Bored Panda got in touch with content creator, comedian, and broadcaster Trev Lewis for his opinion on 'no context' memes and why they're so popular on social media. According to him, you could argue that they're the "purest distillation of what a meme actually is."
"The standard definition of a meme is, 'an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme.' So, if a meme is nothing more than an image, and it's entirely up to the audience to interpret the symbolic meaning rather than offering any sort of caption or explanation, this is the very nature that memes are founded on," he said.
"It makes sense, then, that they are widely popular. If we think back to the earliest popular memes, stuff like the 'I Can Has Cheezburger?' cat, they were basically inside jokes for the terminally online. As the internet became more mainstream, so did memes, but it wasn't that long ago most people weren't familiar with the word and were often pronouncing it 'maymay.' There's something about an inside joke that makes people feel more passionate about it. I suppose it's the nature of exclusivity, or perhaps just the bond we feel when other people share in our niche interests."
Meanwhile, we were also curious about meme longevity, and how to achieve it. Broadcaster Trev was kind enough to share his take on this.
"The truth is there is no perfect formula to give a meme longevity. There are a couple of things that can help, though. If a meme relies too heavily on current events, its relevance will likely fade along with those events. A standup comedy routine about food can be enjoyed for generations, but a talk show monologue about this week's news is going to expire quickly. It's the same principle. Someone may be able to resurface a screenshot that contains the original context, but already you're losing people if the joke has to be explained too much," he explained to Bored Panda.
"The other thing that helps is, as this genre showcases, not relying on a written language to convey the humor. Slang is a lot like memes in that it's constantly changing and being discarded. A funny phrase today may be seen as corny tomorrow. There's also the language barrier. If an image is funny without words, that's a more universal meme than one that relies on English, Spanish, and so on. The more people enjoy and understand a meme, the more it gets shared, and the more likely it is to live on."
At the time of writing, the ‘Images With No Context’ page had 58k followers who love the randomness of the content. And so do we. The Facebook page is a great example of what many people love the most about the internet—its ability to surprise us and get us to burst out laughing!
Of course, which of the pics and memes you actually find funny will depend a lot on your sense of humor. That’s something that varies wildly from person to person.
Some people prefer their jokes to be longer and more refined. Others might love dad jokes more than anything else in the realm of comedy. However, there are still plenty of folks who enjoy the post-modern weirdness of contextless images. There’s a lot of joy to be found in being thoroughly confused and not knowing the entire story behind a pic.
Even though we all have a unique sense of humor, comedy, at its core, is about being surprised. It’s about facing the unexpected or being shown an unusual way to see the world. Something we all have in common is that we love to laugh—what’s different is how our comedy tastes have changed since we were little.
The more we’re exposed to comedy in the form of films, shows, and stand-ups, the more we can begin to refine that taste. It’s not something that’s static! Some of us used to adore telling dad jokes every chance that we got. However, as time passed, we changed and moved on to longer, more complicated anecdotes. And that’s okay!
But something that makes us laugh doesn’t have to be overly complex or elaborate. Sometimes, all we really want is to see a silly meme of a cat in a cowboy hat.
However, no context pics can be a double-edged sword. In some cases, it can make the meme backfire because the joke, the silliness, they’re all a tad too obscure. And anyone who’s done comedy professionally probably knows that if you have to explain the joke to your audience, then you’ve already lost them. The context can be important to set up the joke.
Meanwhile, some of the context for memes is something we instinctively get because of the times that we live in: we know what the joke is because the pic perfectly captures the spirit of the times. However, as time goes by, some of that historical context gets lost. That’s why not all memes will make sense to you, say, five years after they’re made. Others, however, are practically timeless because of how relatable they are, regardless of the social and historical context.
If you feel like jokes keep going over your head, however, it might not necessarily be the comedian’s fault, especially if the rest of the audience is roaring with laughter. You might need a bit more context to get why some things are funny. It’s pretty easy to do that. You can binge-watch some quality humor TV, go to more comedy shows, or even sign up for a few stand-up or improv courses. Who knows, it might be the start of your very own blossoming career in comedy!
