Isn’t it beautiful that millions of strangers across the globe can look at the exact same absurd and context-free image and collectively feel in on the joke? That is the power of memes.
Recent studies show that sharing these hyper-specific and weird memes triggers an instant sense of social belonging.
A survey found that Gen Z and Millennials use abstract visuals as emotional shorthand to stay connected without the pressure of actual small talk. In fact, the frequent use of memes is linked to stronger intimacy and better relationship maintenance.
Memes are like their own kind of language that can cross cultures and bring people together.
These shareable images and jokes can help people express themselves, connect with others, influence opinions, and even make a point about politics or society.
Internet memes are a “sort of a ready-made language with many kinds of stereotypes, symbols, situations. A palette that people can use, much like emojis, in a way, to convey a certain content,” says Paolo Gerbaudo, director of the Centre for Digital Culture at Kings College London.
Internet memes “are one of the clearest manifestations of the fact there is such a thing as digital culture,” he adds.
The word meme was actually coined way back in 1976 by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. He was trying to explain how ideas spread from person to person, kind of like how genes spread in your body.
He took the word from the Greek because it meant “something that gets copied.”
Today, memes are pictures, phrases, videos or other artifacts that get shared and remixed on social media.
They basically compete, reproduce and evolve just as genes do, and only the strongest survive.
On the surface, memes just look like simple, light entertainment — a quick way to scroll through funny text, goofy images, and silly videos. They give us a perfect excuse to procrastinate and clear our heads for a few minutes in the middle of a chaotic day.
But if you look a little closer, you realize we actually see our own lives reflected in them.
Experts point out that when you share a meme that perfectly captures an exact mood or awkward situation you’ve experienced but could never quite put into words, it does something powerful. It instantly relieves stress and makes you feel less alone by reminding you that someone else out there completely gets it.
When your brain turns to mush from endless emails and back-to-back meetings, you don’t need another productivity hack. What you need is a fast and painless break from reality, and that is exactly where random memes come to the rescue.
Recent data shows a massive 119% jump in meme usage on professional platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams. Over half of all digital workers (52%) explicitly rely on memes to chat with their colleagues, the study showed.
Think of memes as replacing the traditional water cooler chats, especially when more and more people are working from home now.
Just looking at and sharing memes has proven to be a highly effective and incredibly healthy way to boost your brainpower and lift your spirits.
A study found that people who viewed memes experienced an immediate surge in positive emotions like amusement and calmness.
More importantly, the data proved that looking at these funny graphics gave people a massive boost in their own confidence to handle daily life stressors.
The study was done during the pandemic, and it found that people who viewed memes with COVID-19-related captions reported lower levels of COVID-related stress.
“What we found was that if you viewed memes, you were in a better mood which made you feel more confident in your ability to cope with life during the pandemic,” said Jessica Myrick, professor of media studies at the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications.
She added that “memes, particularly those that relate to a highly stressful context, may help support efforts to cope with the stressor.”
