Saturday, June 18, 2011

Hash Tags And Internet Memes Are Stupid

Hash tag jokes and Internet memes. Those are getting old, and some are getting really, really old.

I've never found hash tag jokes funny, and now it's bordering on irritating. In case you don't know what a hash tag joke is, it's the supposedly relevant funny joke people put at the end of a status update or comment on Facebook, preceded by a hash (#) symbol. For example:

Feels like eating something sweet and delicious now! #HornyForChocolateBananaCake

It is completely useless and totally unfunny, mainly because people who use them are lame unfunny fucktards who saw someone do it once on Twitter and found it weirdly funny so they started doing it and can never stop. They probably laugh at their own hash tag jokes too. I admit, I took so long to understand why I started seeing hash tags after status updates and comments on Facebook. I even had to ask a friend what they meant. She said,  "If you actually used your Twitter account, you would have known that hash tags are used to categorize your tweets so people can search for them."

Which is a great idea because the world now is going at a billion tweets or so per second, so it makes perfect sense to be able to look up other people's opinions on a particular subject . But why am I seeing them everywhere on Facebook? Can you look for people status updates and comments on Facebook using hash tags too? No. So it's really just a way of integrating nonsensical Twitter function on another social network in the hope that the humour will transcend. Well, it doesn't, because I don't think it has ever been funny even when correctly used on Twitter. If these people actually knew anything about programming, they would know how programming syntaxes differ from one language to another, and it's extremely important not to mess them up because a language might not recognize the commands or functions of another language. So I think it should be the same with social networks. Anything that is intrinsic to a network, should remain intrinsic.

Internet memes on the other hand, used to be funny. But I suppose it's because I was pretty young when I discovered them and it was fun to see unsuspecting people's reactions when you used them because these memes usually make zero sense and are filled with errors, grammatical, spelling or semantics. Plus when someone actually recognized the meme (and replied using another one), it made you feel somewhat cool because you have an inside joke of your own that other Earthlings don't understand.

The problem with that is, now that all the young kids want to grow up really fast and jump on the cool bandwagon way before time, they keep using and reusing old Internet memes until they wear very thin. Everywhere you go on the Internet you'll see people using phrases like, "U MAD?" or "Challenge accepted" or "om nom nom". Or any random memes from Lolcats. Some of them don't bug me as much, or at all, because they're relevant to the situation. Like when people say "EPIC FAIL" to depict a person's failure at achieving something, it's because well... that person is actually failing at something. But some memes bug me to the core, especially this kind:

UNFUNNY MEME IS UNFUNNY.

It's basically just using the same adjective twice in a sentence, making it redundant. Whilst I can see some humour in that, it's becoming really old and uncool. People who first used them aren't using them anymore, but their spawns are multiplying everyday which is why we still see them being used almost everywhere on the Internet.

Maybe I'm getting too old for Internet memes, so I don't blame young kids for using them because I used them when I was their age too. But when older people than me use uncool, worn down Internet memes, it makes me sad. It's like they're mentally retarded. Dude, you're 30. Use proper language. It's like the Internet has become their reality, and they refuse to grow out of it.

The thing is, some of my friends use them (hash tags and Internet memes) even on BBM. While hash tag jokes are obvious and easy to ignore (I just don't dignify them with a response because jokes don't need replies), it's usually harder to sidestep the meme. When I just replied to their message without acknowledging the meme, they're like, "It's a meme. Get the fuck out of your cave, batman."

I know it's a meme. I'm on the internet every day, of course I'm familiar with the term. I just don't find them, or you, funny. That's all. There's nothing wrong with being unfunny. It's only wrong when you try to squeeze a laugh out of people using cheap tricks.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen. All meme's do is retard humans even further.

D. Summers said...

You are living proof that intelligent, sensible people still exist on the internet, and for that I thank you.

daniel said...

That needed to be said! #thanks
POSTWORTHY POST WAS POSTWORTHY!!1

scnr

Chris Clark said...

AGREED. We make facebook games at my work so we are constantly on the internet and sharing images/videos. I'm 27 and have immersed myself in the internet for years, but this shit HAS TO STOP. It's as if people can no longer be funny on their own and must reference something else...and if you are unaware of the reference, you're now an outsider. It's just another lame fad, and I don't expect it to last for a long time. But DAMMIT I've been done with it for 2 years now. It's redundant, simple-minded, stagnant humor that slowly melts brains.

Anonymous said...

Oh my God! Thank you!! Finally, a smart person that thinks the same way I do. At my High School, just about all the kids are obsessed with internet memes and stick the Troll Face in random places at the school, thinking they're hilarious. They're not. They're just stupid. They even say 'lol' instead of laughing! The internet is taking over their lives... So I applaud you. Well done.

Anonymous said...

The phrases that are popular on the internet are actually spreading to the Television and real life conversations.
On Australia's Funniest Home Videos, they now have this section of the show of "Epic Fails". And on commercials for The Simpsons and Futurama, they have a picture from the show, what time it is on and a speech bubble with the abbreviation "LOL" in it.
People at my school even say 'LOL' instead of laughing- in everyday face-to-face conversations! That is just sad. Very soon, I expect that all or most of the world will be like the internet. I'd say savor every non-internet related moment while you can.

Anonymous said...

Agreed. I can see someone using well known memes cleverly, but this is the internet, and in the internet, percentage of clever people = 0.000000000....1. There are just too many idiots out there bombarding the internet with stupidness, thinking it is funny. Makes me want to toss my computer out the window sometimes.

Anonymous said...

problem? stay mad bruh #shiggydiggydoo
>not greentexting on the forums
>ISHYGDDT#

Anonymous said...

"Dude"? That sounds dumb too