Memefest

MEMES. They’re everywhere. If the internet was a kingdom, memes would be Alexander the Great, kicking butt and taking name. Only a few years ago, memes were hardly on the map – I remember a tech-savvy, somewhat geeky friend trying to explain to me what ‘meme’ meant, and I had no clue what he was trying to tell me. Webster defines a meme as:

An idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture. 

This doesn’t necessarily mean a meme exists only on the internet. But if you’re looking to spread something from person to person within a culture, what is one of the most effective ways to do so? The internet! Thus, the internet meme has been born and is taking over the kingdom of social media.

Memes are pretty weird. But what makes them  so interesting is that they are constantly evolving. Meme creators are essentially working as collaborative internet artists, taking various expressions and mashing them together to create this sarcastic-comical-freaky-nerdy-sloppy-relatable casserole to share with others, who then dismantle that meme and work it into another one. Check out “meme dad,” a dad who had his picture snapped when discovered the hilarity of memes, and now is his own meme that pokes ironic fun at popular memes. (I know. crazy.) In the world of memes, irony and sarcasm truly rein.

 Just look at all the beautiful meshing of art – so many artists’ ideas are being mixed up as ingredients in the meme ‘casserole.’

The best part? YOU can make memes too, right on the internet. There are a bunch of meme-generators that you can find with a google search, but I’m doing my own part and trying out Imgur. Yay for meme generating – here’s my own DIY meme. Now I can cross that one off my bucket list.

I hope all you Office fans out there can appreciate my attempt – until next time, meme on!