Commonly used phrases and terminology on the site has increased. For example, the use of the n-word has been used 600% more times since 2015. A total of around 115,000 times. Another indicator of the increase of hate speech in memes is that The Anti-Defamation League has added 36 entries to its extensive catalog of extremist symbols. The WNYC radio channel had a lengthy discussion on this growing catalog of hate symbols. Some of these symbols were originally memes. The list includes Pepe the frog, the moon man, the troll face, and the happy merchant. The most popular of these is Pepe the frog which recently has been added to this list. Originally, Pepe the Frog was not a hate symbol at all. Pepe the Frog was created for an online cartoon called the Boy’s Club. Pepe the Frog eventually became more popular, made its way into social media, and eventually made its way into 4Chan. The far-right eventually took Pepe the Frog and turned it into a hate symbol. Usually, in their memes they have Pepe saying some racist remark, or dressed in a KKK robe. Sadly, the use of Pepe as a hate symbol has been increasing, not decreasing. The WNYC radio broadcast on this topic included Cynthia Miller-Idriss, a professor of sociology at American University and Heidi Beirich, the Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project. One of them commented that the reason the far right uses these memes is to validate their personal beliefs. By sharing these memes with each other they are strengthening their values by confirming them. This doesn’t just go for the far right. If someone wants to see memes from one particular view or political identity, they will. A perfect example is 4Chan. The far-right swarms 4Chan because they know there are other people like them on that site that share their same beliefs. If I wanted to see memes that disagree with another political identity all I have to do is subscribe to or follow a certain account or site that shares my same views. It is painfully easy to do.
Memes are not going away any time soon. Their existence is engraved in social media as we know it, so we must be aware of both their positives and negatives. Yes they make us laugh and they are fun to share, but they are influential. As shown, memes could be used to spread positive messages and for good purposes. The ALS ice bucket challenge is a great cause. Also, most recently memes have sprouted up about a competition between Elon Musk, and Mr. Beast (a famous YouTuber). This competition has to do with who can plant the most trees. Again, planting trees is a great cause, but some other movements are not. The use of memes as hate speech is a terrible and disgusting use of the internet. People need to be aware that if they see memes that are racist or offensive they need to report them so they can be removed. I never thought that memes could have a strong effect on people, but they do. Just like other works of literature, they express ideas and messages that could be used for the wrong reasons. Advocating for racism or harm towards other races or groups is not okay. These beliefs can turn into something violent like what happened in Charlottesville. Memes should not be used to spread hate or violence. Memes should be funny videos and pictures that we share with friends. Let’s keep it that way.
