I'm not sure those things contradict each other! I think most public political/protest art I've seen has been in the form of shitty little scribblings on a bathroom wall.
I'm not sure those things contradict each other! I think most public political/protest art I've seen has been in the form of shitty little scribblings on a bathroom wall.
God, I hope not. I imagine I'm romanticizing the memorable protest art of the past. Doubtless it was almost all terrible, and we only remember the few, excellent pieces. But... still.
God, I hope not.
I imagine I'm romanticizing the memorable protest art of the past. Doubtless it was almost all terrible, and we only remember the few, excellent pieces. But... still.
I don't think you can connect humanity like the internet has done without having something you can call a "meme". If we have a quick way to share images, videos, jokes, or whatever else, we'll...
I don't think you can connect humanity like the internet has done without having something you can call a "meme". If we have a quick way to share images, videos, jokes, or whatever else, we'll widely share them.
Current formats and such will die, but unless modern communication collapses, memes of some kind are here to stay.
Where there is homing pidgeons, there's hope. No longer will our scuttlebutt be limited by the speed at which our feet can carry us - memes won't be denied.
Memes have always existed in some form, whether verbal, written, or image-based. It was used for politics, philosophy, humour, religion, etc. It's not something new and it's not something going...
Memes have always existed in some form, whether verbal, written, or image-based. It was used for politics, philosophy, humour, religion, etc. It's not something new and it's not something going away, but as you said, will experience a change of format.
Well, regardless of if you want to push the original and more broad definition of the term, I think even what we understand more specifically as an "internet meme" to be is here to stay. That...
Well, regardless of if you want to push the original and more broad definition of the term, I think even what we understand more specifically as an "internet meme" to be is here to stay. That manner of making new edits to fit every situation and sharing it to continue that process will continue, I don't think we go back to the more static older forms.
Where things go, I'm not sure. We've been at the "post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-irony" point for years now and I think getting more esoteric is losing its shock value and there will need to be a new direction.
Yeah, I think the Dawkinsian meaning of the word "meme" is being conflated with the more popular "image macro and derivatives" sense in this thread. Of course people will continue to share ideas,...
Yeah, I think the Dawkinsian meaning of the word "meme" is being conflated with the more popular "image macro and derivatives" sense in this thread.
Of course people will continue to share ideas, etc., using every method at our disposal. It's just what humans do. I'm just burned out on the low-effort, constantly distracted, emoji/gif fake news culture we're in right now and I feel like "the meme" is at the epicenter of that.
Yeah, but what I (kinda unclearly) was trying to say is that I think even when we're talking about image macros, reaction gifs, and other things that are distinctly "internet," I don't think we...
Yeah, but what I (kinda unclearly) was trying to say is that I think even when we're talking about image macros, reaction gifs, and other things that are distinctly "internet," I don't think we have a way out there. The specific ones will always be dying and and new ones will be born, and eventually we'll get to a point where there's no one left who uses impact text...but I don't think the end is near for that.
I understand being tired of it, but I'm always holding out for better forms of these things to pop up (which they do, sometimes) rather than focusing on memes as a whole. I think that's an easy way to just fall apart...I've fallen into discounting entire popular art forms like that before and it's just asking for extra exhaustion.
Not to say we should make peace with the actively harmful misinformation and such that comes along with all that. Just the parts that are silly and annoying :P
I view the tendency toward more and more esoteric memes a lot like the race for more and more aggressive music. The story of music in the 20th century was a whole lot of things getting more and...
I view the tendency toward more and more esoteric memes a lot like the race for more and more aggressive music. The story of music in the 20th century was a whole lot of things getting more and more abrasive in certain circles, and we quickly (on the scale of music as a whole, I guess) got to a point where you can't shock well-seasoned music listeners anymore. Your harsh noise won't offend or anger anyone "in the know," so you have to move beyond the aesthetic. It becomes all about being interesting songwriters and having neat ideas instead of pushing things along this one axis.
I think we have a similar thing in memes. Okay, you can't win by just being the weirdest, the hardest to understand, or the most shocking anymore...at least not with the insiders. What do you do? Well, we're back to the immaterial things that are hard to grasp at...like just having good jokes or making a clever point. It's hard to conceptualize a way forward because it isn't a clear aesthetic one like it was in the past, but that's all that's left unless someone finds another aspect to push forward. Of course, it'll all be typically postmodern where because we reached that limit, we go off in a million different directions and it's hard to even make a narrative of it all :P
Reaching an end for "layers" means we've gotta search for a replacement, or just get stale.
Post (n+1) irony: Talking about memes on social media.
Post (n+1) irony: Talking about memes on social media.
The word meme originated with Richard Dawkins' 1976 book The Selfish Gene. Dawkins cites as inspiration the work of geneticist L. L. Cavalli-Sforza, anthropologist F. T. Cloak[19] and ethologist J. M. Cullen.[20] Dawkins wrote that evolution depended not on the particular chemical basis of genetics, but only on the existence of a self-replicating unit of transmission—in the case of biological evolution, the gene. For Dawkins, the meme exemplified another self-replicating unit with potential significance in explaining human behavior and cultural evolution. ~ Wikipedia
Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, clothes fashions, ways of making pots or of building arches. Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body via sperms or eggs, so memes propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via a process which, in the broad sense, can be called imitation. ~ Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene 1976
They are mostly our generations bathroom wall scribblings in digital form.
I'm not sure those things contradict each other! I think most public political/protest art I've seen has been in the form of shitty little scribblings on a bathroom wall.
And not much has changed in 1900+ years, it seems.
http://www.pompeiana.org/Resources/Ancient/Graffiti%20from%20Pompeii.htm
God, I hope not.
I imagine I'm romanticizing the memorable protest art of the past. Doubtless it was almost all terrible, and we only remember the few, excellent pieces. But... still.
Clearly I'm just an old fuddy-duddy, but I am so ready for culture to move beyond this meme mania. I'm honestly amazed it's lasted as long as it has.
I don't think you can connect humanity like the internet has done without having something you can call a "meme". If we have a quick way to share images, videos, jokes, or whatever else, we'll widely share them.
Current formats and such will die, but unless modern communication collapses, memes of some kind are here to stay.
I don't know about you but I intend to be memeing well after world ecological collapse causes communications networks to collapse.
Where there is homing pidgeons, there's hope. No longer will our scuttlebutt be limited by the speed at which our feet can carry us - memes won't be denied.
Memes have always existed in some form, whether verbal, written, or image-based. It was used for politics, philosophy, humour, religion, etc. It's not something new and it's not something going away, but as you said, will experience a change of format.
Well, regardless of if you want to push the original and more broad definition of the term, I think even what we understand more specifically as an "internet meme" to be is here to stay. That manner of making new edits to fit every situation and sharing it to continue that process will continue, I don't think we go back to the more static older forms.
Where things go, I'm not sure. We've been at the "post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-post-irony" point for years now and I think getting more esoteric is losing its shock value and there will need to be a new direction.
Yeah, I think the Dawkinsian meaning of the word "meme" is being conflated with the more popular "image macro and derivatives" sense in this thread.
Of course people will continue to share ideas, etc., using every method at our disposal. It's just what humans do. I'm just burned out on the low-effort, constantly distracted, emoji/gif fake news culture we're in right now and I feel like "the meme" is at the epicenter of that.
Yeah, but what I (kinda unclearly) was trying to say is that I think even when we're talking about image macros, reaction gifs, and other things that are distinctly "internet," I don't think we have a way out there. The specific ones will always be dying and and new ones will be born, and eventually we'll get to a point where there's no one left who uses impact text...but I don't think the end is near for that.
I understand being tired of it, but I'm always holding out for better forms of these things to pop up (which they do, sometimes) rather than focusing on memes as a whole. I think that's an easy way to just fall apart...I've fallen into discounting entire popular art forms like that before and it's just asking for extra exhaustion.
Not to say we should make peace with the actively harmful misinformation and such that comes along with all that. Just the parts that are silly and annoying :P
I view the tendency toward more and more esoteric memes a lot like the race for more and more aggressive music. The story of music in the 20th century was a whole lot of things getting more and more abrasive in certain circles, and we quickly (on the scale of music as a whole, I guess) got to a point where you can't shock well-seasoned music listeners anymore. Your harsh noise won't offend or anger anyone "in the know," so you have to move beyond the aesthetic. It becomes all about being interesting songwriters and having neat ideas instead of pushing things along this one axis.
I think we have a similar thing in memes. Okay, you can't win by just being the weirdest, the hardest to understand, or the most shocking anymore...at least not with the insiders. What do you do? Well, we're back to the immaterial things that are hard to grasp at...like just having good jokes or making a clever point. It's hard to conceptualize a way forward because it isn't a clear aesthetic one like it was in the past, but that's all that's left unless someone finds another aspect to push forward. Of course, it'll all be typically postmodern where because we reached that limit, we go off in a million different directions and it's hard to even make a narrative of it all :P
Reaching an end for "layers" means we've gotta search for a replacement, or just get stale.
meme mania is a natural outpouring. It's an inevitable result of the existence of culture.
Incredibly stupid, clickbaitish statement, in my opinion. Protest albums are still being released and memes aren't near them.
Post (n+1) irony: Talking about memes on social media.