Oblivious Memer
When I started thinking about memes, I thought I didn’t interact with them very often. I don’t spend much time on social media (I just read a lot of books) and didn’t really engage with many in my day-to-day life. The more I’m learning, the more I realize that memes are much more than just images with block text, as I previously thought. They can be anything, so long as it’s an imitation of an original.
Looking back on my life, there are trends I participated in without realizing I was creating a meme in the process. An awareness of this has helped me understand the ways that I engage with content and shown how easily transmissible memes can be.
Here are two examples of long-ago memes that I didn’t realize were memes at the time:
- ALS ice bucket challenge (2014): Find my video here. Later in life, this disease would greatly impact my family, so I am grateful to have participated in this to help spread awareness and raise money.
- Gangnam Style (2013): A wedding I was in chose to re-create this dance with their bridal party.
Your Turn: What Memes Did You Unwittingly Recreate?
I’d love to hear, what are some memes you’ve created without realizing you were doing it? Feel free to share the photos/videos and post to the comments below.
