Week 2: Internet Memes

During class this past week, we discussed the increasing usage of memes in digital media. A meme is a term used for content that spreads quickly among people, or as Dawkins suggests, “units of imitation” (as cited in Shifman, 2014, p. 29). An internet meme differs as it includes strong visuals and endless opportunities for different versions to be made. I believe this is both an advantage and a disadvantage of internet memes. Because there are so many iterations of internet memes spanning different topics, it provides an extensive catalog for research. They could lead to discoveries on relationships, identities, and subcultures. However, this could also be a challenge because they are always changing and evolving, proving it difficult to exclusively research a topic.

I have chosen two popular stock character memes to study:

1) Success Kid

This meme originated when a photographer took a picture of her young son on the beach and posted it to her personal Flickr page. He has a look of both victory and anger on his face, with his fist filled with sand also adding to those emotions. It was originally photoshopped with the words “I Hate Sandcastles” on it, but has since been changed to just the image of the boy with a colorful background. It used in memes to convey the humor in small, every day, and unexpected victories.

2) Hey Girl

The Hey Girl meme first appeared on a Ryan Gosling fan blog. It was accompanied by pictures of the actor with the words "Hey Girl" and a phrase that the blog creator imagined Ryan Gosling would say if he were the perfect boyfriend. Although the "Hey Girl" words appear on each meme, there are many variations of the pictures and phrases. It has now even expanded beyond Ryan Gosling to include politicians, cartoons, and characters. These memes evoke a sarcastic humor because the phrases are often tailored to female interests but as if a man were saying them.

In chapter 4 of Memes in Digital Culture, Shifman discusses internet memes through the example of the "Leave Me Alone" video on Britney Spears. The variations of the meme illustrate the idea that people inject their own interpretations on a meme with each new version created. I think this is important when studying memes because it changes the content, context, and meaning behind them, in some cases even "reversing aspects of the original event", which could skew research (Shifman, 2014, p. 29). Another thing to note when studying memes is how people's background and identity impacts the meme they are creating or viewing. This would play a significant role in research as it would greatly effect how people interpret memes.