Viral Memes: Get it?

It’s Corona time and I’ve got way more time than I know what to do with. Current schedule: 2K (the video basketball game, NBA2K20), eat, 2K, class, chill, eat, memes. I’m liking it so far, though.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary: 

Meme noun /miːm/ (meem)

 1. ​An idea that is passed from one member of society to another, not in the genes but often by people copying it.

2. ​An image, a video, a piece of text, etc. that is passed very quickly from one internet user to another, often with slight changes that make it humorous.

My introduction to meme culture came in elementary school. The dances, jokes, and even our way of speaking were influenced by memes.

In middle school, I really got into meme culture despite my withdrawal from social media. Memelord was a title that a few friends of mine claimed to have. I was the ‘Bible clutching normie‘ of the group. 

We were the cringiest and saddest bunch in the class. Self-deprecation is still one of my go-tos when I’m looking for a joke. The memes that we shared were anything from deep-fried nonsense to extremely worrying self-hatred.

That was where I really got into the culture. I learned the meta and how things filtered into the mainstream. The process was a chain that went from Reddit to Twitter, then to Instagram, only to die a painful death amongst the minion memes on Facebook.

Memes have evolved and continue to evolve extremely quickly. What’s in now could be ‘dead’ by next week. Meme culture grasps from every nook and cranny of every society. Just last night I got into a meme war with my friend Kevin from middle school. I lost.

Here at Benedict’s, we have a thriving underground meme economy. Rowers, fencers, basketball players & drama guild members all are represented in the meme community. As much as some people don’t like a community in a community, it exists. Some teachers are also involved in the meme lore within the Hive.

The world we live in feeds into the culture of the cultured and as long as we have humor, we will have memes.

This is part of a continuing blog tracking the highs and lows of life in the St. Benedict’s community as its members weather the effects of a worldwide coronavirus outbreak.