The internet and social media have unleashed a flood of information, causing a significant problem: there's way too much of it for us to pay attention to. Our world is drowning in content, and it's getting harder for ideas and inventions to stand out.
Your daily struggle is to assert your narrative.
Have you ever wondered why your social media posts fail to attract people while others steal the spotlight? You're sharing your thoughts and creations, and few are paying attention. It's frustrating when your message lingers in the shadows, your products gather dust, and your vision stays out of sight. Without a solution, your voice remains silent, your efforts yield disappointing results, and your potential stays hidden. It's time to rewrite that story.
A solution I propose is memes.
Why Memes?
Memes are a hit for bonding with the internet-savvy, younger crowd. They grew up amid information overload, and because of that, nonsense overload too. So they honed the skill of filtering. That's why they like short content! My little sister, for example, skips films, opting for movie summaries and synopses because it saves time and is quicker to gulp down.
What separates top-tier short-form content from low-tier one? The answer boils down to memes. Memes are nifty, relatable bundles packed with information, tales, and values. A picture is worth a thousand words, and memes are simpler. A flash at a meme, and voilà! Your brain buzzes with a thousand words and feelings, making memes go viral easily.
Check https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/popular/. If you're familiar with multiple memes from the site, it's proof that memes spread and are memorable.
9GAG, for example. They crafted a lively hub where people craft and share their own memes.
All of mainstream chatting apps are allowing everyone to express themselves through memes.
Games like Fortnite and Genshin Impact also used a lot of memes. Raking in billions of dollars. For more discussion about this check out "How Genshin Impact Rakes in $1 Billion USD Every 6 Months".
Elon Musk, Mr. Beast, PewDiePie, and more influencers have used meme power to speak out and shape the public's view.
Consider the case of Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 election. Trump's campaign used memes as a tool to engage, persuade, and mobilize his audience. His team and supporters used internet culture and humor to create memorable and shareable memes. Memes helped build a strong online community and shape the narrative around his candidacy. You can see the traces on social media, especially on Twitter and 4chan.
Governments use memes too! Taiwan adopted a "humor over rumor" strategy to counter COVID-19 misinformation using memes. The government used an interesting unit of measurement: "For outdoors, you have to keep two shiba inus away, and for indoors, you have to keep three shiba inus away". Audrey Tang, Taiwan's Digital Minister, said "We fought off the pandemic with no lockdown and the infodemic with no takedown".
How effective is it? Back in 2020, Taiwan had 799 cases of COVID1, a relatively small count when measured against its population of 24 million. The impact of the pandemic on Taiwan was milder compared to the majority of other nations.
How to Seize the Memes of Production
1. Be relatable. To seize the memes of production, you need relatability. Stay savvy, stay in the loop (with your crowd), and understand what's relatable. Doge conquers people's minds using a cute dog—a creature the majority of humans want to protect.
2. Be yourself and be personal. People relate to genuine people. A founder's personal social media accounts beat a business account at influencing people.
3. Be absurd and to the point. Never underestimate modern human intellect. We're in an era of information, the majority are informed people. When communicating, use relatable keywords or symbols packed with information, tales, and values. And assume your audience will understand.
If I were to say "money printer go BRRR," I assume you understand what I mean, which is the Federal Reserve printing money to prop up the bond market in an attempt to prevent an economic downturn.
Throw away the formalities! Your crowd must grasp what you're trying to say in less than 10 seconds.
Potential Risks
Meme usage carries risks. I divide it into three main risks:
1. Accidental
Memetic engineering is watching and figuring out how people behave, picking out specific memes, and sharing memes to influence behavior. It's not always a conscious plan to change how people act; sometimes it just happens, like when actions are watched, spread, and copied. What's meant to be funny might accidentally reinforce negative behavior.
School shooter meme, for example:
The person who first created the above meme thought it was a funny joke. Some people use it to laugh to cope with tough situations or simply because they have a taste for dark humor, as the creator intended. But some people find it offensive, and to others, it could make the idea of school shootings seem cool and funny. The danger with memes is that they spread fast, and the value inside can become accidentally blurry.
2. Intentional
Memes themselves are neutral; they're building blocks of ideas. When a new meme enters, it evolves based on who adopts it, internalizes it, and reintroduces it into society. The "who" could be anyone—regular people, heroes, or villains.
3. Self-harm
Richard Dawkins, in 1976, said about memes competing for attention—just like natural selection. Only the fittest memes survive, akin to the fittest genes. Using dead memes is awkward. Using a hot meme oddly, it'll miss. Have you seen Boomer using memes for ads? It's painful to watch and leaves a bad taste for the brand.
The above video and its comment section explain what I'm talking about.
The Takeaways
In the age of information overload, attention has become scarce and valuable, which forces you to communicate as efficiently as possible.
Memes are a powerful tool, as they demand minimal attention, are easy to understand, and are memorable.
To use memes effectively, use three key principles: be relatable to your audience, be authentic and personal, and be absurd and to the point.
Use memes responsibly to avoid potential risks such as accidentally or intentionally reinforcing negative behavior or embarrassing yourself.
Cases experience a swift upturn after 2020 due to: the emergence of a new variant, Taiwan's preference to develop its own vaccine rather than rely on foreign sources, and due to the reopening of the economy (which is a good decision). Also at that time, you could observe folks in Taiwan showing a greater sense of leniency, likely stemming from the usual small number of cases, which contributed to the increasing number of cases.