I don’t understand memes. Are they supposed to be jokes? They can’t be jokes because they lack a punchline. And jokes are supposed to be funny, and from what I’ve seen memes really aren’t that funny. So what is the point of a meme if not to be funny? Is it to be tastelessly regurgitated to the point that any possible charm or humor from it has been completely absolved? Why exactly are these memes so captivating to so many people when they are so utterly devoid of humor and wit, and are spammed into oblivion?

The meme community can be pretty shitty. Recently, the Youtuber “Behind the Meme” did a video on the “Woah” meme and he got doxxed. If you aren’t familiar with Behind the Meme, he’s a Youtuber who explains popular memes to people who are curious about the origins of the meme. He got doxxed for explaining a stupid ass internet joke that wasn’t ever funny to begin with. It’d be unfair to paint everyone in the meme community as assholes because that’s far from the truth. But it’s the vanity and stupidity of the content that spews from that community that just boggles my mind. I’ve seen one person claim that memes are the only things that are keeping some people from killing themselves. That has to be the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard. I hope he was being sarcastic, because that’s fucking pathetic if that’s actually the case for some people. Some people in that community are so defensive of their memes. They resent “normies” because they think that’ll they will just kill the meme. Who fucking cares? It’s a fucking internet gag that has more than likely already been run into the ground by the time a “normie” discovers it and “kills” it. I read a comment that claimed that memes are a part of “outsider culture” and that normies should fuck off and leave them alone. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. The only possible manner of which these “memers” can be narrowly regarded as outsiders is that they are probably not popular at school. Congratulations, most people fucking aren’t as well and that doesn’t make them outsiders. They have no fucking clue what being an outsider entails. Being an outsider doesn’t simply involve liking something that normal people don’t know about.

Memes are just not funny. Crash Bandicoot saying “Woah” to the beat of Redbone is not funny. Being an “ironic” racist edgy twat is not funny. Being a nihilistic douche and wanting to chug bleach is not funny. Putting 20 filters on Peter Griffin and writing incoherent gibberish is not funny. Instagram memes are pretty fucking awful too, but I think most people recognize that. I’d rather get tagged in the dumbest bottom of the barrel instagram meme than have to watch a cyranek or grandayy Crash “woah” video. I’d rather be a normie than be a “dank memer”.

What I really hate the most about meme culture is not how unfunny it is, how toxic the community is, or how repetitive it is. It’s that it’s fucking everywhere now. It has permeated our culture and you see memes being utilized for marketing sakes. Wendy’s twitter page is always trying be hip and cool, so it’s gotta use trendy memes to win us over. Everyone’s trying to use memes to appeal to the masses, and it’s fucking annoying. I would honestly prefer memes to actually be an outsider thing so I’d never ever have to see them. So I’d never have to see celebrities or businesses pander to the lowest common denominator.

I don’t think I’ll ever understand meme culture. And I’d honestly prefer to keep it that way.