What Makes a Meme Successful?

 Is it the shares? The content? What is it?

Shifman (2013) believes that it is the “six Ps” in which dictate which mems go viral or not. What are these mysterious six Ps that are here to help us crack the code? She says it is simply: “positivity, provocation of high-arousal emotions, participation, packing, prestige, and positioning” (Shifman, 2013, p. 66). It seems almost too good to be true, right? Well, what if I told you there is a lot more at play here than what meets the eyes?

The meme of the Week

Credit: x

This young man is from the comedic television show Wonder Showzen that aired from 2005-2006 on MTV2 (S, 2017). The child (name not disclosed) watched a clip by the showrunners, and this was his reaction to it immediately.

This meme is more famous as gif perhaps, but it is also known as a stock image (which is something I discussed last week). The meme was started going viral a few years later in 2008, and then the rest was history. That’s Racist! meme went viral in helping Reddit, and Tumblr users decide if something was racist but usually has a humorous twist on the situation when the meme is involved. Also, the meme inspired the band Das Racist’s name!

Examples of Meme of the Week

Credit: X
Here we see some stereotypes being portrayed, attacking the
African American community. 

                                                                                                                      Credit: X

                                                                                            Here we see the meme calling out acts 

                                                                                            against the Asian community.

Credit: X
Here we see a real example of racism from a major clothing brand. 

Do the six Ps really work with the Meme of the Week?

Why, yes of course it does! Come on now! Would I ever lie to you? Fine! Let me break it down for you then.

Positivity

Now people are more likely to share positive things with others than negative. Internet goers want others to receive them as happy kind funny people, makes sense (Shifman, 2013). That’s
Racist! although does deal with a very sensitive topic, there is sometimes light humor found with the meme. Although, one may want to be wary of posting memes about races other than the user.

Provoking High Arousal Emotions

Shifman (2013) mentions how people will share content that sparks both positive and negative emotions. This is where I believe this meme shines the strongest. These memes are going to elicit some sort of response from those viewing it. The examples above are mild compared to some of the other ones that popped up when I was searching for models. Now is important to note that I cannot and will not react the same as someone who is African American to examples one and three because these are prejudices I have no experienced. 

Packaging

In this instance, Shifman is explaining that simple is best, it’s easy to understand and easy to share it’s more likely to go viral (2013). This image, though may pack political and social issues punch, is simple. The caption is two simple words with a clear picture! It doesn’t get easier than that folks.

Prestige

This is regarding who is involved with the content, for example, if a celebrity is involved then it is more likely to get some extra clicks than some random photo (Shifman, 2013). This meme comes from a television show, that was on a somewhat popular mainstream channel. Even though the show itself did not last long, the meme got its launch from it and is still kicking.

Positioning

For the fifth P, this is referring to the idea that where the meme is launching from and who is involved with the meme is going to impact the meme’s success (Shifman, 2013). This meme somewhat falls short of this notion, though it came from a television show and kids are cute it really does not have a lot going for it besides that. Perhaps in recent times with blatant racism being broadcasted and shared with us on all platforms the meme is touching people in a new light, but that’s even pushing it.

Participation 

The final P is not just referring to the actual sharing of the meme, but consumers going out and carrying, “out other activities related to it” (Shifman, 2013, p. 72). This meme is literally having users call out racism, thusly the meme itself is calling people to action. This meme thrives because of this idea of actively calling people out in either good fun or all seriousness.

Memetic Traits

In this last bit, I do want to focus on one last final idea, which is some of the memetic traits seen in That’s Racist! The one feature that is evident here is frozen in motion. This is described as an image that, “depicts people in the midst of physical activity such as running, dancing, or blowing soap bubbles” (Shifman, 2013, p. 92). Which clearly the image is from a video, so right there we know that it is going to be something frozen in motion. The object that is frozen is the little boy that screams the famous line.

Closing Remarks

This week has opened my eyes to what makes a meme work or fail and how it is never really that simple to be an all-star meme star! Make sure read next week’s post!

References:

S. (2017, September). That's Racist. Retrieved from

     https://knowyourmeme.come/memes/thats-racist

Shifman, Limor (2013) Memes in Digital Culture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 

     ISBN: 9780262525435