In a world dependent upon the internet and with social media as its core, memes are something almost everyone has heard of or seen at some point. This form of media is one of the most significant sources of entertainment on the internet today.
Memes strongly influence different cultures, and people can relate to them easily. So, here we will explore why memes have become so popular and seven reasons people love them so much.
But, What Are Memes?
Memes are primarily jokes about a situation, condition, person, event, or other cultural or social factors. They tend to go viral through online transmission, where they are replicated, communicated, and shared on social media.
An interesting thing about memes is that they don't always need a clear rationale to become popular. Some ideas just click with people, and those people participate in sharing the memes until they go viral.
Let's find out why we love memes so much.
1. Cultural Information Exchange
As humans, we are social beings. We always love to know the sources of our feelings and like to relate to others in our social circle. We all like to be appreciated and want to stand out and gain attention in our society and culture. Memes allow us to do all that.
Memes are funny and contagious units of cultural knowledge. This makes them an easy and fast way of sharing cultural information.
Therefore, whenever you post or share a meme, you essentially share easy-to-digest cultural information with the world. And you get recognition for your ideas in the process.
This convenience of sharing relatable cultural knowledge is a major reason why memes are so popular globally. They let you learn something new in addition to simply enjoying the joke. It's a win-win situation for you.
2. Source of Collective Coping
It's common for certain events, happenings, or behaviors to hit the global community or a cultural group as a whole. We all feel the same emotions, tensions, and stress in such situations, making our feelings mutual.
Memes are one of the best ways through which people in a cultural group can cope with any stressor or tension arousing from a situation. The reason why memes have become so popular is that they help people cope collectively.
When a stressor is converted into a funny meme, most people can relate to it, talk about it, and feel that they are not alone in that situation. This makes the stressor less painful and easy to cope with.
3. Different Perspective of a Stressful Event
Memes play another interesting role that makes them go viral. They make you see the other side of the picture, offering a new perspective to a situation and helping you see things from a different angle.
This change of perspective makes people change how they see a stressful situation. Memes do all this pretty efficiently and effectively. They are a source of humorous enlightenment for people.
Another interesting thing to note about this type of media is that it brings all this positivity through the efforts of the ordinary people, or memers as they are called. The main intention of these memers is to create a viral meme. And in that process, they explore different perspectives, unintentionally bringing forth positivity.
4. New Form of Communication Medium
In the internet era, the world has shrunk to a global village. We can all communicate with each other through different social media platforms.
Memes take this communication to the next level. You receive and share memes all the time through images, texts, GIFs, or short videos.
This ability to embellish communication has made memes a preferred mode for sharing funny messages in unique ways. The multiple sensory messages in a meme help make it go viral.
People of all age groups and literacy levels can easily relate to these images and videos. This quality makes memes an effective medium for communication.
5. Humorous Interpretation to Reduce Stress
Memes can make you laugh out loud. This is the best thing they do. Through memes, you interpret a generally stressful or anxiety-evoking situation in such a way that makes it humorous and fun. And this reduces the stress levels in society.
General memes add humor to a situation, leading to lower stress, easier acceptance, and less anger. The humor helps you relax. And, to be honest, all of us want stress reduction and more fun and happiness in our already busy and stressful lives.
6. Mood Improvement
Our lives and schedules are pretty hectic nowadays. Moreover, certain life events can dampen our moods.
So, it is natural to seek ways of uplifting yourself. Different people use different things to enhance their mood like playing games, watching TV, talking to a family member, and so on. And this is where memes play an important role.
Memes are a medium that you can use for mood enhancement. When you see a comic image or video, your brain immediately starts secreting happy hormones like endorphins and oxytocin that make you feel better.
This significant role in mood improvement is another reason which makes memes so popular. Many people use them to get away from the tensions of daily life to feel relaxed and happier.
7. Shareability
As mentioned before, human beings are social animals. We instinctively want to share our emotions and relate with others.
We generally love sharing, understanding others, and being understood. This is what makes memes so likable. You can share them with a group, and everyone understands the intended message easily.
The shareability of memes makes them popular in a cultural group or even globally because most people find them relatable. This shareability also brings people together by discussing a situation, person, event, or happening that affects all of them mutually.
Moreover, shareability makes people feel relaxed as they understand that a particular situation or event is common for most of those around them. This feeling of not being alone is another reason for loving memes so much.
Memes Are a Highlight of Digital World
So, now you know why memes are so popular and why most people like them so much. They make you see the humorous side of a stressful situation, help in global communication and cultural exchange, and lead to collective coping.
Further, the memes enhance mood and can be shared widely, making them even more popular. All of these qualities associated with memes make them viral and loved. They are one of the best perks of this global digital village of ours.