The Meme Textbook Part 2: The Language of the Internet

The Meme Format There have been a number of distinct for- mats memes have inhabited since the begin- ning of the internet. Each of them has been used to exhaustion, including a number of memes that would parody the format. Demotivational Posters The oldest format for memes is probably the “Demotivational Poster.” It was inspired by a popular format for motivational posters, which are posters that have quotes an imag- ery intended to inspire the viewer. The format was usually a black background and a centered image. Below the image was a title and subti- tle. (Fig. 48) Early demotivational posters were more strict in their layout, often using similar imagery but changing the text. (Fig. 49) As the meme progressed, the format became more lenient, with the image often being comedic and the title and subtitle serving as a punch- line. (Fig. 47) Memes are not the first con- tent to parody motivational posters. Graphic designer James Victore created a poster with the title “Let Go Kitty,” which parodied the “Hang In There Kitty” posters, which were popular in the 1980s. (Fig. 43) Although the fig. 38 18 | Part Two: The Language of the Internet format of Victore’s poster is parodying motiva- tional posters, his poster is effectively a moti- vational one because of the included copy text encouraging the reader to be brave and take changces, which sometimes include let- ting go. Following the internet’s traditional trend towards abstraction, the “Demotivational Tunnel” was created. (Fig. 42) Instead of an image, these memes would have further demo- tivational captions. These were a popular com- munication devise in forums because it was humorous to see how deep the tunnel could go while still being visible and the collabera- tion between users was enjoyable and encour- aged. This idea of nested memes has continued through the progression of meme culture. The demotivational poster was phased out as lolcats and advice animals became popular. (Fig. 40-41) fig. 37 fig. 39

The Meme Textbook Part 2: The Language of the Internet | Page 18