Memes | Studying a Funner Culture

I want to be a journalist. I want to be an investigative reporter, be it on television or in print or on the radio; the kind that cracks the big stories but also knows about trends and history. And yet, becoming a cultured person - at least when this involves knowing about history,about past societies and landmark events and everything in between - is a task much easier said than done.

I mean, think about it. To become one of those philosopher types that could tell you the history of any country or society off the top of his head is a daunting task, and it's also one that has the potential for being positively boring to work towards. That's why I've decided to become friendly with a different culture, one connected to the shared human experience only by mechanical and technological bridges.

I'm talking memes. Memes, or internet phenomenons, have given me a way of familiarizing myself with a culture no great philosopher has yet tackled. Fawning over everything from over 9,000 to Joseph Ducreux to Y U No to the classic Trollface/Coolface/Problem? has put me on the right track towards finally becoming an expert on something cultural, something greater than myself, something that I can have back-of-my-hand knowledge of, something that can put me on equal bragging rights as those of professors, veteran journalists and timeless reporters.

And it's easy to see why. These memes constitute a culture that is genuinely hilarious and good-spirited ... well, for the most part. It can also be crass, sarcastic, cynical and downright unpleasant. But it's a very unique kind of culture that bears no contemporary. What kind of culture have you seen where a picture of a dinosaur looking like The Thinker is common knowledge? Where a comical picture of a Renaissance-era artist produces instant LOLs when accompanied by wordier versions of 21st century sayings?

It's a very unique culture, one that I'm glad to be on the way to becoming professionally familiar with. My research in the field of Internet cultural phenomena shall continue.