MEME CULTURE

     If you’re a social media user, you might be familiar with the term “meme.”  Memes usually involve a viral picture or a video that is taken out of context and used with humorous texts or innuendos with the intention of making you laugh. It’s like an inside joke which everyone can share and while most can relate to. Memes have become a very important phenomenon and it has a huge impact on the minds of today’s generation which is why even marketing has embraced memes so as to attract people towards business.

    Meme are transmitted through social media for the purpose of a few laughs hence the term meme culture surfaced. It has somehow become important to be keeping up with the latest meme just as much as keeping up with the latest fashion. For Millennials and Generation Z memes are a way to convey their emotions. They humor themselves and make fun out of situations to make people feel like they are in the same boat. They share memes to release stress through laughter, they connect with people with similar opinions or highlight a subject that is sensitive or even controversial for some. Meme may or may not always have a positive reaction but what is important is how much of an impact it creates in today’s world.

    Memes have become so common that it goes beyond the boundaries of a single demographic. They are very often quoted outside of the internet world; people can be seen incorporating memes into their conversations. They serve as a medium of communication for the youth through which they relate to others through collective experiences, like for example struggles of being a college student or perks of being born in a brown household.

   This humongous change in the communication medium presented a need for marketing to change its strategy according to the change in the mindsets and to adapt to the change in the consumer language i.e. of the Millennials and generation Z. Businesses actually have taken to using memes as an attempt to increase publicity and also promote the sales of their company since memes have the ability to go viral and that is exactly what every business dreams of.

    In today’s world memes carry a lot of power. People might not always agree with the context of a meme but that won’t stop them from spreading globally.