Many internet phenomena claim that memes are not just "funny pictures." A significant number of people look for deeper narratives, humor sensibilities, or cultural references beneath these images. Do you think the backstory of memes truly contributes to their longevity and integration within communities, or is it all just a joke?
Why do some memes have backstories?
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Yeah, it's similar for me – I once shared a meme based on an old video game screenshot that almost no one got. It only became a running gag in our Discord group after I explained the background. Without the context, it was just a random picture, but with it, it became part of our internal culture.
In recent years, meme culture has indeed become more refined. The era of relying solely on a single image to be funny is long gone—nowadays, the memes that stand the test of time either have deep cultural roots (like those originating from 4chan or Reddit traditions) or inherently lend themselves to remixing (such as template-based memes with replaceable text). I’ve noticed that the most enduring memes tend to have a high degree of "malleability"—people can repurpose them to create new jokes. Meanwhile, memes that rely purely on visual humor without any underlying context tend to fizzle out after the initial wave of shares.
A few weeks ago, the "Wojak crying" series blew up, with multiple variations spawned from the original image—a sad expression paired with a white guy’s backstory. It instantly resonated with Western netizens’ collective emotions. If it had just been the "sad man" image without any context or backstory, it wouldn’t have spread nearly as widely or inspired as much remixing as it did. So, background lore and cultural resonance are absolutely crucial to a meme’s longevity—they’re not just optional decorations.