The Chloe Meme
The definition of the word “meme” has changed throughout the years. In 1979, Richard Dawkins coined the word meme in his book The Selfish Gene. In this book, according to the chapter “The Language of Internet Memes” by Patrick Davison, the word meme “determined the behavior of an organism” in comparison to the word “gene” which “determined an organism’s physical characteristics” (Davison, 121). During this time, the word meme taught an organism or learned through experience and it relied on the mental processes of observation and learning. Now, the word meme has a somewhat different meaning. Today, a definition for the word can be that “an Internet meme is a piece of culture, typically a joke, which gains influence through online transmission” (Davison, 122). How quickly memes are transmitted and how unique their forms are, are definitely a big part of what makes an Internet meme what it is. Memes are known for their solid form, which is a picture and then some words on it describing the picture in a way and usually being humorous.
One meme that I personally find entertaining and hilarious is the Chloe Meme. This meme is a picture of a girl who is probably about two years old who is basically giving the camera a dirty look and her two front teeth are out which makes her pretty cute. The original photo is her sitting in a car seat in the car, but as time has gone on people have put her face on several different photos. This photo definitely became the subject of a very popular Internet meme because she has such a cute, funny, and unique facial expression that people could caption the photo in many different ways. Here is a picture of the original photo without any captions:
People not only captioned the original photo, but they also began cropping out just her face and placing in on photos, like these:
I have found that the majority of these memes are aimed at a very sassy and sarcastic audience, which I’ll admit I identify with. The look on her face symbolizes disgust, sarcasm, and sass, which is why so many people have found it easy to make captions for these photos. Here are a few more examples:
Memes are extremely popular as a form of discourse in Internet technology today. When scrolling through my newsfeed on Facebook and Instagram, I am constantly being exposed to different types of memes. The Chloe meme is one that I personally enjoy, and it definitely went viral in the past. This meme is an example of how they are a form of discourse because they get across funny, entertaining, and relatable feelings and emotions in a humorous way through photos, videos, and language. Memes are popular because they are funny and relatable, that’s why so many people tag their friends in them on Instagram or Facebook. They do this because they are something that can be easily related to, and something that will entertain the majority of people looking at them. The mainstream of the people on Facebook and Instagram are teenagers and young adults and this is why these memes are generated and spread to that age group. Memes are aimed at this age group, meaning the majority of the people seeing them will be able to relate. They are a successful way of getting the intended audience to notice and react.