Communication through Internet Memes

Memes are hard to miss in today’s society because they have taken over the internet. Memes are all over Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and it is nearly impossible to log onto these accounts without memes being everywhere. Every single time we log onto these social media platforms, our feed is covered with them. I find myself scrolling through my Instagram feed almost everyday, and discovering new funny memes. I often times tag my friends in them when I find them humorous and relatable. Memes are either humorous, offensive or relatable in most cases.

Individuals communicate through memes, which differentiates with the way memes were thought of years ago. The origin of meme is the biological makeup of an organism gene and how it successfully spreads. This correlates with the thought the ideas could spread like a gene. The old definition of meme was most nearly any behavior or idea that is successful. This has grown and expanded to the meme we know of and use today. The internet meme has gained a new usage, it has become a piece of culture which is constantly created and shared by people through its rapid spreading. The internet meme is collectively produced and the meme can evolve and change over time. A meme has no one specific author and there is no finished form. This differentiates from something on the internet that is viral because viral is singular, there’s no change which occurs and it is a finished product.

Internet memes have become a dominant form of discourse. Discourse most nearly means the more or less means of discussion regarding topics of conversation, which are usually ideas and concepts of the current society. An example of a meme that has yet to be discussed in class is the “worst girlfriend ever” meme. On this meme it is a girls intense looking face glaring into the camera. “Why don’t you respond to my Facebook message,” is written on it, and at the bottom it writes, “It says you’ve seen it?” This internet meme is a form of discourse because its communicating something to the audience. This meme is a way to express a stereotype towards women through this internet meme. Often times individuals have this perception of women being needy of men and seen as “psycho girlfriends.” This mean is directly relating to that and expressing to the audience that stereotype. Everyone who views this meme understands exactly what it is trying to portray right away, which is the point and hope of these memes we love to look at and share with others.

Memes are a way in our society to share thoughts, feelings, humor and ideas overall. We find memes so intriguing because they are relatable and the audience thrives for things that they can relate to. Meme are a way of communication in our society, and they will continue to grow and become more popular.