In today’s day and age, we see memes everywhere go, especially on social media.
Whether it be on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, memes can always be found on our feeds, ready to make us laugh. When you log in to your accounts, maybe you’ll see a meme about how much Mondays suck. Or perhaps you’ll find a meme about the upcoming 2020 Presidential election. No matter the topic, memes find a way to bring humor to every situation.
For those of you who aren’t social media savvy, you may be wondering: What exactly are memes? Well, that’s hard to answer without showing you.
According to digitaltrends.com, memes are an image or video that portrays a particular concept or idea and is spread through social media platforms on the internet. Additionally, the messages that accompany these images “are often altered and built upon, evolving the original idea into something else entirely, or simply posted with a new caption to portray an altered form of it.”
For the most part, the memes that we see online are innocent jokes. Just take a look at this one:
me avoiding eye contact when my spanish professor asks for volunteers to read pic.twitter.com/phmypqYHqq
— hasan piker check dms (@awldxlodepalsod) January 21, 2020
Don’t lie, you laughed. The reason why it’s funny is because this meme is RELATABLE.
Though many memes can be very funny, not all memes are alike. As years have passed with social media sites such as Twitter becoming more political and cultured, the humor behind memes have become quite serious. Just take a look at this one:
The New York Times pic.twitter.com/HiscR3qFMx
— Fiona Applebum Says Don't Give Shaun King Money!🍎 (@WrittenByHanna) January 20, 2020
Personally, I do believe memes should be taken more seriously. People often get through difficult and frustrating times using humor, and the above meme demonstrates just that. While I don’t believe the average innocent meme is going anywhere any time soon, I do know that the intent behind them is expanding, just as social media is evolving every day.