Meme Culture : Jokes Gone Too Far?

21^st century is undoubtedly the era of the internet. It saw the rise of not only the world wide web at large but also the birth of another phenomenon: social media.

Something which was initially created with the intention of making the world a smaller place and making inter global connectivity possible, social media has evolved and turned into something much bigger than a source of connection. It is now a hub of ‘social media influencers’ with an increasing number of people turning it into a profession, it has become a site of inconsequential cyber bullying, it has also provided a much needed platform and support for various talents at next to zero cost. All in all, it’s a double-edged sword.

Perhaps the most interesting thing to come out of social media is the trend of ‘memes’. i.e. an image, a video, or a text, typically of a humorous nature that is shared rapidly across the internet.

The word ‘meme’ was coined by famous evolutionary biologist, Richard Dawkins in his book titled “The Selfish Gene” in 1976. It was an attempt to explain the way cultural information spreads. Dawkins definitely could not have imagined what cultural significance this word would end up having in this era.

For a teen in this age, memes are seen as way more than just jokes. They are not only a reminder of the universality of humour but also an insight into what the contents of that humour are. There are some common themes that can be observed which range from funny cat videos to coping mechanisms behind the veils of humour. The culture of making memes about issues like anxiety and depression are very common across the net. What’s interesting is that people’s response to such memes is not of anger or disappointment but rather of sympathy with typical internet language replies like “same”, “mood”, “relate”, “me”. This might also be an observation on how normalizing of mental health issues led to this as a way of teens dealing with problems or maybe vice versa.

It’s hilarious how a few gifs, images or videos have somehow become a whole new language which two kids sitting in different corners of the world can fluently communicate in. It also speaks volumes about the creativity and quickness of this generation, who is perhaps always waiting for something unusual to happen to jump at the opportunity of making things go viral.

As funny and impressive as the simplicity of this all may sound, the other side of the coin shows how this also sheds light on an increasing shallowness among the participants. What’s overlooked is how everything is seen as a potential internet trend or something marketable, how the lives of the individuals involved in such things is turned completely upside down, how convenient bullying becomes once a viral image or video presents a target or how it might promote an attitude of postponing dealing with ones issues because he/she thinks it’s nothing serious as countless people on the internet are going through the same.

Like any other tool, social media is a double-edged sword. It has its boons and banes. Anything that starts encouraging a herd mentality or makes people join the bandwagon just for the sake of it or for the fear of missing out must be kept in check. There is no doubt that one must be free to use the internet or interpret this culture as they wish to, but there’s also no doubt that just like anything else, it should be welcoming of healthy questioning.