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Byte-Sized Beliefs: Memes as Social Mirror
Memes may seem simple, they are anything but. They play a key role in our digital societies and cultures.
Emile was on the edge of his seat, his leg bouncing up and down with anticipation. He was sure this pick would be a good one, and if he judged the peak right, he’d make a few hundred bucks. He distracted himself for a few minutes, checked the data again and figured now was the time to sell. A click. Done. Yes! He’d sold a meme for $400 and that put him over $3K for this month!
That is part of the meme economy. Where people can buy and sell memes, turning some into NFTs on platforms such as NASDANQ, a play on NASDAQ or MemeInvestor among others. The meme economy as it’s called is an example of how memes have become firmly embedded in our digital culture.
Memes can impact the real world of trading as well. It was a meme that kicked off the GameStop trading debacle in 2021. It had huge financial implications for hedge funds and losses for short sellers. Then there was the whole NFT craze where fortunes were made and lost.
Today, memes have come to play an important role in the historical record of modern societies, with implications to not just our digital lives, but our real world lives. In a way, memes create an augmented reality of cultures which is in part how they result in real world impacts.
There have even been several lawsuits as a result of memes. Perhaps two of the best known were the creator of Pepe the frog, who was offended in how the alt-right used his frog, especially Alex Jones’ InfoWars and he won a settlement. Then there was Grumpy Cat, where a coffee company exceeded their licensing rights. Grump Cat won and he wasn’t so grumpy anymore.
Memes are complex cultural artefacts, speaking to politics, emotions, generational issues and the spread of ideas and concepts. Memes are both good and bad as any information technology is.
The Dark Side of Memes
Let’s get the darker side of memes out of the way. Perhaps the most obvious is mis/disinformation, especially in politically charged environments. State and non-state actors have long used memes to sow discontent in another…
