Tuesday, December 6, 2011

9GAG.com => one more soul lost.

I’d like to introduce a relatively new sensation of the Internet that is addicting people from different age groups and countries: Internet Memes.

Lets start with the basics.
What is a meme?
A meme is defined as an element of a culture or behavior that may be passed from one individual to another by non-genetic means.
O.K. Then what are Internet memes?
An Internet meme is an idea that is propagated online. A meme can be a video, picture, website referencing various ideas, feelings and situations.

Making long story short: It is the new addiction of students that hinders them from starting studying .

But actually what does this website have for you inside?

9Gag.com is an open webpage for people to upload interesting compilations of images from various resources to visualize an idea or a funny situation that people can relate to.
However, trying to categorize all the memes would be arduous. But more importantly, it would be against the nature of the memes because they are unpremeditated in their nature and their sources.
Only attempting to categorize in order to express the gist of these memes, I can say there are 3 main types of memes in terms of the format:
1-Rage faces: These are small comics of some facial expressions. Some these graphics came to include some of the particular facial expressions of celebrities. i.e. Yao Ming’s “Careless” face. These are all facial expressions that people have witnessed and expressed before. Moreover, these are the expressions that the audience probably would have expressed if they were in the situation portrayed.


2- Poster formats: These are posters with an upper and a lower caption with a certain image that is well known at the center.
In some instances, the lower caption defies or provides a different view to the statement made in the upper caption, thus stimulating the brain in a way that clever jokes do. As some of these center images become more popular in the cyber-realm, people create series of that character (center image) in different situations.
3. Interesting posts: These are random images or videos from all around the globe that are deemed interesting, may it be a creative teapot design or, an everyday picture with a different caption that provides a totally new outlook on the issue. Another form that I may classify under this tittle is the form in which various scenes from movies, or pictures are compiled to provide an absurd visualization of a humorous idea or a situation.


Memes are interesting and addictive in the sense that they stimulate the brain like witty jokes do.

There are a couple of points that I’d like to highlight about 9Gag.com aside from the amusing uploads. First of all, since 9Gag.com is an open website, people can comment on them, through their Facebook accounts, and delve into an international group of people that appreciate these comics of the decade. Only to add to this, since the posts are updated relatively fast, this provides a basis for people to talk about new posts.

All in all, this is simply another platform for people to connect on a certain type interest. Moreover, since usually these memes are about generally well known topics, or situations that we also have been in or may be in, it seems interesting that we have so much common with other people around the globe about what they would do or how they would react. Here is one of the recent examples from fellow students all around the globe, sharing our distress with finals.



by Kaan Erdogdu

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