hi all, welcome to one does not simply run a meme substack, which is obviously a reference to this meme:
which eventually became a billion other versions of the same meme, such as this one:
which of course is a reference to trolling which is in itself a meme and a half but also, of course, memes transform constantly! Sometimes they even combine with memes such as this one:
which is a reference to the Scumbag Steve meme, otherwise known as:
clearly my brain is broken because at twenty-four these memes are still ingrained and I can follow it as a perfectly clear line of action.
I grew up online and therefore grew up with memes as a regular form of communication between my friends and as a tool to greater understand the ideological complexities of the world around me. Memes are able to express unique moments of multiple layers to various audiences all in a single image or concept, I’m fascinated by their impact on our culture, on myself, and on the world at large. I also believe memes can be a form of contemporary art and of psychological soothing, as much as they can recklessly be used as political campaign tools or as sneaky “user-generated content” advertising.
welcome to meme journey, future posts will go in-depth at various aspects of meme culture / its impacts on the greater society. I also plan on having interviews with meme creators I love, as well as obviously in-depth thoughts about memes from various time periods of the internet. We will see, anyway welcome.
xoxo
Erin Taylor (otherwise known as @atmfiend)