The chance is very high that you noticed them already, it’s in fact quite hard to miss them in the internet these days because internet memes are a widespread phenomena. But maybe you noticed them, you just didn’t know that they are called memes. Internet memes are these pictures that transport a message. It is often a funny photo that becomes even more funny when people put a catchphrase on it. It could be a parody of a photo but the image could also come with a more serious message.
A meme is basically an idea, a message that is spread from person to person, in most cases it is a message highly targeted and spread by users for a niche or within a subculture. Also videos can be a meme, but if people speak of internet memes, they do today often mean those labeled pictures. It must be mentioned that internet memes are just an adjusted phenomena of a behaviour that was already there before the internet.
To name examples, painting “I was here” on something, or a couple carving a love message with initials into a park bench with a knife, that is a behaviour that became so widespread that we all saw these messages anywhere at some point. It’s basically the same, just that those messages were transported on another medium, the wood of the park bench for example, and with other tools like knifes or paint markers. For internet memes, the medium is the internet and an image, the tool is the keyboard of our computer and the computer mouse.
Another similar example is a graffiti that became very popular in the USA in 1940. So, many things can be a meme and spreading a message, a graphic or an idea, that is nothing new. Yes, any graffiti is basically a meme too. You can say, internet memes are just the adjusted form of sharing a short message or idea.
Memes Are Easy To Create
As a meme is basically just a photo and a caption, it is not really rocket science to create them. You just need a nice photo that you want to caption (You should have permission to use the image or use your own). The process of creating memes is really not too difficult. There are all kind of meme generator websites out there but if you want a little bit more control it is suggested to use a graphics software. You can use any graphics software and I wrote a guide how to make memes with Photoshop. But as said, if you don’t have a graphics software installed, you could also use one of the meme generators you can find with Google. I just mention it as I think that this is another reason why you find memes all over the place, it’s not difficult to create them and a lot of people do it.
In the end Internet memes are phenomenons that probably won’t disappear anytime soon. Memes are like a bridge that makes a connection between people who share the same interests. It’s easy to make a meme, and it’s easy to share them. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and sites like Reddit, Instagram, Pinterest or even blogging platforms like WordPress have a huge community where internet memes became integral pieces of entertainment. People love it if they have something in common, people love to laugh about something together, and that is the reason for the popular memes, they are connective and this is why memes travel across the internet like crazy and why memes are a popular phenomena. Let me know in the comments what you think about memes. Why are internet memes so popular, did I miss something? What is your opinion about memes generally?