Memes are interesting to consider becuase they change from person to person becuase everyone has a different sense of humor. The article mentions how various social structures impact which memes are most effective and will be most contagious, which is why one of the more successful memes for people my age would be FML. Not only has the phrase ”eff my life” transcended into everyday language, but it has also been plastered on t-shirts, bags and bumper stickers.
The website, fmylife.com is hilarious and is popular becuase the stories are not only (supposedly) real, but they are so relatable. It is funny when you hear about some awkward moment with your boyfriend’s parents becuase that may be something that has happened to you. People can go on and add whatever story, and then others can comment on them. It not only connects strangers and either makes them feel better or worse about their situation, but it connects friends and family becuase it allows them to share the silly stories with each other. The stories are divided into categories, which helps narrow down focus depending on one’s sense of humor, or you can just randomly search all the stories.
While there are some truly hilarious stories about simple little “whoopsie daisies” that happen to everyone at some point or another, there are also some very hard hitting anecdotes. Some make you thankful for those good people in your life and others make you evaluate your relationships. Even though it is put in the context of humor, finding out your son has an online forum for injecting oxycotin is not a silly ha ha moment. This also translate back to the variance of humor based on cultures becuase some people deal with hard topics by laughing, or at least sharing. While this site can often be inappropraite, it is also a space for people to vent and the idea behind it has caught on, which is evidenced by other sites like My life is Average and Texts from Last Night. There are books being published containing the different stories and texts. If that does not mean it is contagious, I dont know what is.
Clearly these sites are not appropriate for high school students and younger to be writing about and utilizing, but there are other ones out there and using them in an educational setting can be incredibly helpful. Giving students a goal of writing, or just trying to write, the next fad can be extremely appealing. Not only will this get them to write, but it will help them see their work as a part of the pop culture context, which is something many, if not all, teenagers are tuned in to. One of the criteria for a meme according to the article we read in class says that it has to be done with some type of online media. Students, most of them at least, are amazing with online media. It is what they know. Appealing to them with something not only related to pop culture is neat, but doing so through a medium that is not used nearly enough in schools is going to get them excited about the work. Even just getting the students to analyze memes and recognize the power they have on society is an important lesson becuase it allows them to think about the power advertising and other aspects of our world has on their lives.
