‘The 21st century is a digital book.’ this line from Captain America: The Winter Soldier is an apt description of the times that we live in. When the history of our era is documented, the chronicles will definitely highlight our immense reliance on the internet. There are so many aspects of the web that we know about, but few are as loved as ‘Memes’. New meme trends arise daily, but where did the meme itself originate from? While we tend to think of memes as a product of social media, the etymology of the very word ‘meme' can be traced back to the celebrated 1976 publication The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. So, the meme is almost as old as the internet itself, although it was primarily intended for the spread of cultural information. Recently, an old cartoon from 1921 resurfaced (courtesy BBC), and is being called The First Meme. But now, memes have long surpassed their original purpose; they have additionally become tools of humour by poking fun at the struggles and humdrum germane to ordinary and extraordinary lives.
Further, as our digital footprint grows, more and more areas have elapsed into the column of ‘meme material'. It may be a celebrity statement (‘struggling’ to recall one), a Twitter thread, the newest Threads thread a cartoon, a scene from a movie or even a simple picture taken at random. The new age humourists or ‘memers’ as they are known, provide our daily dose of laughter by correlating trivial incidents in our daily lives with these templates. From storming Area 51 to addressing the ‘nagarpalika’, almost every frame of our lives has been ‘meme’ified, and that gives us the sense that a lot of millennial problems are universal. In recent times, memes have even become tools of political satire, and are being increasingly employed in political campaigns as well as highlighted in Michael Bloomberg’s presidential race when he started an unprecedented endeavour of hiring memers to propel his campaign. So, can it even be considered to be ludicrous or far-fetched if the average social media junkie refer to memes as a source of news and if we are asking the bigger question, can memes be considered to be just pointless rigmarole?
However, even memes created for the purpose of entertainment have had their share of controversy and have even stoked a fiery debate on the right to freedom of speech and expression. This, in conclusion, should be a lesson in caution that rights also come with responsibilities. Through the endless vicissitudes of Internet and social media trends, there can be no unequivocal definition whether a meme can be a simple light-hearted jibe at humour or an offensive take at the matter at hand. While a dose of entertainment never hurt anyone, it is important to not get carried away, lest we forget our priorities in this highly competitive world.
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The First Meme
By:
Aroni Dipto Swami
Batch of 2026
National Law University and Judicial Academy
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