Meme Survival 101

     The term “meme” can be defined in many ways; one website, thefreedictionary.com, lists it as “a unit of cultural information, such as a cultural practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another.” Google, aiming at more modern terms, refers to it as “an image, video, etc. that is passed electronically from one Internet user to another.” Either way you put it, over the last few years, memes have become more than just a “share” or “like” on Facebook; they have become a cult, with each meme getting its own followers full of ideas for personalized captions and comments. As the internet grows larger, the existence of memes grows stronger and stronger, and their influence becomes more meaningful, thanks to sites such as 4chan.com and the entire “Cheezburger” network.

     Most people who discover memes do so by seeing a funny picture with an even funnier caption, or simply by getting trolled via a “rick-roll” (the internet definition of trolling is “people who annoy others on different websites while contributing nothing positive”). However, there are the select few who themselves become a meme, whether by their own hand, or via others, typically unexpectedly. A more recent example of this occurred just last week to 25-year-old living in New York. Some people close to him recognize him as Zeddie Little; the internet now refers to him by the nickname “ridiculously photogenic guy.” While running a marathon, Zeddie had smiled for a photographer taking pictures of the runners, and having just run a marathon, he looked surprisingly good. The photo stormed through the likes of Reddit.com, and within days showed up on Yahoo as a main story. Zeddie even ended up on Good Morning America for his devilishly good looks, where he discussed his sudden popularity on the World Wide Web; “I kinda feel honored to be part of a joke that’s in good spirit because sometimes the Internet can be a little vicious or jokes can get bent the wrong way. But these are all kinda, for the most part, positive. It’s funny that everybody is kinda taking like to it.”

     Some people, like Zeddie, benefit from their unexpected rush to fame; others, however, are a little slower to bring up the positives at first. One example of this comes in the form of Emileina (last name unknown), who’s friend Grace decided to use her face in a meme as a joke. Grace added a caption about how oblivious she was to good music, and suddenly more people followed suit. Captions such as “Dubstep? I love that band!” and “Iron Maiden? I don’t know her” were being added on by anybody who had a funny joke to add, and next thing Emileina knew, she had become “musically oblivious 8^th grader.” Through her Tumblr.com account, Emileina, now much older than the picture of her from the meme, explained her dislike for the photos, saying it was in no way a good description of her, and as a result she now continuously gets questioned about both her awareness of the pictures, as well as her opinion of the whole ordeal. Thankfully for Emileina, this is one of many memes that have begun to die down whilst other newer memes poured through. Unfortunately for others, this is not always the case, but in light of that they can turn it into positives. Take, for example, Blake Boston.

     As a teen, Blake’s mother took a rather unflattering photo of him walking in, wearing a large fur coat and brownish hat. Little was expected of it when his mother posted it on the social network Myspace.com back in early 2006. suddenly, years later, almost out of nowhere, the photo became the representation of anything to be considered of poor judgment or of no class; Blake had become “Scumbag Steve.”

     At first his reaction to the phenomenon was to be expected; negative. Many came off as extremely negative, especially with the combination of the picture taken so long ago; it had driven Blake into hiding, and his mother had even broken down into tears at one point when she had seen what became of her photo. People were even harassing the Boston native in real life, assuming that he was, in fact, a dirt bag. Now-a-days, Blake has begun using his fame to his advantage, going back into the studio to begin recording again (he has been a member of the rap group “Beantown Mafia” since 2005), hoping that his permanent tagline will help his rise up.­

     There is no stopping the phenomena of memes; with each fading photo caption comes another five, all ready to entertain the masses, sometimes in good ways, and sometimes bad. As many people have found out, the only way to survive it is to embrace it, and for some to use it to its fullest advantage (Zeddie used his chance on Good Morning America to announce his running in another upcoming marathon, hoping more people would join in with him for the John Ritter Foundation). As for the rest of us, it’s simply time to laugh at a few good jokes.