BBC Future points out that memes are only memes if they’re shared with others. The most popular ones are going to be focused on a topic that’s important to many people. The more relatable a post, the more likely it is to go viral. However, the BBC also notes that, at the end of the day, memes have to be fun to look at and share.
Created less than a year ago, the ‘Insane People Online’ Twitter account already has a sizeable following. At the time of writing, 89.3k internet users followed the page on the social media network.
Meanwhile, the curator of the project, content creator and meme-poster Nexqal, aka Nick, has 18.6k followers on his own Twitter page. He also runs a YouTube channel where he shares witty and chaotic clips.
According to the founder of the page, ‘Insane People Online’ is meant to showcase “people being hysterical on the internet.” And from our point of view, that’s definitely been a success. The social media posts featured on the page are far from the kind and orderly discussions many folks are probably used to. If internet comments were a radio, then the IPO project is the chaos knob turned all the way up.
The reason why people enjoy posting things on social media is because they enjoy interacting with other human beings. They want to connect to other individuals. They want to share their opinions and be at the center of attention. And they want to be respected for their insights, wit, and values.
Really, social media is just an extension of real life. However, many folks feel far more free to share their authentic thoughts on the internet because they’re anonymous/can’t see the other people they’re interacting with. However, this lack of an inner filter is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, yes, people are far more honest on social media. On the other hand, much of what they post is unedited and not everything is going to be worth other people’s time.
Random comments, uninspired updates, and bizarre takes are far more common than truly witty jokes, insightful opinions, and posts about interesting opinions. From our perspective, the ‘Insane People Online’ project is a wonderfully accurate archive of all the things that folks tend to comment on off the top of their heads. Well, that and these posts are prime examples of people writing and posting things for the sake of shock value.
