Quaranmemes: Entertainment in the Digital Age
BY JOE MAFFA '21
Yes, we are all sad, lonely, and slowly losing our minds. But what is there to possibly get us through these unprecedented times? That’s right! An unprecedented amount of memes!
COVID-19 memes—they are inescapable. A quick scroll through the Instagram explore page, or a short browse of your Reddit feed, will garner at least a dozen memes. Not to mention that the topics that range from building up your body, to building up your toilet paper stockpile, and everything in between! Whether the memes are inspiring you to finally get those twelve-pack abs or to bake those scrumptious loaves of banana bread, their influential power has surely been on the rise. These memes are hand-picked (with gloves of course) to bring you a laugh by sprinkling in that beautiful, relatable, self-deprecating magic, but there might be more behind this meme insurgence than just a few chuckles.
This meme revolution has manifested itself in a bunch of new internet communities. Created as a gathering place for “socially isolated college youth stuck doing online courses in closed universities,” the Facebook group Zoom Memes for Self Quaranteens has taken over the internet, amassing over 600,000 members since March 12th. As a member, I highly recommend this page. It is a treasure trove of ideas for spending time in quarantine, Facebook gatherings for fellow teens trapped in their homes, and, of course, Zoom-related media. Another personal favorite is r/CoronavirusMemes, the subreddit for, you guessed it, Coronavirus-related memes! Of course, they walk a fine line with a community like this, so they have rules in place to ensure that the memes stay relatable and uplifting.
What could explain this sudden increase in meme production and quality? For one, all of us are bored out of our minds, and you’re lying to yourself if you’ve never come across a knee-slapping, masterpiece of a meme and thought to yourself, “I could make that!” This newfound boredom has gifted us all the time to finally explore the hobbies we always wanted to do but never could. Some people pick up a new language, but personally I like to think that memes are a new language, at least amongst us Gen-Zers (or Zoomers, as we are starting to be called).
Another possible explanation for the increase in memes is that as the time we spend in quarantine increases, the amount of memeable material increases alongside. I’m sure you have all heard of the POTUS’ theory about the healing powers of household disinfectant (please do not ingest or inject any detergents, thank you). Reminiscent of the golden age of Tide Pods memes, ridiculous medical advice has become the food (not like bleach, can’t stress this enough) of memers far and wide. And of course, the shortages of non-essential goods make you wonder, what could one possibly do with all of that toilet paper? Don’t worry, there are a multitude of blogs, news reports, and memes at your fingertips in pursuit of the answer to that very question. Recently, some have turned to memes to speculate the answer to another popular question: how do you pronounce X Æ A-12? Truly from the top of society in the White House to the small-town roots of celebrity babies, memes have given us a way to sift through the horror and craziness to find a good laugh.
However, the most likely explanation for this increase in memes is the lack of human contact that we are all facing. This time has not been easy on anyone. Social distancing coupled with financial and medical hardships has pushed us all into a corner that we have never had to deal with before. Perhaps the recent spike in memes is just a reflection of where we are as a society right now—Instagram challenges, quarantine media, and internet communities are how we find solace and human connection in this dark shadow of the digital age. It is through memes that our generation creates social bonds in lieu of real contact, and it is through memes that we, as r/CoronavirusMemes puts it so beautifully, “[spread] happiness in a time of distress.” Ultimately, it all boils down to the power of human affection. No matter how funny the funniest meme is, there isn’t anything that puts a larger smile on my face than knowing that, at the end of the day, there’s someone out there trying to spread a little joy.
COVID-19 memes—they are inescapable. A quick scroll through the Instagram explore page, or a short browse of your Reddit feed, will garner at least a dozen memes. Not to mention that the topics that range from building up your body, to building up your toilet paper stockpile, and everything in between! Whether the memes are inspiring you to finally get those twelve-pack abs or to bake those scrumptious loaves of banana bread, their influential power has surely been on the rise. These memes are hand-picked (with gloves of course) to bring you a laugh by sprinkling in that beautiful, relatable, self-deprecating magic, but there might be more behind this meme insurgence than just a few chuckles.
This meme revolution has manifested itself in a bunch of new internet communities. Created as a gathering place for “socially isolated college youth stuck doing online courses in closed universities,” the Facebook group Zoom Memes for Self Quaranteens has taken over the internet, amassing over 600,000 members since March 12th. As a member, I highly recommend this page. It is a treasure trove of ideas for spending time in quarantine, Facebook gatherings for fellow teens trapped in their homes, and, of course, Zoom-related media. Another personal favorite is r/CoronavirusMemes, the subreddit for, you guessed it, Coronavirus-related memes! Of course, they walk a fine line with a community like this, so they have rules in place to ensure that the memes stay relatable and uplifting.
What could explain this sudden increase in meme production and quality? For one, all of us are bored out of our minds, and you’re lying to yourself if you’ve never come across a knee-slapping, masterpiece of a meme and thought to yourself, “I could make that!” This newfound boredom has gifted us all the time to finally explore the hobbies we always wanted to do but never could. Some people pick up a new language, but personally I like to think that memes are a new language, at least amongst us Gen-Zers (or Zoomers, as we are starting to be called).
Another possible explanation for the increase in memes is that as the time we spend in quarantine increases, the amount of memeable material increases alongside. I’m sure you have all heard of the POTUS’ theory about the healing powers of household disinfectant (please do not ingest or inject any detergents, thank you). Reminiscent of the golden age of Tide Pods memes, ridiculous medical advice has become the food (not like bleach, can’t stress this enough) of memers far and wide. And of course, the shortages of non-essential goods make you wonder, what could one possibly do with all of that toilet paper? Don’t worry, there are a multitude of blogs, news reports, and memes at your fingertips in pursuit of the answer to that very question. Recently, some have turned to memes to speculate the answer to another popular question: how do you pronounce X Æ A-12? Truly from the top of society in the White House to the small-town roots of celebrity babies, memes have given us a way to sift through the horror and craziness to find a good laugh.
However, the most likely explanation for this increase in memes is the lack of human contact that we are all facing. This time has not been easy on anyone. Social distancing coupled with financial and medical hardships has pushed us all into a corner that we have never had to deal with before. Perhaps the recent spike in memes is just a reflection of where we are as a society right now—Instagram challenges, quarantine media, and internet communities are how we find solace and human connection in this dark shadow of the digital age. It is through memes that our generation creates social bonds in lieu of real contact, and it is through memes that we, as r/CoronavirusMemes puts it so beautifully, “[spread] happiness in a time of distress.” Ultimately, it all boils down to the power of human affection. No matter how funny the funniest meme is, there isn’t anything that puts a larger smile on my face than knowing that, at the end of the day, there’s someone out there trying to spread a little joy.
