For most of us, memes serves as an amusing way to pass the time or as a moment of sweet respite from the more pressing global issues on our timelines.
For one UC Berkeley professor, who goes by Meme Lord and plans to teach meme studies classes next year, they are so much more than that.
“Memes are quickly becoming a foundation upon which adolescents are building their relationships,” he told The Daily Californian. “The campus and I believe that studying the mechanisms by which we come to construct, and in some cases deconstruct, such seemingly simple images is key to understanding the nuances of adolescent communication.”
More than that, Meme Lord thinks the viral jokes will have enough influence to sway elections, steer advertising campaigns, and alter the economy in the coming years.
“I am currently heading a research team devoted to understanding how the memes we consume influence our decisions,” he reported. “I’ll just say that students who spend comparatively more time on meme pages are predisposed to greater financial success in the future, not to mention an increase in quality of life.”
It’s a bold claim. Then again, the Pepe memes were adapted by the alt-right and used to progress racist narratives; to say memes don’t have power is to ignore the patterns of their abuse.
Students can register for his lectures, “Pepe, Dat Boi, and Kermit: Frogs as a Symbol of Vulnerability,” “aN inTrODucTioN tO SpOngEBob ThEOrY,” or “Jokes about Dying” for fall of 2018.
Parents will inevitably be asking this question over the holidays when discovering what their kids are signing up for next year.
