My take on the famous ‘distracted boyfriend’ meme
When Richard Dawkins coined the term “meme” way back in 1976 in his book The Selfish Gene as a concept for the discussion of evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas, he probably didn’t think the word was going to be used in a completely different context by young adults four decades later.
My generation was born too late to make any earth-shattering discoveries and too early to explore the depths of the universe through wormholes. But, we were born just in time to experience a revolutionary, global, internet phenomenon–memes. Dictionary.com defines a meme as “a cultural item in the form of an image, video, phrase etc, that is spread via the internet and often altered in a creative or humorous way.” As anyone born in the 90’s or 00’s would know, memes are the social glue that bind our generation together, whether the meme itself is just a bit of fun, or tackling a serious issue.
Here are the reasons why memes are important:
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They provide a platform for people to recognise that they aren’t struggling alone
Let’s face it, we all have serious life problems that need to be resolved instantly. It’s always difficult to address your problems and we tend to assume that our struggles are unique. It gives me a great amount of comfort when I see a relatable meme and know that there are a group of people out there who are facing the exact same, possibly trivial, issue as I am.
https://twitter.com/ewgraiam/status/1057239657078026243
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They address serious socio-political scenarios in a humorous manner
Memes are an important tool to not only help deal with personal issues in a humorous way, but to also address social concerns. More often than not, people don’t want to read a lengthy, written post that explains your stand on an issue. A meme not only conveys the point in a short, crisp way but also adds an element of humour to an otherwise serious topic.
Meme-makers have tackled many issues, including the 2016 US presidential elections, the anti-vaccine campaign and more recently (as shown below) the 2018 US Midterm elections. In India, widely known, often political memes are the Amul advertisements that tackle recent political events.
https://twitter.com/sherlyholmes/status/1059683349332058112
The Amul Ad after homosexuality was criminalized in 2013
https://twitter.com/Amul_Coop/status/411090126119268353
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They are a great marketing tool
Over the past few years, several brands have used memes as a marketing strategy to reach out to broader audiences. For example, in 2017, Gucci had a campaign under the hashtag #TFWGucci, in which it tracked memes made on the brand on social media. As an eighteen-year-old college student who isn’t into pricey fashion, I wouldn’t have ever checked out Gucci’s Instagram if it wasn’t for the memes. I believe this logic applies to a lot of people as well.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BR49csTFfEm/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
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Memes will always have your back
There are very few human emotions that can’t be evoked by or expressed through memes. Sad? Memes. Distressed? Memes. Happy? Memes. Excited? Memes. Anxious? Memes.
No matter how good or bad life gets, you can always be comforted by the fact that memes exist and have the power to cheer you up. As long as you have an electronic gadget with a reasonably stable internet connection, you are never truly alone in this world.
https://twitter.com/sssaimaa/status/745881682071412737
If you are not someone who spends their free (or not free) time scrolling through Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter or Reddit, exploring the vast ocean of memes, then I hope this article changed your mind about why memes are more than just millennial humour, but rather, something that connects people around the world regardless of their backgrounds . Happy meme-ing
Edited by Gauri Jhangiani