Since the inception of the internet, skeptics have denounced it due to its differences from the real words. Some thought email is terrible because mail should not be sent and received so quickly. Thoughts like these have always been present. For example, my mother did not want to get a microwave because food should not be able to be heated up so quickly. One thing critics have observed is the impossibility of showing emotions online (e.g. sarcasm or sadness). Well, ladies and gentlemen, those days are over. We have the meme to thank for this.
The word "meme" was coined by none other than Richard Dawkins. The term was coined forty years ago. Its resurgence thirty-odd years later is amazing. Merriam-Webster defines "meme" as "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture." This definition is quite close to Dawkins' 1976 definition, that being "a unit of cultural transmission." This is an extremely broad definition, however. Under these criteria, nearly everything is a meme. From greeting someone to taking someone out on a date, memes are everywhere. I hope the next time you go out on a date, you think of it as a meme.
In the early days of the meme, a creator would take a popular picture on the web and add text to the top and bottom of the picture, both of these texts being the same font on all of these memes. These memes did not do much for the sake of internet emotions. The new age of memes, beginning around 2014, began to shape how we all speak with each other online. Behind a keyboard, one cannot portray face expressions while talking or telling a story. Through these new memes, such as the popular Primitive Sponge (SpongeBob) or Crying Michael Jordan, one can easily relay to another person exactly what is felt during whatever event or story the person is telling. As these memes are so popular online, nearly every user knows what the memes represent.
For example, the Primitive Sponge meme can show the internet user the feeling of surprise, usually a reaction to being in an uncomfortable situation. The Crying Michael Jordan meme can show the user a feeling of sadness and various degrees and types of sadness, which are usually described in the given text of the meme.
These are just two examples of popular memes which can ultimately show a person's complete emotions on the internet. Again, before these glorious memes, a user would only be able to tell half of the story, or would have to tell the story in many, many more words. Whether you love them or hate them, memes are here to stay. They have sharpened quite nicely our communication skills over the internet.
