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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Meme Thread

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Post your memes here :D Remember to follow the rules and lets have some fun with this :crackup:

Spongebob-meme-van-free-candy-e1465285249540-660x330.jpg
 





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That's Pepe the frog. This is the first time I've seen it. Thanks. I'd rep you, but it won't let me yet. :crackup:

You're welcome Paul! I don't know who any of these guys are, but it's funny so thought I'd share it! :)

-Alex
 
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Lol! :D

-Alex

I find this video interesting.

To me, the study of memetics is fascinating, especially when dealing with internet culture. What's interesting about it is that memes can be treated like living organisms competing for survival. You can predict how long a meme will live if you know where is was created, are aware of modern events, and how it is received by different groups. For example, I predict that both the "Dat Boi" and "Caveman Spongebob" memes will die rather soon, just based on how and when they were created and popularized.

There appears to be 3 major sources for memes on the internet: 4chan, Reddit, and then there is a sort of coalition between several platforms including Twitter, Vine, FunnyJunk, (modern) Tumblr, Snapchat, iFunny and several others which constitute Group 3. For those wondering, Facebook does not produce many memes. There are several memes that have been adopted by Facebook, and several image macros are created there, however, due to their localized nature and incredibly short lifespans they are not classified as "memes" in the same way. The platforms that make up Group 3 are not classified separately because they share several ideological and cultural traits, which leads most memes created from platforms in Group 3 to behave incredibly similar.

The key to understanding how a meme will behave is to understand not only how, but also why memes originating from different sources behave differently. Memes originating from Group 3 tend to be short-lived one-offs, while memes from Reddit and 4chan tend to be more robust and long-lived. This can easily be explained if we imagine that memes are living organisms, capable of evolving and adapting to their environment. The environment presented by Group 3 is very easy to survive in for short periods of time, but there is fierce competition. This is because there are rather low standards for what is "meme-worthy" (basically it just has to be funny), so there is a constant influx of new memes, overtaking old memes so fast that they have no chance to adapt, and as a result, quickly fade into obscurity. However, there is another factor that separates Group 3 memes from the rest. I call this factor "rigidity". Group 3 memes are very rigid by nature, simply because they need to have immediate context to be funny. This makes the meme "rigid", as it can only be applied to certain things (for example, the "What are Those" meme could only be applied to shoes and shoes alone.)

Memes originating from 4chan and Reddit are much more "flexible", in that they are applicable to most things, and are not restricted by their context nearly as much. The environment of these platforms is much more hostile, meaning that a meme must be applicable to a wide range of things to stay alive. The more rigid would-be memes are quickly forgotten and abandoned. This yields memes that can spread outside of their local platform and survive in other platforms, including Group 3 platforms, which prolongs their life.

The difference between Group 3 and 4chan + Reddit stems from differences in their user bases and how the platforms are designed. People who utilize Group 3 platforms typically don't have the time to get into heated debates or philosophical discussions, which is what 4chan and Reddit are tailored towards. Rather, Group 3 platforms typically cater towards the short attention span, meaning that the memes that evolve there are typically designed for a quick laugh, and nothing more. 4chan and Reddit are designed to be places where people can spend hours in a single thread, arguing with other users, meaning that the memes that evolve here are typically designed with a message in mind, either to help drive a point home, or to make a statement. Obviously, easily recognizable memes that can be readily applied to most situations are superior in this case, rather than memes that can only be applied in very certain situations.

Now, back to my prediction. I predicted that "Dat Boi" and "Caveman Spongebob" will both die soon. They are both Group-3 memes, meaning that, assuming they follow Group 3 trends they will be short-lived.
Let's look at search interest for some dead Group-3 memes, specifically "Damn Daniel" and "What are Those":




As we can see, both memes had their search results spike when they were created, and then quickly died off into obscurity, though "What are Those" obviously already had some results before the meme's creation, due to how common the phrase is. However, it declined to the same point it was before it was a meme. Now let us look at "Dat Boi" and "Caveman Spongebob":




As we can clearly see, there was a surge of interest when the meme was created, then quickly declined. The meme is still alive, as neither graph has completely bottomed-out yet, but again, assuming the follow the trend, they soon will.

Now, I say this video is "interesting" because of the mix of different memes. "Dat Boi" is a Group 3 meme, yet "Pepe the Frog" and "Ragecomics" are memes from 4chan. As I stated earlier, the memes from 4chan and Reddit are very flexible, and able to flourish on platforms other than their native one. However, Group 3 memes don't do well on 4chan or Reddit, meaning that this video was probably created by a user of a Group 3 platform, who typically aren't aware of what 4chan even is.

Now it's time to get political. I don't want to bring politics into this thread, but the political nature of the video gives way to an interesting topic. This is not about my personal political beliefs, only the memetics of the video.

The "Donald Trump is Literally Hitler" meme is an interesting one. Similar to how quantum particles can hold "superpositions", or be in 2 states at once, this meme is a kind of "supermeme", in that it is in several states at once, being flexible and rigid at the same time, as well as being an internet AND classical meme. The "Donald Trump is Literally Hitler" meme is probably the best piece of political propaganda that has been synthesized this election cycle, though it may not seem like it at first. It is simple to understand, but also very sensational and bold. It is very flexible, as it can be applied to almost any political argument, but at the same time it is rigid and can ONLY be applied to Donald Trump. For any other meme, this rigidity would spell certain death, but the genius behind it is that the meme is meant to die with Trump's political campaign. The meme also has 2 parts to it. It is not strictly confined to the internet, and is instead both an internet meme and a meme in the classical sense of the word ("an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture"). This is what makes this meme brilliant. By using the fact that memes take much longer to die in the real world, combined with the fast-spreading nature of memes on the internet, the meme can rely on the real world to stay alive on the internet, and can use the internet to stay alive in the real world. Its simplicity is another thing that makes it incredibly powerful. Anyone can make a Tump-Hitler comparison chart and post it to social media.

It's an elaborate piece of propaganda constructed under the guise of a quasi-strawman argument. Was it designed this way, or is just a coincidence? I don't know.

As for Pepe the frog, he has recently been identified as a white-nationalist symbol. I guess that means Nicki Minaj is now a white-nationalist. lol.
 
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:yh:



"You never know what is gonna come through that door". LOL!

-Alex
 
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