Internet Memes vs. Trolls

A true 9gagger doesn’t need further telling. If you aren’t, you must be new here.

To date, the interwebs haven’t disappointed us with what are up-and-coming or those that are sure to go viral immediately. Whether they’re videos, embarrassing celebrity photos and unaware, flailing people blogged about by some conscienceless internet junkie, etc., they make their way to the internet sensations lane, which can be a good or bad thing but usually the latter.

For instance, it’s necessary to not confuse meme for a troll and vice versa.  That’s to give you a heads up, for you’ll never know if you’re the next subject for trolling because of your not knowing.

Before these two notorious trends spread in the World Wide Web, memes and trolls were first used several decades ago.

“That awkward moment when…”

Meme is an abbreviation of the word mineme, which is derived from Ancient Greek word mimema meaning “something imitated”. British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene coined it on 1976. Simply put, it’s an incredibly amusing idea, behavior or style that gets passed by one person to another and passed on and on within a culture.

With the internet, it’s been given far more credits than that. An ‘Internet Meme’ is a word, phrase, expression, iconic imagery or recognizable reference popularized amongst online communities such as on forums or in online games. They are annoying and usually carry a vibe of geeky-ness, which rides well with annoying people who are all about nerd culture.  (urbandictionary.com)

If you’re particular with things, it’s easy to spot a meme. Since it could be anything, you’ll find that the most used and neglected phrases and styles are in fact of the said trend.

Easily recognized meme faces are Rage Comic drawings that are famous for its tag “fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu-“, socially awkward penguin, ME GUSTA guy, haters gonna hate guy and the likes.

For videos, Charlie the Unicorn is popular for the statement “Shun the non-believers!” Even Rebecca Black, singer and songwriter of the viral song “Friday”, made it as a comical meme that surfaced the web on such wide range taking her new-found fame to television, making it  (safe to say) the biggest inside joke of 2011.

Minus the unpopularity among the majority in the society, memes are practically unsung insults in a person’s head… only dressed in a new wardrobe and way of delivery.  

“When people see something they identify with, they want to share it and participate in it because they feel like they have other people to empathize with,” says Don Caldwell, one of KnowYourMemes.com experts.

Ultimately, memes are comical euphemisms and/ or heartless criticisms that have long been in everyone’s way of life. Today just is the era when an absolute mass of people do it willingly and freely.

Yet to be totally defined, its growth on every corner of the World Wide Web and its impact among avid internet users don’t limit meme propagation amid the usual media prospects.

Trolling in the deep

Trolling, however, isn’t for everyone unlike memes.  A troll requires enough intellectual understanding on such topic… or not, if you know what I mean.

In an online community, trolls are found on forums, discussion boards, chat rooms, blogs and the likes. The word troll may as well be inferred as the message itself, which functions to aggravate emotional or simply subjective responses.

An Internet slang. It may also be connoted as a person who speaks smooth sarcasm. A troll sneaks into random conversations or into those that he knows but tells off- topic statements as to make a scene—practically an oral prank—where every time, pun is definitely intended.

Literally, “trolling for newbies” is the main aim of the art of trolling. That phrase was popularized in the early 90’s by a Usenet group as to deliver a “gentle inside joke” among veterans to tease new users.

One image board website once displayed a trolling  session, 4chan.org together with Encyclopedia Dramatica, which The New York Times once wrote an article about describing it as “an online compendium of troll humor and troll-lore.”

To date, this trend has caused groupies to form seriously inclined trolling clubs. They’re basically in every social networking site you can think of. Just when you thought they’re not in there, they’d pop out and cut you out off guard. Now that you know that their agenda is to “take great delight in causing trouble,” beware.

Whether you’re a newbie on the ever isolating communities of the interwebs, keep an eye out and your mind on guard for prospects. Or else, you’ll be turning yourself victim of a social prank without noticing.

You’ve been warned.