Extremely popular on social networks like Facebook, 9GAG, or Reddit, the meme is a real phenomenon on the Web. It's hard not to notice them by scrolling down your news feed on social networks!
Much like cartoons, memes are a humorous form of communication that easily captures attention and expresses an idea at a glance. Memes take many forms: they are usually made up of images (still or moving) and texts that refer to popular culture and current events. In this article, we will only talk about the most popular form of the meme
Memes appeal to all kinds of humor, whether it's vulgar, absurd, political, or very light humor. They are often written in spoken language, sometimes misspelled (intentionally or not) and the images are generally of low quality. It's part of the game!
Where does the name "meme" come from?
The word "meme" has a much broader meaning. It was scientist Richard Dawkins who coined this concept in 1979 in a book called “The Selfish Gene”. Inspired by the word gene, he describes the meme as a cultural object (an idea, a behavior, a habit) that seeks to transmit itself, as genes do.
With Internet memes, transmission occurs through communication between people. Since one of the first memes in 1996, the Internet meme is much more well-known than the initial concept from which it originated!
The anatomy of the meme
The dictionary online describes the meme as a “concept (text, image, video) massively taken up, declined and diverted on the Internet in an often parodic way, which spreads very quickly, thus creating the buzz.”
We can then summarize the meme in four main characteristics:
- A subject (an idea, a feeling, a story, etc.);
- Of humor;
- Wide distribution on social networks;
- Many transformations, variations, and imitations give the image a new context.
With what images do we make memes?
While images are not the primary source of memes, they are the most prevalent ones. The source of the images from which memes are made is very varied. Everything can be used to make a good meme! Here are some common sources:
- Excerpts from political news
- Excerpts from films, series, and television shows
- Creations by photomontage, digital drawings
- Generic royalty-free photographs on the Internet
- Pictures of well-known figures (historical, political, popular, legendary)
- Personal photographs posted on social networks
The variations
In the universe of the Internet meme, we can say that an image is worth a thousand interpretations! The many possible variations demonstrate the great imagination of Internet users. Some even speak of a new form of literary creation!
A meme can be used to express a simple preference like with the “distracted boyfriend” or to make a political critique, like with the “#covfefe”. It can also be used ironically like the “Grumpy Cat” or it can represent a specific group like “the 25th island of Greece”. So a meme can have all kinds of meanings.
In addition to the four characteristics of the meme that we have just presented, there is a fifth: memes often have two layers of meaning (or more). The meme created from two images taken from the music video for a song by artist Drake is a good example.
Why does everyone love memes?
We like to use this means of communication because it is humorous and because it plays on the feeling of belonging to a group. They make us laugh, but they also comfort us by making us feel understood by others. It may be because we share an interest, an opinion, a life experience, a feeling, a personality trait, or a particular condition. The memes that make us laugh are often the ones we can relate to. And self-mockery is extremely popular for bringing people together!
How to make a meme?
Initially, making memes was an activity reserved for “geeks”. Today, everyone can do it easily. Some sites like iloveimg, photogramio, and memecenter offer a bank of meme templates for all the famous memes on which all you have to do is write new text.
While there are memes that are born on their own, others you can create by yourself. They may even be specific to your social circle, like “25th island of Greece”, all you have to do is go to any one of the above-mentioned sites and upload your very own picture and insert the text that best fits your meme subject.
