Incredibly, I’ve been writing articles about my generation for almost a year now, about what drives and shapes us – and I’ve never written a column about what is probably the most influential concept of my time: memes. Internet phenomenon par excellence.
Maybe I never wrote anything about them because they have been a fundamental part of my life for so long. “Memes keep me alive.” I hear this phrase every week. Because memes carry you through life, make you smile and often act as a source of information. The fact that the queen has died or that Roger Federer is retiring, I first learned through memes.
But maybe I never ventured into this topic because the memes are pretty vague and hard to describe. Especially if you don’t come into contact with them every day. I tried many times to explain this Internet phenomenon to boomers.
You can often hear: “Memes are such funny videos and pictures, ugh.” But it is not. They are much more powerful, much more inclusive. Anything can become a meme once it gains traction on the internet. And it forms a whole generation. Our humor as well as our reality.
It usually works like this: someone on the Internet – patient 0 – shares an observation or feeling from everyday life. For example, Patient 0 finds it incredibly unattractive when someone accidentally sings the wrong lyrics out loud. This gives her the so-called “ik”. Extremely stupid concept. Actually.
And yet the statement resonates. The virus is spreading. Voila, we have a meme. Some take the observation further, reporting their own strange “troubles.” Others make fun of the observation by making memes about the meme.
Patient 0 hit a nerve with her daily observation. Created insider information that is now shared by the entire Internet generation and about which everyone has an opinion or at least a statement. And she exacerbated this very phenomenon with a small, unimportant observation, her “hic”. Everyone pays attention to the “troubles” in their lives.
This dynamic, caused by a random person and their mental farts, is very interesting to follow. That’s the beauty of memes. They are often so insignificant, but they do so much for us. And point out what’s on our minds. That’s why I’m predicting it today: In 80 years, our time period will be analyzed in school with memes!
Noah Dibbacy (21) also entertains with richer memes than the above. It may not be in the history books. She writes to Bleek every second Friday.