Memes were first defined by Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene; as an idea, behavior style or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture. In a micro example, a group of people at Shippensburg University begin to say “Ship Happens” and it spreads among the students and begins to be used by almost everyone on campus. That term has become a meme. On the internet, memes are created, spread, and die faster than in any other type of environment. On the internet, with the way information travels fast and indiscriminately, this type of meme continues to travel. So when someone is on the internet they are more likely than not going to experience memes and it will affect them. If they copy a meme they are acting in a way outside how they usually would, they are acting in a way that is different than their normal personality. It also puts the person in a situation. Does he try to adapt his self that uses these memes offline or does he adapt his offline self to allow more time online to act in the way that wouldn’t be normal to do offline. This is what is usually seen between active users of internet culture, a clear and distinct divide between what they do and say online and what they do and say offline. This builds an opportunity for wildly different aspects of a person’s personality or attitude to come out in ways they wouldn’t normally have an opportunity to do so. One of the aspects that allows for this is the chance for anonymity that offline doesn’t allow people to have. When you are online, unless the website outright needs your social security number to have an account, you can be whoever you want to be. You are no longer being judged by any actions besides the actions you take as your anonymous handle. That is why memes can be a very interesting way people to show off different aspects of themselves as they choose what memes they want to use or act on. People are using memes as an extension of their personality and identity and gives people an outlet in which they can act in a way free from the constraints of offline social norms. Memes allow people to show aspects of their true selves they might not normally be able to Bargh et al. (2002).
Made in China: Memes and Their Role Against Censorship
In China there is a noble beast called the grass mud horse, an animal of exceptional grace and majesty and is one of the widest spread memes on the Chinese usernet. Why haven’t you heard of this before? Well in most countries you wouldn’t need grass mud horse for the reasons Chinese users do. Grass mud horse when written out in Chinese is actually very close to a profanity involving someone’s mother. So why the subtlety when you could say it directly? Well, because of censorship laws in China, it is not possible to be able to do that without fear of reprimand. In China with the censorship law this meme, along with nine others in a made up zodiac act, as a way to counter Chinese censorship laws which do not allow profanity or any material that would question or critique the government. The great firewall, which is used to control the media and messages people are able to search and write about, cannot easily keep up with the ever-changing aspect of internet memes. If they are deciphered then memes can change and adapt till they are no longer identifiable by the government. The internet fighting against censorship came when a human rights activist named Chen Guancheng was arrested and released years later. Over 600 people took picture of themselves in glasses as a way to emulate the silenced Chen. The selfies evolved like most memes do to a different level. They “became increasingly more diverse, mutating regularly to keep ahead of censors” (Mina 2014). These people acted in ways that they would not be able to normally offline. These people shared a common goal to support and spread this activist's name and image as far and quickly as possible. When Chen was able to escape they continued to spread memes about it to encourage the social change that had begun when he had first been released from prison. For the people of China, internet memes are a way for them to express a sense of freedom that offline they might never have.
I Came Here to Laugh, Not to Feel. Humor as a Reflection of Society
In the United States and European countries we do not have the oppressive government that China does. We use memes for a different reason than deal with an oppressive government, for laughs (mostly). Yes, memes are mostly used as a form of humor to share between people as a way to unite and bridge people. It is a way of quickly telling a story of personal experiences or scenarios that many people may experience. But it doesn't mean they cannot be used as a way to poke fun or address topics that matter to the culture as can be seen in the video below as a meme that popped up after a protest at U.C Davis.
Memes are a product of the culture and help explain and assess how a culture is doing, you can see this in the wildly different uses they have in the United States and in China. Memes are an easy way to understand and explain whatever a culture is experiencing, whether it be censorship in China, abuse of power in the United States or just listening to an announcer scream about John Cena. Memes are always a product of the environment and culture in which they come from, and they act as a way to express someone's identity and culture.