Meme Report 3/9
I Write This Newsletter, Eager to Debate
Tumblr
Boy oh boy man oh man, the times they may be changing. This week we have two. TWO tumblr memes. (Two of them).
Live Slug Reaction
This one comes from a tweet originally, but of course the little gay people on tumblr took this and ran with it. It’s the kind of mid level editing that is almost a prerequisite for tumblr users. It also the kind of language we love. It’s got slugs (we love woodland creatures, very cottage core) and gay couples. There’s also the thing we can’t seem to shake of reveling in the disapproval of gay relationships. Which is fine if you’re a real gay person dating another real gay person, but gets more annoying the further you get from that premise. I.e. making the meme about two fictional characters who aren’t gay in any kind of cannon. But the live slug reaction is a hit with everyone and spreading to twitter. I like it for it’s nostalgia factor. It feels like an old tumblr meme and maybe at the heart of a coming revival. We seem to be getting restless on our current apps and are looking for something more and different. There’s nostalgia for the 2014 tumblr era and a longing to return to the old ways. Could be…. Who knows…
My Brother In Christ
This one has really taken off outside of tumblr and I love it so much. I love when the internet gets a little religious and weirdly formal, especially as a way to insult somebody. Very, “all due respect, which is none.” No matter how petty or simple the argument is, hitting someone with a “my brother in christ” will always add a fun element. It lacks the obvious condescension of my sweet summer child or the vitriol of calling someone an idiot. It makes me think of two monks arguing, or Martin Luther banging his 95 theses on the door. My brother in Christ is at its heart an acknowledgment of our humanity but also an acknowledgment of our ability to approach divinity. My brother in christ, to err is human, to win an internet argument, divine.
I went to college…
Another day another fucking New York Times article about free speech on college campuses. We get one every three months, they’re useless and stupid but this one was more fun because it was written by an actual college student and not a 50 year old conservative who’s mad their idiot children aren’t getting good grades in sociology 101. The well connected nerd who wrote this is so easy to make fun of and so make fun of her we did. There’s nothing better than dunking on a nerd, especially someone who is a nerd in college. That’s on you. The most traction we can get out of a headline like this and have a little fun doing it. We can hope that this is the end to the free speech on college campuses debate but, I know it’s not. Let’s hope next time if we ignore it will go away!
TikTok
If you are an avid TikTok user, I’m sure this week your FYP was full of drama about ModernWarrior and Chelsea Hart. It’s long and complicated and I can’t get into it here. But I will be getting into it on my close friends instagram story, so subscribe now and get all the juicy details as well as my takes there. If you are a subscriber and not on the close friends instagram story, DM me (or reply to this email with your instagram handle) and I will fix that!
I’ve been thinking about this all week, but why are there no repeats for the trauma dumping TikToks? Why aren’t we seeing people who we know because of their trauma pop up again and again on these trends? There’s certainly people we know on TikTok because of the things they are going through but why do they never seem to capitalize on these trends and why are the people who went viral once for a previous trauma dump trend, not going back to the well? The internet has a short memory and people need to constantly re-up their notability. If I had to guess I would say that it’s because these trends do more harm than good to the poster and they see that it’s not worth repeating. It has to be that because there’s no way people decided that milking their trauma for views is gauche and not to do it anymore. Anyway the longer this trend goes on, the worse it gets. Pack it up.
God, I love these memes. I love the “that girl” trend and when the corporate skin care girlies try to romanticize maturity. They’re incapable of being funny and actually cool so they have to make their ability to be good at their job their personality. I’ll be honest I need a little bit of aspirational “that girl” content to get me out of bed sometimes but any more than that and I can feel my brain start to atrophy. It will never not be funny to me to watch these girls pretend that they’re at the height of maturity because they work 18 hours a day and spend the rest of the time doing elaborate beauty routines in the name of self care. It’s so great that they’re starting to hate hangovers and staying out late and eating greasy food but even Gwyneth Paltrow has a cigarette every now and then! Live a little!
We are constantly on the look for symbols and signs that tell us what exactly someone is all about. I love learning new ones. This trend is great and I’m not usually one to say that the girls are doing it better but the girls are doing it better! The men are doing ok, especially if they are celebrating the hoe symbol but most of the the time they’re just being misogynistic about things girls like. The girls however are teaching me things. I am surprised every time I watch one of these videos to learn what makes a straight man a hoe. Film photography? A mullet? Various other actroument? Whatever it is I’m happy to know so when I see them in the wild I can spot them.
Another sound with bad audio quality. It’s so quiet and impossible to hear and I personally don’t like how wet the knife sounds. All that for a trend that’s not that interesting or deep or fun or insightful. Just simply saying something that makes you sad. For some people that’s all they can muster to say about something. Which is fine, they just shouldn’t get to make a whole trend about it.
As someone who has always been very removed from tumblr, love this week’s dip into those water. Had no idea things like that were happening over there.