Memes

How does each meme relate to your topic and target audience?: The first meme that represents fashion is a meme about what people are wearing during the coronavirus. During this time, many people are struggling to look fashionable and especially comfortable at the same time. I found this to relate to my topic because it is very relevant, as many fashion trends have been focused around sweatpants and comfortable clothes these days, rather than leather leggings and jeans. Many people even feel as though they look trendy in these outfits, and it may not look the way they think they do. This also helps to relate to my target audience because my audience is interested in fashion, no matter what time of year it is. I think it is important to highlight a fashion situation that many people especially college students are feeling these days. With many students having their clothes and belongings still at school, we don’t have many other options besides sweats, and that is okay. Why wear jeans all day when you can wear cute and trendy sweats. The second meme I found is a meme about Yeezy’s sneakers. Yeezy’s are a staple fashion sneaker, yet very expensive. I found this meme relevant to my topic because they are fashionable, comfortable, and very in trend. However, I found it funny how someone made the meme relating this trend to making these shoes out of a Nerf football. One thing with fashion products is that some of them look odd and sometimes are considered fashion for some, while others do not get it at all. I find Yeezy sneakers to be very in trend and I know that many of my followers like they way they look as well. You can pair them with jeans, sweatpants, leggings, shorts, so many different products in order to make your outfit look complete and stylish. These are the perfect shoes for giving your outfits that final touch that it will need while looking stylish, yet comfortable as a college student sitting through hours of classes. The third meme that I found also relates to fashion during the Coronavirus outbreak and quarantine outfits. Here, the image is focusing on the woman in the black sweatshirt, leggings, and running sneakers. Even though these are basic closet essentials, she is still making it look stylish and comfortable. The sweatshirt she is wearing is a brand called Tna. This is a brand that makes very comfortable, yet stylish activewear and loungewear. Adding a sweatshirt like this to leggings, is the perfect outfit for quarantine. During times like this, yes it is important to stay true to your personal look, however, I find it even more important for people to make do with what they own and by what is comfortable for them. Classic black running sneakers are also something that can help complete your outfit. There are some days where I just want to wear sneakers and workout clothes, and I feel that black sneakers always help to complete the look. Each of these memes that I highlight, each provide my target audience with comfortable, yet trendy clothing items and accessories, however, it also gives them ideas about what they can wear while they are around the house during quarantine and social distancing.
In Davison’s framework, what are the ‘ideals’ of your chosen memes? (Cite Davison): When reading Patrick Davidson’s article, “The Language of Internet Memes,”, he describes the various features of memes and why they are created. It is important these days that memes are easily accessible, creative, and easy adaptable based on what people want to use them for online. The memes that I have chosen have various cultural ideas as well as behaviors that are accurate to what is current in the world today. According to Davidson’s article, “There are numerous online sources that describe Internet memes as the public perceives them, but none does so in an academically rigorous way. Given this, I have found the following new definition to be useful in the consideration of Internet memes specifically: An internet meme is a piece of culture, typically a joke, which gains influence through online transmission,” (Davidson, pg. 122). This is important to understand the “ideals” of the memes I have chosen because they are all memes that have gone viral on the Internet, while also following trends that are occurring online. First, I found all of my memes to be a joke. They all took situations in the real world and transferred them to relatable templates. With that being said, each of them can help to relate to thousands of people in different ways. The first being, that quarantine outfits and loungewear has taken over the Internet. Two of my chosen memes are about this topic and help to express the importance of it in today’s world. Additionally, the meme about Yeezy’s follows this ideal as well because Yeezy’s are a very popular sneaker however, many people to find them “too trendy”, which has led to the creation of this meme, the shoes looking like Nerf footballs. Another ideal that is being conveyed through these memes are the concepts, which I have described earlier, (Davidson, pg. 123). Much of these concepts are topics that everyone on the Internet can relate to in some way. These images have been adapted and replicated in a variety of ways in order for it to spread on the Internet. While using the meme database, I saw various memes with the same images in order to convey a very funny storyline, that would spread the Internet. Each of these memes have done that, following this ideal.
What are the “behaviors” of your identified memes? Where do they originate, and how do they spread? (Cite the Know Your Meme database): When looking at my first meme titled, “Coronavirus Apocalypse Outfits Expectations vs. Reality- pretty much,” it came from a thread of memes that talk about Coronavirus outfits and its expectations versus the reality of how people look in them, (Know Your Meme). Additionally, the behavior of this meme is to relate to others during the Coronavirus pandemic. The image has the tags of “the matrix, trinity, pajamas,” (Know Your Meme). This helps to show how they wanted it to spread online, by having people use these various tags to gain traction on this meme image. A meme like this spreads because it is to relatable at the moment but it also offers a lot of humor to the people viewing it. When looking at the second meme I chose about Yeezy shoes originated from Instagram. According to Know Your Meme’s website, “On June 27^th 2019, yeezymafia posted an image of Kim Kardashian West with her daughter North West in new Yeezy prototypes to Instagram. The image received over 80,600 likes in three months,” (Know Your Meme). Content like this spread so fast because it involved celebrities and about a brand that people are obsessed over in the fashion world. The behavior of this meme is to show people’s reactions to the new design and to what people compared them to. Lastly, the third meme about the girl in the sweatpants and sweatshirt in the airport during Coronavirus. I found this to relate to my topic because it was a trendy comfortable “quarantine” outfit look. According to Know Your Meme, the origin is “although many people online referred to a Coronavirus vacation when speaking about being quarantined in their home. On March 5^th 2020, Twitter users began commenting on the trips they would take due to cheap airline tickets. That day, Twitter user @DijahSB posted an image of Tom Holland looking concerned on a flight with the caption, ‘me after hearing someone cough on my $8 round trip flight to Italy’ The tweet garnered over 411,500 likes and 83,700 retweets in six days,” (Know Your Meme). Even though this is not a meme of Tom Holland, it spread based on the topic it is about, traveling during the Coronavirus outbreak. The behavior of this image is to be a cliché and to relate to what people are going through during the pandemic and traveling.
What are the “manifestations” of your chosen memes, and how are they different from other possible manifestations?: According to Davidson’s article, “the manifestation of a meme is its observable, external phenomena. It is the set of objects created by the meme, the records of its existence. It indicates any arrangement of physical particles in time and space that are the direct result of the reality of the meme,” (Davidson, pg. 123). I feel that the manifestations of these memes are the individual images itself. I feel this because these images were replicated in numerous ways and elements when searching through the meme database. However, I find them to also be different from other manifestations because even though the words changed on various memes, the subject still stayed the same. When looking at the meme I am sharing in regard to quarantine outfits. The same images were used, with the same subject ideas, however, the words were different, creating a different funny outcome to the meme and idea it presents. Additionally, the manifestations of my chosen memes are also the viewing and linking of the meme, as well as saving and reposting it.
Conclude by considering how the specific manifestations you have chosen can appeal to your target audience.: When understanding my memes and the manifestations behind them, I feel that my audience will best relate to the ideal of each of the memes. The ideal expresses the particular concept and idea that is being conveyed in each of the memes. Each of them are based on fashion and are on topics that can easily relate to and find interesting. With that being said, this specific manifestation helps to create a funny image about the ideals of these memes, making them even more interesting and appealing to my target audience. My goal in creating these memes was to find ones that my target audience could relate to and also understand, which I have accomplished.