Nick Sallman
Mr. Reuter
Economics
20 Dec. 2016
The Economy of Memes
The definition of Meme or memes is “an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation. a humorous image, video, piece of text, etc. that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users” (Google Dictionary). The popular memes are changing frequently as Demand for new memes increase the supply of new memes flow strongly. A popular location to view memes in social media where you can typically find thousands of memes per day. Recently the trending meme has been the Bee Movie where the joke is the entire bee movie but with a twist. This is another meme over here ----> where the Rock is displayed several times buttoning his sleeve. Memes typically don’t involve logic they just have some sort of pun or joke hence the bee movie taking all the fame. Another meme that has been very popular is one that most know and love that is sadly beginning to die. This meme is known as Harambe. Harambe was a gorilla that died because of a parent that let their child fall into the gorilla exhibit at Cincinnati zoo. These memes are not so much jokes, these ones serve as a tribute to our Harambe. Harambe memes are one of the most popular memes I have seen and one of the most long lasting starting On May 28th, 2016 the day of Harambe’s passing. This day meme artists took the opportunity cost to create Harambe memes in honor of the Fallen Harambe. While I understand the Harambe is sad for many lovers of nature out there it has been about 7 months since his passing and he’s still managing to make it on to popular meme pages if this isn’t dedication to honoring a fallen Harambe then I’m not sure what is. Now you may be wondering “what do Memes have to do with economics?” well my colleagues Memes are very similar to buying and investing. Much like investing you choose to create a Meme at the best possible time in order to gain the most popularity for your Meme thus the opportunity cost of a meme is implemented. Another thing about memes no matter what the meme there is always a substitute for a meme with another pun giving you hours of endless comedy or excitement. The meme market is an open market and always has opportunities to join. A Meme is more than a simple joke a meme is a work of art. Memes can display a comical situation, a fallen Harambe, A jerry Seinfeld movie, and many other subjects. Without memes our society would be a very bland and boring place to live. There are many benefits to having memes in our world and thus Memes have brought us to the place we live today. If you ever get bored simply look up memes I can promise you will not be disappointed the search is definitely worth it 
Cited Sources
- "Google." Google. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2016. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&%3Bion=1&%3Bespv=2&%3Bie=UTF-8&%3Bsafe=active&%3Bssui=on#q=definition%20of%20memes&safe=active&ssui=on
- "Meme Center - Largest Creative Humor Community." MemeCenter. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2016. http://www.memecenter.com/top/daily
Reading the title I thought this was going to be a bit of a joke, but honestly was very well done, I think it was a great idea to take something mindless and turn it into an intellectual topic. It was factual and thorough and was interesting to read. Good job!
ReplyDeleteMight be the most interesting piece I have read all year. Comparing memes to economics was different than every other piece where they had something with an economic impact. Memes come and go a little faster than investments but the idea is the same. People make memes for enjoyment and the best ones often provide laughter to many people. In that regard it is similar to a product but no one pays for memes. One day companies will create memes for advertisements to get their name around fast as memes keep coming more and more popular.
ReplyDeleteFirst off thank you for choosing such a strange topic to write you blog comment on. But memes don't have anything to do with economics. True they do have some similarities with economics, which I thought you did an alright job explaining, but you don't make money off of memes, nor do memes directly put money into the economy.
ReplyDeleteHello Doug, I noticed you didn't even back up your statement about memes and so I'm going to prove you wrong. Memes do in fact affect the economy. Have you ever seen a form of merchandise based off a meme Doug well guess what that makes money so your statement saying memes don't make money was in correct memes can be made into a product of advertisement which produces cash money for the economy. So before you go thinking this know that there are impacts on the economy. P.S. Doug I'm disappointed
Deletefirst off I appreciate the fact that you even attempted to connect memes to the economy because well- who doesn't love a good meme? But I would have to say that I don't see the connection of memes to the economy. I do have to admit that it was entertaining to read.
ReplyDeleteThis was definitely a very interesting topic to write about. I honestly had no idea that such things like memes could impact the economy. While seeing your side of things on memes, there is a bigger opportunity cost to look at here. Larger than Harambe. Because of the rising popularity in memes, they are all over social media and the internet many kids and teens are being influenced by them. There is a rise in stereotypical memes. The Asian dad, successful kid, or first world problems. But that doesn't take away from the main of memes which is to make people laugh. Overall it was interesting to hear your perspective on memes and the economy.
ReplyDeleteSo, I really enjoy how this topic has a humorous aspect as well as a true economical connection. Memes definitely do represent a large group of what is popular currently. Just today I've already scene one Harambe sweater as well as another meme sweater for the holidays. Memes and what is popular 100% influence what people buy. I bet recently anything gorilla related has increased in sales due to the "Harambe" meme. I would've added more memes throughout your presentation that is the only critique I have other than maybe giving more examples with numbers and real world examples.
ReplyDeleteThis is not a piece of writing. This is a piece of art. This piece describes memes perfectly. Memes are their own society, you've highlighted that. Harambe, god rest his soul, should be recognized, and you've brought attention to him. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a good job comparing two things that are like completely different, memes and the economy. I never would have been able to compare these two things. I’m sure you know more about memes than me, but I don’t really think there’s a big demand for these things. I do appreciate you caring for a fallen gorilla.
ReplyDeleteAccording to all known laws of aviation, this was an intriguing blog post. Who thinks of connecting memes to a greater global impact? This is absolutely brilliant. RIP to my boy Harambe.
ReplyDeleteWhile memes are very funny and make many people laugh, it is hard to see the correlation between memes and economics. There is a large number of memes that do circulate the internet everyday and keep the mood light. However, I do think you did a good job relating two topics I would have never thought of. The demand for memes and other forms of internet amusement must be high but I’m not quite sure if these two topics necessarily belong together. Memes are pretty great though.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a very interesting thing to write your blog about and I never would have thought that one would have been written about memes. I don't see the relevance of memes to society, but it's all in your opinion. I do think that it's a joke so, alright.
ReplyDeleteI like your choice of memes to display on the page. I had no idea that someone would have the audacity to try to write about memes affecting the economy. Then again, they got me to buy a Harambe flag, so in many ways this is relate-able to the economy. Sorry Doug V. but you are wrong. This effects the economy through the spread of ideas and merchandise, designs, T-shirts, Harambe flags. Although you could have tackled the topic a little better you have found a great topic to discuss.
ReplyDeleteGreat topic. I never would have thought to connect memes to economics, but you did so flawlessly. I never noticed how most things in life are connected to economics until now. There are opportunity costs and trade offs everywhere I guess.
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting that although memes have nothing to do with actual money, you found a way to create a economic connection to memes using a ton of economic terms. You took a topic that was not money related and somehow made it economical. One thing that you could do though to improve this is make an actual real economic connection instead of a comparison to one. You could do this by showing for example how meme merchandise such as clothing and other accessories relating to these memes affect the economy. Or maybe how these memes help social media with revenue and other economical factors. Other than this problem, it is a well-written and very entertaining blog post. However, this blog would have to get the crying Jordan face because it doesn't quite meet the criteria for an ECONOMICS blog post. Great for a different type of blog, just not this one.
ReplyDeleteNow I can see where your coming from saying that my post doesn't necessarily reference the way that memes produce money for the economy but the economy doesn't only involve cash being produced directly. For example when a song or video becomes popular that item is becoming more recognized at a extreme rate and doesn't this is in the long term cause the economy to become better this is similar to the circumstance explained in my post. I do agree that the merchandise would be a great sub topic for this post though I wish I had talked about that.
DeleteI’m not gonna lie, i’m a pretty big fan of memes. That being said, I can see where there is an economic benefit. If I laugh at a joke or gimmick for a product, i’m more likely to remember it. Companies that use up to date memes are simply using the most popular media available to them to attract my generation of consumers. A good meme could be justification for a purchase. If memes are used well they can be combined with social media advertising to be the ultimate advertising tool for the millennial generation. However, if said meme falls flat, the company could lose potential consumers. It’s a potentially dangerous tool and it can be difficult to see memes’ connection to the economy, but I think it exists. It’s rather far-fetched, but it’s there.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading this post and only reading the title it had me intrigued because I was wondering if memes had a profit or impacted the economy in any way. Throughout this post I noticed that there wasn’t much information about whether or not these memes impacted the internet but after further thought I think they probably do. First thing, does it actually cost money to make, post or view memes? I don’t believe it does, but I could be wrong. When people visit these sites that have memes on them they all have ads somewhere and when people view or see these, they can click on them bring income to the site and potentially the website for the ad. You could have gave some examples how the memes do actually have an impact on the economy instead of comparing similarities to the stocks and memes to make your point a little more clear, but overall I thought it was pretty good and an entertaining post.
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting that although memes have nothing to do with actual money, you found a way to create a economic connection to memes using a ton of economic terms. You took a topic that was not money related and somehow made it economical. One thing that you could do though to improve this is make an actual real economic connection instead of a comparison to one. You could do this by showing for example how meme merchandise such as clothing and other accessories relating to these memes affect the economy. Or maybe how these memes help social media with revenue and other economical factors. Other than this problem, it is a well-written and very entertaining blog post. However, this blog would have to get the crying Jordan face because it doesn't quite meet the criteria for an ECONOMICS blog post. Great for a different type of blog, just not this one.
ReplyDeleteNick this have been one of the most interesting blog comments I've read all semester. Your idea of connecting memes to buying and investing is interesting. When you create a meme I think you're almost investing in the chance to become internet famous and the trade off that you become internet famous with your meme or you fail miserably, because as Nick stated there's millions of substitutes making getting famous in the meme business incredibly hard. Memes are only becoming popular so if you have the opportunity to create one its like investing in your future to become famous almost!
ReplyDeleteI feel as if meme creators should be able to monetize their memes in one way or another; a reward for gaining widespread viewership or starting a major trend. There are thousands of YouTube content creators that make decent money on viewership. Why not implement the same system for meme makers who are arguably more worthy than many YouTubers of receiving compensation for their work? Maybe a little sponsorship in the corner or a quick ad before you can view the most hot off the press meme. This way there is a little extra enjoyment for the creators and an incentive to create more and more high quality content. Platforms like iFunny already use ads in-app and could boost traffic and creators by offering monetization with the money they already bring in.
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing. I would have never thought of pairing memes and the economy together. The idea that memes are in the supply and demand balance is such a creative idea with a little bit of a twist to make it relevant to this class. However, I'm not sure how I feel about it's actual prominence in the world of economics since it has nothing to do with money flow or anything financial. Although memes are great, they are more for personal enjoyment and have nothing to do with money. However, this is still probably the most interesting blog I've read all year, and I love the creativity that you had that drove you to make these unique connections. So good job.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very funny and attention catching piece. Although the two might have not connected how they were supposed to, you still made it work. It was interesting how many people demanded or made the memes for the gorilla, but this was a very interesting post.
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