MEMES

[Mr. Wiggles]

Internet memes attempt to create humor by taking something, be it a phrase, picture, facial expression, or concept, and saying, doing, or repeating it over and over again with occasional variations, on the off-chance that sooner or later, something funny will be produced.

Furthermore, these days internet memes are pretty much all completely forced; unlike concepts that evolved naturally into the public consiousness (for example, the Rickroll, which started as a surreal one-off joke), pretty much any internet meme you see today will have been started with the sole purpose of creating an internet meme.

So here we get to the root of the problem. You've admitted you hate 4chan or any similar site that memes seem to sprout from, and yet assume all memes (other than Rickroll) are completely forced by the original poster attempting to gain some laughs from its audience.

As someone who's actually witnessed certain memes catch on, I can easily tell you forced memes do not survive for the most part. They may flood threads or boards with these jokes but unless its significantly unique it will never live beyond that autosaging thread it was birthed in.

Also, good job discrediting things that were non-memes at first, like our very own Boba Fett eventually morphing into Advice Dog.

Real humor doesn't rely on force-feeding you something over and over again to be considered funny. Real humor doesn't need to be spread to hundreds of people on 4chan or reach internet stardom to be considered successful.

That's still not explaining what real humor is. You're simply saying what real humor isn't.

Glad to answer your three-month-old question, Wiggles.

I just read the thread yesterday.

[BP]

Using memes to try to be funny is like Glass Joe using headgear to try to be a better boxer. Both are unsightly, pretty wimpy, and neither work.

[Glorb]

So here we get to the root of the problem. You've admitted you hate 4chan or any similar site that memes seem to sprout from, and yet assume all memes (other than Rickroll) are completely forced by the original poster attempting to gain some laughs from its audience.

I'm not assuming all memes are forced. However, these days, humorous internet memes are almost uniformly manufactured with the intent of creating a meme. And that doesn't just mean posting an image of Milhouse over and over again. See, if something spreads based on its own merits (in this case, funniness), that's great. But now, people see something funny and say, "Hey! This should be spread so as to become identified as a meme!" There's a big difference between spreading and being spread.

Also, good job discrediting things that were non-memes at first, like our very own Boba Fett eventually morphing into Advice Dog.

How did I "discredit" Boba Fett?

That's still not explaining what real humor is. You're simply saying what real humor isn't.

You're just splitting hairs.

[Weegee]

[Mr. Wiggles]

I'm not assuming all memes are forced. However, these days, humorous internet memes are almost uniformly manufactured with the intent of creating a meme. And that doesn't just mean posting an image of Milhouse over and over again. See, if something spreads based on its own merits (in this case, funniness), that's great. But now, people see something funny and say, "Hey! This should be spread so as to become identified as a meme!" There's a big difference between spreading and being spread.

Umm, as far as I remember, it's always been like that. Someone sees a funny image or video, and they share it with others in hopes that they find the humor as well. The formula hasn't changed, only the outlets have. You've got people who've moved around from Something Awful to 4chan, or from YTMND to YouTube.

How did I "discredit" Boba Fett?

pretty much any internet meme you see today will have been started with the sole purpose of creating an internet meme.

I highly doubt TEM posted that picture of his dog so a bunch of anonymous users could add contradicting text to it and post it whenever someone comes for help.

You're just splitting hairs.

and you're avoiding my question. See, this is called going around in circles.

[Glorb]

Tell me where I said TEM tried to start a meme with Boba Fett's picture. That's a textbook example of a meme that was started with the intention of starting a meme, just using someone else's content. In that case, it's even worse.

And since you desperately need this answered: "Real" humor is something that somebody considers funny enough that is capable of propagating on its own. In other words, it spreads because people think it's funny, not because people want to see it spread.

And Weegee, posting a popcorn gif doesn't automatically make something a fight.

[Mr. Wiggles]

But then how do you know that the poster who posted the first Advice Dog image expected it to catch on and become a meme? You weren't there when it made its debut in a thread, and you're most likely not the guy who posted it, so you can't say for sure the OP posted it in hopes of it becoming a meme.

Now if you argued that Courage Wolf or Emo Dog were forced memes, then you'd have a solid argument there since both of them were created as spin-offs of Advice Dog with the hopes of catching on.

I could also apply the same blanket logic to that second statement of yours. Just because a few have tried to create memes by forcing them in threads doesn't mean all of them do that.

Why do you think certain memes have survived the test of time? Why do you think Caturday eventually became the mainstream lolcats? Why do you think Rickrolling made its way into the media beyond a fake-out GTA4 trailer on /v/?

[Glorb]

I could also apply the same blanket logic to that second statement of yours. Just because a few have tried to create memes by forcing them in threads doesn't mean all of them do that.

But that's not what I'm saying.

I'm saying that the vast majority of things we on the internet refer to as "memes" are designed with the intent to become widespread. And forgive me if I'm being pessimistic here, but I highly doubt anyone on the internet in this day and age would take an iconic emblem (say, Boba Fett's head surrounded by a color spectrum) and couple it with a distinctive text pattern ([verb] (a) [noun](s), <Boba Fett's head>, [verb] (a) [noun](s)) and post it on 4chan and not expect it to catch on. You don't have to re-re-repost an image repeatedly to force a meme.

[Weegee]

And Weegee, posting a popcorn gif doesn't automatically make something a fight.

That's it. It's on.

[Mr. Wiggles]

Ok, I can see this is going nowhere fast so I'll make this my final point-counterpoint post and then politely bow out of this debate.

By the time these memes are considered memes, they've already experienced widespread popularity among 4chan or other sites, which justifies their categorization as memes. They can't be designed to spread if they already have. As much as you hate Encyclopedia Dramatica, it works as a good gauge to see what can be considered a meme and what's just a bunch of failed in-jokes that never caught on.

For your second doubt, that does seem more like pessimism speaking rather than logic. If nothing else, why don't you try to create your own unique template image, post it on 4chan and see if it actually catches on? You'll realize it isn't as simple as you make it out to be.

[Glorb]

Maybe I will.

And then the next time you see a meme and think it's funny and are about to reference it, think to yourself: Did Glorb start that?

[WarpRattler]

Here's an example from a couple of years ago. Thread didn't even reach autosage.

[ShadowBrain]

Glorb's right for the most part, but these days, with the prevalence of memes, most everyone who posts something original and funny on the internet will probably have a small thought of it becoming a meme--it's no stranger than a novice author visualizing his debut getting a movie deal. Nothing short of mind-reading will probably ever be able to determine when some intends to start a meme.