Culture | memes

Meme’s and their circulation create a specific community. The community decides what is funny or not, and what memes are most relevant to the culture and the community. 4Chan is an example of the meme community. 4chan is thought to be the origin of the most Internet memes, as we know them today. Users peruse sites such as 4Chan or MemeGenerator to find ones that are culturally relevant to them. The meme community decides and places personal judgment on the worth of a meme by voting on a meme or sharing with their friends.

MEME COMMUNITY

A meme becomes successful when it’s easy to understand. Meme’s where the joke isn’t clear or easily understood aren't as highly circulated. To understand the joke, there is an unwritten social norm of understanding cultural references. Most modern Internet memes are based off of cultural symbols or a social idea, and are commonly humor-based. What might be funny to someone in the United States, could be lost on someone in the UK.

UNDERSTANDING MEMES

Meme culture can be broken down into four parts: Sharing, the Meme Community, Understanding Memes, and Bonding and FOMO.

Everyone wants to be in on an inside joke and feel like they’re included. Meme’s are just that remedy. Today's meme’s are a widely-shared inside joke through the Internet. Sharing the memes online are a form of bonding with others. By sharing a meme or a joke that both parties can understand, it creates an inside joke or bond.

There is also a presence of FOMO in meme culture. People share memes to make sure they’re not missing out on the joke, and are constantly checking the meme websites to ensure they’re not going to be left out on a bonding experience.

To understand the meme, they must also be up to date on cultural references like celebrity gossip, or pop culture like television shows or the latest music.

FOMO can be seen when someone doesn’t readily understand a meme that is highly popular. For example, if everyone else is understanding the cultural references in a popular meme, the person might feel pressured to then look up the meaning behind the meme by watching the television show it’s based off of, or reading an article about a celebrity the meme pokes fun at.

BONDING AND FOMO

Meme Culture

The way a meme becomes popular all depends on how many times it’s been “shared”. The virality of a meme is what makes it successful. It needs to be highly circulated throughout the web to increase popularity. The more people who see the meme and share in on the joke, the more popular it becomes. Sites like 4Chan allow users to vote up or vote down memes, making them more popular or less popular.

People share memes in various ways. The majority of people repost on their personal pages through their social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or Pinterest. They can also share memes through sending them to a friend’s social media account. This also allows for them to put their own interpretation on the meme. When people share a meme, it becomes a transmission of culture from one person to another, through imitation.

SHARING