So, who should know about the power of the almighty meme? Well,
anyone from social media managers, influencers, content creators and everyday users. This is because memes can be used to
generate online conversation and encourage a lot of traction.
Now before we jump into what memes can do for you, let’s first define what the term 'meme'
actually means.
Well, according to Merriam-Webster, “
A meme is an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online — especially through social media.”
Now that it has been cleared up, let’s take a look at what power memes truly hold.
Ready to get ‘memed’? Let’s do it:
1. Memes are a means of circulating trending content
So, how did you find out about Will Smith smacking Chris Rock at the
Oscars? My guess is
probably a meme. Unless, of course, if you actually watched the
Oscars, you might have come across this news on Instagram, Facebook or the fan favourite for gossip — Twitter.
Now besides the fact that it is shocking that Will Smith got physical with Chris Rock on stage, people found many ways in which they could all relate to the incident. As you can clearly see from the meme above, this medium uses trending content to relay or address other feelings or ideas that viewers could potentially relate to in the same way.
In this case, we can all relate to feeling the so-called ‘ hit’ with the fuel prices in mind (
what is the price now? Like, R21.63 per liter?).
Not only does this meme relate to all of us, but it sparked curiosity regarding what actually happened at the
Oscars. So, when you first came across the meme of Will slapping Chris, did you go onto Google and searched what happened?
Yes, you did!
Publications that reported on the incident were sure to pop up, generating online traffic. The same goes for social media pages that posted memes about the incident and used relevant hashtags.
This is a clear example of how memes can be used to spread and inform the public on trending events, topics and content.
Talk about memes being powerful stuff!
2. Memes are easily consumable content
If you are sitting at your desk and craving a snack, then heading over to
Bored Panda might be a great idea. This is because the memes that it posts are just
so snackable.
But why do people love memes so much? Simple! It is because they:
- are filled with short, to the point information
- communicate a message effectively, and
- are so easy to share with friends, family, colleagues or with your followers on social media.
An example can be seen with this meme about Oreos:
*Meme sourced from imgflip
This meme is funny and relatable to all vegans who
love Oreo cookies; but at the same time, it conveys a message and it is done in such a — dare we say —
munchable way. According to
Go Dairy Free, there are some
dairy-free flavours of Oreo available, making this meme informative
and helpful.
3. Memes connect humans through humour
The main reason why memes do so well with a wide variety of people is because they are funny — and this is because they put a spin on things in contexts that we can all understand and relate to.
People are social creatures by nature, even if its in different ways. This means that everyone wants to feel connected with one another in some way or another.
This is exactly what memes do — they build online communities and allow like-minded people to find each other online and socialise.
Memes evoke feelings within the viewer, which is a
great motivator for people to share them with others. This is what makes memes so powerful: They share knowledge and evoke emotions. For example, a meme about a work-life balance is something
most adults will relate to.
What is your favourite meme? Be sure to let us know in the comments section below.
*Image courtesy of GoodFon