Meme Cultures Effect On User Identity

Social Media has led to the creation of various online communities. As the internet has developed, language has been modified through different dialects and new slang. The online communities that exist now vary from gaming pages to meme pages dedicated to a specific type of humor. In this essay, I am specifically looking at a meme page that began on Tumblr. The meme page I am covering caters to the young who engage in self-deprecating humor. This page is a community of young adults who grew up on the internet.

This community is one that creates a shared understanding of humor that allows its members to laugh at themselves. The purpose of these memes is to share awkward instances. I am looking at the effects of this new simplified meme culture on the future of the English language. The use of meme pages forces audiences to use lateral thinking and recognition of symbols to understand the messages and jokes being presented.

The majority of these relatable self-deprecating memes are set up like this: when everyone else is “n” but you’re “x, usually followed by an image from a TV show that conveys an emotion associated with the messages. The demographic that tunes into these specific memes are generally students from Middle school throughout college. The nature of the jokes is to be able to relate with other users on our love for food, our struggles with procrastination and motivation, and financial burdens.

The meme page allows us to laugh at ourselves for imperfections that young adults struggle with.

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There is a sense of comfort that comes from seeing memes that validate our flaws and insecurities as a mean to provide entertainment. The way our online conversations have evolved has normalized the use of internet memes. The memes that are most popular have combined clips from popular 90s TV shows that use childhood images and clips added with a caption that is geared toward adult humor.

This community of young people on the internet have used memes as a way to satirically respond to the social standards that have evolved through the use of social media image. Specifically, I have gathered two variations of memes found on a specific meme page dedicated to humor that reflects the struggle of young people to find motivation and provides a way to make a joke out of their financial struggles as young adults. The “Bon Apple Tea” memes are a deliberate misspelling of the French phrase “Bon a Petit.”

The wave of these memes continued as people posted images of foods that replicated gourmet style meals that were constructed with obviously cheap foods. For example, there is a meme caption that reads “my girl wanted to go out for sushi so I made her a plate, Bon apple tea” followed by an image of plain white rice humorously topped off with a goldfish cracker and a tiny dot of green wasabi. The Bone apple tea wave of memes represents humor that pokes fun at the luxury associated with the French language and food. Another spin-off of the bone apple tea memes was: “Hoe maid Pete sir end chips” accompanied by an image of pizza flavored chips with a piece of tomato hilariously placed on a cracker.

The caption translates to “homemade pizza and chips.” These variations of misspellings are a new wave of internet comedy. The symbolic capital value placed on this realm of memes and its users is one that uses humor to cope with the reality of young people struggling with poverty. The community of “Bon apple tea” memes is one that uses satirical language to poke fun at the unrealistic expectations society has to have a perfect image online.

However, there is a debate that the use of short captions and images may cause a regression in language development. Arguably, memes are not deep enough to include discussions on how to solve these “funny” issues and mishaps that are relatable to millions of users. The traditional use of language and conversation helps people gain a better understanding of themselves and the people around them.

Before the internet, communication was reliant on face to face interaction, which includes the benefits of kinesics, the study of communication through body stances and movements, gestures, facial expressions that allow for direct comprehension of the messages being exchanged. However, with the rise of email, online chatting, the development of memes has created yet another way for people to resume to controlled methods of communicating. For example, editing images of ourselves and maintaining a theme to the types of memes we repost contribute to the differences of our online identities versus the identities we uphold in real life.

The power users have to control what is seen, said, or revealed does not always accurately translate to who we are in the real world. The use of memes to send messages creates an emotional distance on the benefits of having direct, face to- face conversation. The notion of technology and online communities offers an illusion of companionship and relatability but has also created a world full of people who prefer to engage in low-risk relationships online that come without the demands of the intimacy associated with face to face conversations.

With the rise of memes, some users prove that it is possible to successfully code-switch from new wave, short humor to the proper and traditional use of language. For example, there are professionals who use their social media to promote academic writings and broadcast informational content. Young professionals have proven that they can code-switch from half-serious public announcements to sharing memes similar to the “Bon apple tea” satirical community. The ability to code-switch in real time is changing the way you speak to your friends in a bar versus the language you use in an interview or professional setting. There are many users that maintain a personal persona online and in real life and some that maintain separate accounts for professional use and for entertainment alone. The success of code-switching can represent an impressive nuance in how users are able to bounce back and forth between the two dialects.

The specific subcultures of online communities create very specific forums for like-minded people. This leads to the question of how the memes we consume affect our sense of identity and our ability to code-switch from casual internet speak to a direct conversation in real life. It could be that the different conversations within this community of young people may be limiting them from exposure to topics that require more critical thinking. This creates an audience that is confined to an unrealistic “feel good” attitude that may limit the discussion of broader intellectual issues. The power users have to control what they want to view and which communities to interact with may limit the benefits that come with traditional human interaction.

Many young people are forced to switch from the language of online communities to the wider world, irl (in real life). Although young adults today can code-switch within their online communities, the generations that follow may remain immature because of concentrated exposure to the comedic slang of meme culture.