Myth of Memes — A Case Diary
One of the many things that my boss loves is giving me weird and petty assignments. There are times when I curse my decision of joining here as private investigator. Although the tag “Agent Conner” sounds nice in the modern world of popularity and trends, I couldn’t help but wish that I had joined the call centre my parents drove me to instead of solving the good-for-nothing cases I’m assigned to.
Answers to my prayers soon came when one fine evening saw the entry of a famous politician (famous in a very wrong way, I should add) to our grand office. And that was how I was assigned to investigate on the most interesting task I had ever come across — Memes!
Just a small word, it is, and the damage it has caused on Mr. Politician’s life is indisputable! And here I was, digging into the past and unearthing the deep secrets of meme world!
As I submit my case diary, I cannot help it but salute the person who created the first meme! I was told to find ways to mark an end to meme world and it ended with me being stuck up in the meme world! Boss’ brows narrows as he passes through each page of case report and I fisted my clammy palms ignoring the sweat.
Case Study — MEMES
Objective: To conduct a detailed study on internet memes, analyze its impact on society and propose an alternative for the same
Introduction:
The explanation Wikipedia gave to an Internet meme was that it is an activity, concept, catchphrase or piece of media which spreads, often as mimicry or for humorous purposes, from person to person via the Internet. An Internet meme may also take the form of an image, hyperlink, video, website or hashtag. It may be just a word or phrase, sometimes including an intentional misspelling. These small movements tend to spread from person to person via social networks, blogs, direct email, or news sources…….
I never knew that my boss is a quick reader! The guy just completed the whole report when I just reached reminiscing the first page of my 45 paged report!
Slamming my case file on the desk he demanded, “Where is the alternative Agent Conner?”
“There is no alternative sir! We do not need an alternative for memes. They are the only best thing in this shitty world! And let me take this opportunity to inform you that the high-mighty client of yours is a fraud who was exposed to the public by meme world! I don’t find anything wrong in that! In the world of cheats and corruption, we need memes to unveil the masks of lies!”
And with that, Agent Conner became just Conner!
I never knew that the funny posts that my friends tag me in can actually change the world. I don’t think anyone thought about it until Untied Airlines decided to mistreat one of its passengers. The infamous video recorded brought a storm of media attention. Thousands of memes erupted; United Airlines suffered a $1 billion loss from the outrage, according to CNN’s Ivana Kottasova.
When someone asks me to define the word meme, I would show the pic of the success kid from my gallery. What’s the actual definition of a meme?
Wikipedia would give you a classy dramatic explanation and your best friend would state that meme is the easiest way to drag you down!
What is a meme?
A meme is nothing but captioned photos/videos/verbal phrases that are intended to ridicule human behaviour. It can also take the form of a simple hashtag, link or a word! A virally transmitted cultural symbol or social idea, memes spreads like forest fire from people to people! With the main intention of fun, some memes do have more philosophical and social content!
I cannot help but take a peek at the detailed case study I had submitted. Sighing hard, my fingers went through the pages past the introduction and rested on the section Memetic Marketing
Memetic Marketing
Memes are often used for marketing techniques and is referred as Memetic Marketing.
→ Marketers make use of meme popularity to create a general interest in people about topics that would otherwise not generate positive publicity.
→ The 2006 film “Snakes on a plane” generated publicity through this method.
Disrupting Politics — Political Memes
The 2016 presidential elections of United States saw the usage of memetic world for political popularity.
→ The use of non-political ways of campaigning had caught the eyes and ears of voters and definitely helped the candidates to strengthen their contacts over internet.
→ The Bernie or Hilary meme was undoubtedly the most popular meme of the elections with many funny versions of itself. The fake campaign posters supporting Bernie Standers in the 2016 Democratic Presidential Elections against Hillary Clinton in which Sanders is depicted as being more knowledgeable than Clinton was apolitical but definitely helped Clinton in campaigning!
→ Memes were used as an educational tool during the campaigns of Donald Trump to inform people about certain issues, positively and negatively, impacting him.
It isn’t hard to guess the real intention behind Mr. Mighty Politician to mark an end to meme world. But why the hell did he come to a private investigator for? May be to create a public misconception that he is trying to get us to investigate that murder case he was accused of.
Anyway it was fun to watch the downfall of him and it was all done by the great memes. That was one thing I liked about it! Although the outline of a meme is sarcasm and fun, it exposes problems in famous figures and draws public attention to it, just like the memes targeted United Airlines. It gives different perspectives on subjects that are generally not grasped at the first glance! Connecting people through its humour, memes give rise to a new vision and a new culture!
History of memes
History of memes goes long way back! The earliest usage of the word meme is in the book The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins published in 1976. In the early days of internet, contents like memes were usually sent through emails or message boards. It encouraged communication between people by asking for comments or feedbacks and this was what gave rise to the early meme interest, like the Hampster dance and eventually in the meme generation that we see today.
The main reason for the increase in meme transmission is, no doubt, its interactive nature.
The way it carries the message faster than every other internet phenomena gives it the advantage to win hearts of people from every age group.
Conclusion
Explaining the complicated aspects and monstrosity of society in the simplest way, memes have got a huge number of followers and definitely a standing ovation.
Defying the borders of races, caste and creed and rising above the norms and stereotypes of society, memes have successfully brought people together by entertaining all groups!
In short, they have become an integral part of our life and a mode of self expression. Making us laugh, learn and think, memes stand as a declaimer sweeping its way through the dirt.
Walking out of the building with the termination letter in my hand and watching the mobile screen, I laughed at the latest meme about my ex-boss that my ex-colleagues had made!
Disclaimer: The character Agent Conner and his adventurous work experiences are just fractions of my wild imagination :) Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
