The Internet Meme

The Internet meme is a mainstay of our current digital culture. It is a concept, phrase, or piece of media that popularizes and spreads across the Internet. Now the definition of a meme in general is, "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture" (according to Merriam-Webster). You may notice that these two descriptions of the words are similar, yet when we think of an Internet meme we think of something extremely specific. We think of a GIF with some text layered on top of it. However, it is important to realize that even this seemingly simplistic idea of an Internet meme can often become a widely proliferated idea. Here are just a few examples of popular Internet memes, see if you recognize them.(Knowyourmeme.com)

It's funny because even these simple Internet Memes all have their own unique purpose. The first is the Forever Alone face. It's a basic yet funny picture used to convey this more complex emotion of solitude or loneliness. It is also just one part of a larger family of Internet memes called the Rage Faces that follow a similar pattern and design to our Forever Alone meme. The second Internet meme example is called Scumbag Steve. I don't actually know if Steve there is a scumbag from that single picture but it sure seems that the Internet thinks so. This meme is used to share anecdotes of people acting like a well...a scumbag. The third meme above is known as the Philosoraptor whose purpose seems pretty evident from its name. This Internet meme is also part of a larger family of advice animals that share anecdotes, advice, or stories.

Looking at these few examples may not grant us a complete understanding of what this word, meme, means in terms of the Internet but it does give us insight into the trends that emerge across the net. The three Internet memes above represent three typical varieties that are commonly used and found across the Internet. An advanced understanding of Internet memes allow individuals to communicate through them to convey emotions, stories, and more.

Internet memes are also distinct from other trends because there is a aura of permanence that surrounds the Internet. The Internet is this strange realm that defies common sense. The idea that what goes up must come down doesn't apply to the Internet. Once something is uploaded it may never come down. Beyoncé learned this lesson the hard way after her performance at the 2013 Super Bowl which spawned this picture.(link to the story about Beyonce's meme)
When her publicist requested BuzzFeed take down the unflattering photos the result was almost entirely the opposite. The photos of Beyoncé trended and spread across the Internet spawning dozens of hilarious memes.

Previously, the Internet meme was admonished as a strange, unimportant, or even ethereal component of the Internet. But this has never been true because memes by their definition are societal trends, and while these trends may change they always exist in some capacity. These days Internet memes seem like an integral part of our digital culture as they are the creations of the Internet as a community. Memes that are relatable, funny, or that draw from real life become popular as dictated by the millions of users on the Internet.

P.S. - great sites to find memes imgur.com, cheezburger.com  and knowyourmeme.com.

The Internet - A Modern Human Right?

David Rothkopf, editor for Foreign Policy magazine poses a new and challenging question for us as a society in his article titled: Is Unrestricted Internet Access a Modern Human Right?

Anyone familiar with my blog will come to know that I value the Internet as an extremely formative force of our modern society. It shapes the way we communicate, play, work, and everything in between. Based on this axiom I think that Rothkopf makes a number of striking points as to why Internet access should be a human right.

To me it seems that people perceive the Internet as a luxury. But as luxurious as it sounds there are already billions of people online today with an increasingly larger number of people logging in for the first time with each passing year. There honestly isn't a single day where I don't use the Internet in some way or another and at this point in my life it is essentially a need for me to live. 

For instance, in his article Rothkopf observes how mobile banking has become exceedingly common, thus diminishing the number of times that transactions require the physical passing of money. Every time I swipe my debit card at a restaurant I make a transaction without even realizing it. As such, the Internet has quite literally de-materialized money.

Actualizing universal Internet access as a goal though is as tricky as one would think. For one, it requires a source of electricity which begs the question that affordable, accessible energy should also be a human right (yes). It also requires governments giving its people a certain level of freedom that to some of the more repressive regimes in the world might be dangerous. For example in China, your Internet access would be screened, limited, and monitored by the state.

While there are obvious obstacles, I believe that these are changes that must and will be executed in the future. As the Internet becomes increasingly a part of more and more peoples lives it will become harder and harder to keep people disconnected. After all, technological advancements have been changing the world since the dawn of the printing press and the latest revolutionary technology is the Internet.