Those Dank Memes

Oh supreme Meme Lord, I pray that thou shalt bestow upon me the most precisely perfect worded image that coincides with my situation!

Pepe the Frog (source)

Though the term itself was not coined until 1976 by Richard Dawkins (source) the meme has been around for about as long as humans have. Memes are most common today in the forms of images, words/phrases, songs, and the like. They are ever-changing and evolving along with the people who distribute them. As a culture itself, one is considered a knowledgeable "Meme Lord" for using the right meme in the right place at the right time. The aforementioned KnowYourMeme.com is a very good resource for those wanting more information on a particular meme, where it originated, and what it best relates to or what context it should be used in.

Even if you yourself do not wish to allocate time and effort towards constantly downloading and sharing every meme you can find to relevant places (for instance, your friend posts that they just lost their job, so you reply with a meme to cheer them up instead of actually writing out your condolences and best wishes) you can still be well-versed in Meme culture by simply understanding as many of the references as you can possibly remember.

Memes extend to more than just ridiculous satirical additions to everyday happenings and conversations. In fact they can actually lead to some very profound commentaries on current events and other negative things that happen instead of just existing for the sake of comedy alone. For instance, during the past Presidential Election, candidate Bernie Sanders (and probably others) had a Facebook page dedicated just to making memes of him, even if the captions or voice clips were of very important topics:

This photo is set up meme-style, but the words are true and important. (source)

I find that Memes can be a way of saying things in common terms to others who also understand what that common term is. It's a complex visual representation of what centuries ago would just be a simple fashion style or phrase that was universally understood. Posting a link to a short video or a silly image has become modern shorthand on social media. Instead of saying to someone, "that's ridiculous, who has the time to deal with such a thing?" we instead use the meme image of the southern black lady quoted saying "Ain't nobody got time fo' dat!" It then became a .gif animation, a voice clip, and even a song!

As our society lives on, I see that older memes are still appreciated even though new ones are being generated. Though sometimes they are regarded as slightly less relevant a response than a newer meme, you will also see that you get brownie points for using a more archaic meme that newer social media users may not have been around for in its respective heyday. In fact, there's an entire genre of meme images based on historical happenings or portraits. Some are meant to instruct, some for commentary, and some purely for comedy.

In many cases, modern memes combine multiple elements together to form a finished product. For instance:

(source)

The above meme of Teddy Roosevelt combines a historical portrait of him and incorporates his original quote of "Speak softly and carry a large stick." However, it's put together in the format of a previous meme, that of "The Most Interesting Man in the World" from the Dos Equis commercial, in which the original slogan is, "I don't always drink beer, but when I do, it's Dos Equis." This evolved into an entire category of memes, sometimes using the original ad's photo but changing the subject, following the "I don't always ____, but when I do ________" type of format. (source)

One last important aspect of Meme culture it's how wide-spread it has become even outside of social media. You'll often hear people speaking the words of meme images and videos out loud in conversation and a majority of people can understand what that person is talking about. In one of the most famous examples I can think of is the BuzzFeed video in which former President Obama took part; almost making a mockery of himself at times, but cementing his place forever as the Dankest Meme Lord President the United States shall ever see!

Love him or hate him, either politically or personally, President Obama involved himself publicly in Meme culture - thus proving it's importance and value on the world's scale. Thanks Obama!