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I feel tired of memes. Your thoughts?

Overuse of memes shows a lack of maturity and originality. People hide behind memes. Memes numb vulnerability.

When we are authentic in our writing, we show who we really are. This requires the courage to be vulnerable, to show our weaknesses. People love it.

"We numb vulnerability," Brene' Brown, Ph.D., explained in her groundbreaking TED Talk, The Power of Vulnerability. "We cannot selectively numb. What happens is we numb joy, we numb gratitude, we numb happiness."

After interviewing thousands of couples in long-term, loving relationships, Brene' Brown's research boiled down to one thing:

They have the courage to be vulnerable.

Please write something original. Show who you are. People love it. Judgment stops when storytelling begins.

In my hiking stories, I write about feeling fear (crossing lively creeks on slippery logs, avalanche danger, terrifying knife-edge trails). Pushing myself to overcome fear. Having the courage to say "NO" when a situation feels too dangerous. Then feeling ashamed for being a weenie.

This is universal. Everyone feels fear and shame.

Your thoughts?

LiterateHiker 9 July 19
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34 comments

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7

I love them. They’re like political cartoons. Since I am very visually oriented, memes go right to my emotions.

7

Memes don't replace conversation, but they do enhance it. They can be both humorous and thought provoking.

And with the times we live in, sometimes the best way it speak truth to power is by injecting comedy into it.

Shame the left don't embrace that ideal.

@Seriousreason I'm left, and I embrace it.

@Seriousreason

I object to your statement that Democrats are humorless.

I often use wry humor to get my point across.

@Fred_Snerd

These are signs I made, not memes. I made up the words.

With protest signs, the message needs to be short. Lettering at least three inches tall.

@Fred_Snerd

"Omit needless words," E.B. White wrote in The Elements of Style, long considered the bible for writers. 1978.

Powerful brevity in writing did not begin with memes.

@Fred_Snerd

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

@LiterateHiker
Yes perhaps I was. Unfair.. AOC is a riot. Plus leftist , gender obsessed SJWs do inject some humour .
Even if it's at their expense.

Plus you have to admit , constructive conversation with a person from another Isle. Has pretty well been eliminated.. When nice polite Ben Shapiro offers $10.000 to his opponents favourite charity...For an hour of debate. Apparently opposing world view's . Is seen as verbal violence. Catcalls of patriarchal dominance . Oppressing the poor POC . Who if she got into the oval Office.. ( don't laugh..). Its current year.. Known in future as year of the clown 🤡🌎 It could happen. ...Bye Bye American pie... 🎸

@LiterateHiker
Dear I ask why are there verses getting flung
around. As if the almighty book of God is a defining moment in the attempt to defeat memes.
Arguably the most important book in world history because of its effect on humanity. Its power over the faithful.. So winner of the award for book of human frailties & a book capable of inducing others into building' beautiful structures to keep it in. .the goat of books.
. Jesus show us your form.. A crippled albino , trans , autistic Muslim person of colour . With cleft palate . & Ginger to boot
That would drive the left crazy. They would have to lift him high onto the totem poll of oppression..😆
Memes... Yes ... admittedly people bad mouthing them. Were the same people that rubbished the telegraph .or anything new maybe a bit crass . Forms of communication always evolve .
. Memes are a type of communication that doesn't always require words. Transcending language.. As spoken words are nullified . Now Multi lingual memes communicate the message..... Memes good.. 👍

5

My thoughts? I like memes. And I have shared ones that do expose vulnerability as well since they are related to mental health struggles. It all depends on the memes one chooses to share or pass along. I can be too verbose and some memes do a MUCH better job of making my point in a succinct way that I never could. Hence, I share the meme. If my difficulty in being succinct makes me immature, oh well. Fck it then. I shall die immature in that case. heh

5

Memes and headlines are both useful in quickly calling attention to an idea and starting a corresponding conversation. As effective as "I feel tired of memes. Your thoughts?"

Spot on. The average attention span of a typical teenager is measured in hummingbird hearbeats. Memes work ..

5

There is some merit in what you say, but that said, I can see the positive aspects of memes, as somebody who uses them a lot. First off, you can generate your own and be as creative as you want with them, both in the text and the visual. Also, their form is a kind of structural limitation similar to haiku or other short poetic forms; a good meme says much using few words. I'm not sure where vulnerability enters here--people can hide behind volumes of words just as easily as they can behind a meme.

@DharmaBum50

Being vulnerable involves sharing your feelings. When we drop the armor that protects us from feeling vulnerable, we open ourselves to experiences that bring purpose and meaning to our lives.

Brene' Brown TED Talk on "The Power of Vulnerability."

[ted.com]

Memes have a purpose. and convey a thought in a very impactful manner if well done. This can be especially true if it uses humor.
They are not a sign of less creatively or intelligence to either create them, or enjoy and share them.
It is not as if communication in memes is required.
Take it or leave it.
Even the ones arguably over-used I enjoy.
I think I will never tire of Powers Booth "Well...Bye"

@LiterateHiker I understand what you're saying about vulnerability, and I'm familiar with Brené Brown's TED Talk. What I'm saying is that both memes and long, wordy treatises can either express or hide feelings, depending on the writer's intent.

4

I don't seem to have a problem with saying what I think, actually the foot in the mouth is what happens a lot to me.

I can go with the "foot in mouth" syndrome.

You must be on target 🎯...it must work on the positive scale for you?

@Jolanta

"Open mouth, insert foot," I say to myself. "Another fine job."

@Freedompath It does, I have friends who say to me Don’t ever change Jolanta.

4

I have mixed feelings on them . Overuse can get tedious, but well placed when appropriate is nice.
I have macular degeneration ( trying to read is like trying to drive looking through a 50 year old windshield that has been on nothing but gravel roads. It's a chore, and makes proofreading my own posts a bigger chore, so please excuse my typos ).
My late Grandmother, a real live Victorian English teacher, would have been the first one to defend the use of memes and text speech as a natural progression in the expression of the English language. Text speech, with its phonetic abbreviations, is no less correct in spelling than the commonly used spellings. As she pointed out , "English is NOT a standardized language just because Websters claimed it, but in fact a phonetic one,. in fact there are as many correct spellings for a given word as there are flags under the commonwealth". She gave me, and my grade school teacher , who had been marking my spellings , largely due to my Canadian mother, incorrect., but to get back on track, she embraced most modern progressions in language and its expression as part of evolution. How many people are left on the planet who can actually read old English?
Many times in history, pictures have been used to relay information. Some written languages are based on them. As we get older ( get off my lawn 🙂 we may not like the changes going on around us, but that doesn't make them wrong..

4

I do appreciate what you share, including your vulnerabilities and failings. You have also accomplished many “good” things too. I share a little bit should share more. I was 60 years in environments where being honest was discouraged and judged.

I do repost memes when they resonate with me, but I rarely actually create them. The ones I share are ones that say what I would have said but do it, if not better, in a way that is communicates well.

@BudFrank

Thank you. I appreciate you.

4

I enjoy them because in this political climate, I need a good laugh.

4

Now this is hilarious. IMHO

4

I love memes! Mostly the funny ones. And sometimes the serious ones because they can say a lot in a few words with an appropriate image. I don’t think memes should replace discourse, but sometimes they’re just spot on.

And sometimes they just have cute animals.

4

Thus the "Literate" in your name. 🙂

I just have to give you props for that comment/meme. Brilliant.

@BestWithoutGods

Thank you.

3

First up: the way you share all your feelings here I find to be wonderful.

But to return to the matter of memes (and I will also add clichés to that): There are times a well worn theme, be it a meme or a cliché, adds a necessary nuance to my words precisely because it is hackneyed, so I have no hesitation in using them.

@anglophone

Thank you! I laugh at myself and tell funny stories like:

On May 21, I managed to lie in the only wet spot on top of a mountain. Naturally, I created the puddle. Another fine job.

Here I slammed my knees together to stay warm in freezing, violent wind. It was snowing in the Enchantments and at Stevens Pass.

@LiterateHiker I can go with that. I was riding my horse in England just after the BSE (mad cow disease) event, and I was the first along a particular bridle path after months of disuse. I had to dismount to remove a branch across the path, slipped in the rivulet, and ended up on my back looking up with water running down from my neck to my waist (and beyond!). My horse looked at me as if to say "Hey Dad, what are you doing down there?". Yes, I also laughed.

3

I can get over saturated with them. However, a lot of them get to the essence of a matter and I appreciate that. But, original thoughts from individuals, is appreciated the most.

3

I have to go with sparky, seeing them as cartoons, and cutting to the chase.

3

Being a non believer who sometimes is challenged on social media with the most ridiculous and inane arguments believers use to justify their own beliefs, I resort to memes to make a point in very few words. So no, I'm not tired of using them. Example:

3

I'm not a huge fan of hers but I saw one of her Ted talks any was able to pick out a couple of pieces of wisdom although I can only remember one now.

She said that everyone has a story that would break your heart. I suppose I was so caught up in what was going on for me at the time that it truly was a revelation that not just me and select others but absolutely everyone, at least by a certain age, has experienced something horrific outside of the normal human experience that has affected them forever. For me it was quite humbling and I try to keep that in the back if my mind at all times in order to practice compassion on a regular basis. Thank you for the reminder.

3

Sharing memes is the lazy person’s political commentary,........

3

agreed. with very very very few exceptions memes are a drag.

I avoid them like the plague...it just seems so lazy or unimaginative that people can’t think of something original to say.

@Marionville What about if the only memes you share are ones you made yourself?

@JeffMurray I don’t make any...so it doesn’t apply in my case. Good show to you if you do.

@Marionville Here are a few that I made recently.

@JeffMurray well done...I expect you hope many other less original thinkers will then share them....that’s when they become boring.

@Marionville That's the first time any of those were posted to any kind of social media (that I know of). I only make them to send to a few people. I think what I'm saying is that memes themselves aren't to blame for anything, it's just a different way to express or share thoughts. Why is quoting people or clipping out a cartoon from the newspaper to share a sentiment any different than a meme?

@JeffMurray I understand that..and I’m not targeting you in any way...you are an original, thinking and producing them, you have great talent and I hope you can make money by selling your talent in the marketplace, if you’re not already doing so. It’s just that being an older person I don’t like people who use memes habitually instead of actually saying what they themselves think and feel about certain issues or people in the news.

@Marionville I don't know that you can sell memes as I don't really know how one can make money off them. Not really worth my time to find out because I'm not prolific or good enough at it. I suppose if someone responded to everything with a picture, quote, cartoon, or even emojis, it would get old, but again it wouldn't be the medium's fault.

2

No I am sorry. Some people may not be able, willing or brave enough, to express themselves in any other way. Yet they may be the very people who need the chance to express themselves most, and are most in need of the communities support, or at least ear.

The old style over content argument applies.

What people say should not be judged by the quality of the words alone, a love poem by Lord Byron may be beautifully written, but could it ever mater as much, or try to express as much, to you as your mothers last comical birthday card she sent you before she died ?

2

After November, maybe....

@RobinGray

LOVE IT. Hilarious! Thanks a million.

2

I'm not much of a storyteller and the area I live in about the only thing I can tell you is people in trucks are stupid drivers, the larger the truck the harder time they have, a, keeping it in their Lane b, parking it in a parking space if you can't drive it don't own it.

2

I was just wondering the other day if it's possible to get a meme blocker. 99.9% of them are pathetic.

2

They are becoming useless, and mind numbing because people do not go past the meme. If it starts comments and conversations, well that is fine. I like them sometimes abhor them others. They can go either either way, kinda like using a double headed tree ax as a pendulum.(also they can be used by the "other side", no matter the side you stand with on any given situation.

A good article in NY Times LA Times , Boston Globe etc is unconsumable to some, as they are so detailed and , well really good, usually, but very very long. Meme's get a point across pretty fast , so for me they are a great starter Like a nice soup or salad before a full Italian Feast!

But the feeling that too many people don't THINK past the meme, nor do they engage in any discussion afterwards, kinda reduces the value of one.....
IMHO others may feel the need to disagree.

2

I see your point but it is not the same for me. My fear is more like apprehension and I do not feel shame. Sometimes I have idiot moments but no shame. We would all have done things differently in our past and we all should learn daily. Just today I am doing a project that changed 3 times. Now I think I'm happy with the finished project.

As for memes, some people do not get it. Most of them never will. My Texas Trumper relative reacted to a meme I posted with this ? I thought it was hilarious and posted back to her with ?? I don't think she is really stupid, it's just that she wants to debate. I don't want to debate. Neither the meme nor debating is going to change her. Memes should be obvious but not to everyone maybe. Some people are so stupid that they say outright all of this is just like apples and oranges to them. CORRECT, but an apple is not and orange and an orange is not an apple. They still do not get it.

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