Making memeories, Unboxing memories ๐ญ
My takes on memes as a religion, being written about in a book and more
Hello again! Itโs the 13th!
I am gonna keep this edition short - as I will be writing a long-ass year end message on the 31st. Stay tuned for that! :)
How have you been? Howโs December treating you?
Are you over Spotify Wrapped, Looking like a wow and other memes/trends?
What do you feel about memes?
I feel like they have become an integral part of your life - Roti, kapda, makaan, internet, memes.
We canโt deny that memes are all around us. From social, to LinkedIn, (In know right!) to hoardings and conversational references. I remember myself saying โlooking like a wowโ in min 10 interactions.
Thereโs a legit official designation called Chief Meme Officer at Slice. I am not lying.
Anyway do you know what โmemeโ means? Hereโs the etymology:
Meme is a unit of cultural information spread by imitation. The term meme (from the Greek mimema, meaning โimitatedโ) was introduced in 1976 by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his work The Selfish Gene.
Memes arenโt just for laughs and branding strategies. They're actually shaping how we act, what we think, and the way we talk about what's going around us. I have seen so many Modern Family and Brooklyn 99 memes that I feel like I know the entire plot/story now, without watching a single episode.
Memes are like the inside jokes of the internet, referencing pop culture and shared experiences that bring us all together. They do influence, knowingly and unknowingly - the way we behave, pushing certain attitudes or ideas.
In politics and social movements, they're like the secret sauce for spreading messages and getting people to pay attention.
I am proposing - MaaR - Memes as a Religion.
I guess the internet will accept it in a split second!
Jokes apart, like literally, memes are changing the way we talk, think, and connect with each other. Language has been severely impacted, I must say. Meme-ing out loud for โgoing viralโ is in vogue too. Seeking popularity/fame and creating content to be meme material. And the probability of unknowingly becoming a meme is high as well.
We are sharing more memes than making memories with our friends. Uff, thatโs a strong statement.
The internet has become a global hangout spot where we all โget the jokeโ - creating a shared global experience with common reference points.
Thereโs a significant downside too. Making memes on serious, critical topics does get out of hand every now and then. And of course, thereโs freedom of speech and no way to regulate it. Thereโs a thin line between insensitivity and dark humor.
Sometimes, the lines get so fuzzy that people end up unintentionally offending others, sparking a debate about the ethics of humor in this digital era.
What does it leave us with? Let me know what you think.
๐๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ
Exactly 2 years ago Malini Goyal and I connected via Twitter for her debut book "Unboxing Bengaluru ~ The City of New Beginnings" just after my book Orenda's release. We spoke for hours and exchanged umpteen notes about life in the city. She has covered my life's journey in her labour of love - UnboxingBLR.
๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง ๐ซ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ฌ 156 ๐ญ๐จ 163. ๐
The book has been co-authored by Prashanth Prakash, Founding Partner at Accel and published by Penguin Random House India with a foreword by Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, and endorsements by Nandan Nilekani, Azim Premji, Nikhil Kamath, Anil Kumble, Kunal Shah and others.
Inkspirations this month
A brief history of fonts - It all started way back in the 11th centuryโthe burgeoning days of printing.
So, Christmas gift-giving has been around forever, right? But, get this, folks attribute the birth of Secret Santa as we know it to Larry Dean Stewart, the undercover Santa Claus. He started slipping gifts to people on the down-low, making the holidays a sneaky surprise party.
Its the season of completing all tasks at hand, getting things done, adding a calendar invite for packing your bags (thatโs a reminder for myself) and bask in some winter mirth with friends and fam!
And of course, write your year end notes, and new year goals/resolutions! :)
Keeping it raw -
Until the thirteenth thirty first,
Writeously yours,
Shalaka Kulkarni