Memes Are Folklore
I reluctantly enrolled in a class called Scandinavian Folklore while in college.
It was January Term at my liberal arts college, which meant it was my only class for the month and lasted around 4 hours a day. I was a math major, minoring in film & media, with a preference for producing visuals over writing stories. Additionally, I was in the most demanding part of my swim season. I was not excited for this class.
On the first day, I made my way to a desk in the back corner, and immediately the professor began the class with a lesson on the history of folklore. To me, it all sounded like the teacher from the Peanuts cartoons.
Womp womp womp womp
“Memes”
Womp Womp
Wait a minute. Memes?
“And therefore, memes are folklore!” he said.
Alright, sir, now you have my attention. My inner 8th-grader obsessed with Vine and who ran a meme Instagram account was immediately hooked.
Folklore & the Origin of Memes
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture, or subculture. Usually, we think of myths and legends, proverbs and poems, ancient oral traditions and fairy tales.
We now know that folklore includes jokes (for instance, the dad-kind) and “When I was your age, I walked to school in 3 feet of snow, uphill BOTH WAYS.”
And, memes.
Folklorists recognized memes as a dynamic but traditional patterned, expressive culture that we use to communicate symbolically and sometimes say serious things to one another in silly ways. They capture a shared experience amongst a group of people and change as they weave their own experiences, culture, and perceptions of the world into their new versions.
Internet users adopted the term ‘meme’ from Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist who coined the term and defined it in his book The Selfish Gene as the cultural part of our DNA, hence its derivation from ‘gene’.
Just as genes are transmitted and share information, he suggested that memes do the same thing in our brains. They jump from brain to brain; they are like ideas, concepts, trends, and sticky thoughts, and they evolve to fit their environment; and they physically exist in the brain.
I am not sure if his definition of ‘meme’ is synonymous with folklore, or if he was referring to what we know memes to mean today - existing on the internet.
What I know is the internet and social media allow us to share our common experiences with one another, to communicate with those from the other side of the planet, and maybe even to make a change in the world.
Memes & Your Business
As I work with businesses, I find it very important to align with these uses of the internet. People on social media are looking for connection, relatable stories, and inspiration. They’re not looking to be sold to.
There are many nuances to this, with the continued commercialization of social media platforms. But, when creating your own memes for your business, think about the following.
What shared experience, hardship, or accomplishment does my audience have?
What will sharing this experience do for my audience emotionally?
What am I trying to accomplish by sharing this experience? (If it is to manipulate your audience to buy, think again)
Interested in learning more about memes and your social media strategy?
