Meme Culture – The Bigger Picture

A new phenomena of content is in town. And it's called memes. From the mundane humdrum of life to political commentary, memes have become a fascinating source of information over-clog in our brains like never before.

We wake up to a bombardment of images, one-liners, forwarded messages, GIFs and what not every day on our phones and tablets. Today, memes have become a source of constant information overload in our heads. This new phenomena has taken over every other source of information in the 21st century.

Actually, meme is not a new concept. The term was coined by Richard Dawkins in 1976 in his book The Selfish Gene. In his book, Dawkins explained meme as 'a unit of cultural information spread by imitation'.

Today, a meme has become so much more than it was originally conceived to be. It has become a medium of expression and communication. More importantly, its reach has been accentuated by the unbridled expansion of internet connectivity. Through the pathway of social media, memes have found themselves cluttering our phones and minds.

The bane of social media and its hazards on our life has been amply discussed. The fact that we are scrolling our lives away has been written about quite extensively and we all know how memes have been at the forefront of it. That is something we are all aware of. But there is something else that is creeping up in the sidewalks that warrants our attention.

A completely different side of memes has evaded us for a long time. It is the public perception of likability and relatability. Memes today have become a passive source of promoting relatability of public figures, thereby completely disregarding merit. It has become the gateway of modern marketing. The casual way in which information is fed to us and we consume it without forethought makes our minds the perfect breeding ground for misinformation, even ignorance.

To put this in perspective, let's take the example of multi-millionaires using their influence. Elon Musk's quirky tweet bumps up the price of Dogecoin with no rhyme or reason. He was even fined by the SEC for causing price fluctuations and making money off of it. But for billions of millennials, his public perception is made out to be that of a visionary who is going to colonize Mars. If we only knew the toxic work environment that Tesla has created on Earth, we would be wary of following him to another planet.

Another case in point is Donald Trump who was already a clownish figure in the American politics. But through memes, even the former POTUS is driven to the verge of ridicule through this very phenomena of massive online trolling. His countrymen were not so eager to ridicule him as much as practically every other Late Night Show in America.

Long considered the source of derision or even sheer dismissal at times, memes have now been used to turn people's ridicule to their advantage. The modern day game is based on creating a brand name for yourself/ an image/ a personality that is 'relatable' and 'charming'. And humour is the most genuine way to make anyone relate to you instantly. Just look at the Cred ads which -- the perfect example of presenting an inflated sense of ridicule through quirky writing.

Memes are conceptualized in such a way that it has become the portal of marketing of the future where public perception is formed by through seemingly harmless but incredibly misleading and 'funny' marketing gimmicks. No longer are we willing to view things on its merits and facts. But give us something that is quick and funny and we're sold!

It is important to see this phenomena in a larger context. Most of us do not have educated opinions in our heads anymore. We have jokes and one-liners. Through Facebook and Instagram, we are almost lulled into worshipping or hating anyone or anything in the modern day.

Are we willing to be swayed into an opinion that isn't really ours? Are we too quick to jump on the bandwagon that may actually lead us to dystopia?

Something to think about. Have a good week!