Memes have always been integrated into the internet. There was no meme before the internet – only satirical comics and funnies all over. The word meme never even existed before 1976. The meme is defined as a unit that describes the excessive copying and imitation of one event or snapshot of a certain element of culture.
Introduced by Richard Dawkins inThe Selfish Gene,it was said that cultural events tend to replicate themselves, more often than not, in satirical reproductions, to serve their own ends. The idea then warps the culture into something else entirely as transmission carries over from one person to another – similar to how a gene works in living beings.
Now that the internet can be accessed by almost everyone, communicating has never been easier. Roughly 4.6 billion people around the world have access to the internet. It has made memes such an icon to a lot of people because of the universality and the common themes memes communicate across different cultures. Memes have become internet landmarks on how popular some universal ideas may seem.
There is no doubt that the digital currency nowadays for communication is the meme. Because of the ease of how a picture can paint a thousand words, more often than not, you can find someone else around the world who can relate to your meme. Not all are gifted with the skill of finding their mark in the structure of the internet.
The internet was built by information technology specialists who are consistently trying to make something of themselves on the internet. However, almost everyone can make a meme. A meme is a landmark or a digital signpost of the internet. If the software specialists are the canvass, the makers of the meme are the paint. Without which, the internet would be a dull space to have.
Memes have definitely changed the safe of the political landscapes around the world. Through the efforts of millions of Facebook users, a political agenda can be pushed to tip an election in one’s favor. The awful side effect is that there are a lot of disinformation campaigns surrounding memes that have become hurtful to the overall health of the internet.
There have been some allegations of disinformation campaigns andfalse newsin the previously held election in 2016. Some say that it has helped the agenda of one Presidential candidate over another. Nevertheless, it has been a remarkable experience for the internet culture to take an active part in the battle of memes. The ease of transmission and the convenience of getting your message across has changed the battlefield.
Some people even have disconnected from the entire internet due to the toxicity they experience in the world of memes. As earlier mentioned, the convenience of making things seem true in memes has become so prevalent in the big social media sites. A lot take these memes as gospel as compared to news websites and channels. Some people are even calling for heads to roll because of the alleged fake news that the mainstream channels propagate. Woke culture has grown hand in hand with the memes. It has simplified complex ideas into simple terms that anyone can understand.
Nonetheless, memes have also transformed the economy works. Only recently has the battle over the Gamestop stock concluded – were, allegedly, the power of memes has broken hedge fund firms. Advertising has even co-opted meme culture through the making of seemingly organic videos to make it viral. Because memes are spontaneous, each advertising firm has been trying to make the internet work for them – instead of paying for the reach themselves. With a small investment, they can reach billions of people almost instantaneously.
Real Estate firms, the least likely to weaponize memes, are even one of the top sly users of memes. Thanks to geotagging and meme virality, a real estate snapshot of a certain place or piece of real estate can work wonders for the value of the real estate in the house for sale applications, online marketing fliers, and digital advertisements. If you are surprised to be reading about this only now, it is a testament to how ingenious these real estate firms are.
The internet is now a human right. Thanks to the ease of communication and connectivity it brings, it has become part and parcel of daily living. The internet has given birth to memes – a digital currency. While it has no value (for now), it has to lead to some wild cultural revolutions never before seen.