I remember when Facebook was about casual conversations, posting and commenting on pictures and sneakily keeping up with one another’s lives (more than we would like to admit). As it evolved so did we and it became a platform for self expression; an online space for sharing opinions and asserting your individuality.

Then the meme phenomenon took over.

What is a meme you ask? (Hopefully to humour me and not because you really don’t know.)

A ‘meme’ by popular definition is a virally transmitted cultural symbol or social idea. A meme, rhymes with ‘team’ (you are welcome), behaves like flu or a cold virus, travelling from person to person quickly, but transmitting an idea instead of a life form. Today, memes travel much faster than simple speech. Like Facebook and Twitter updates, instant messages and web page links, memes travel instantly via the internet.

The bulk of internet memes will continue to be humour and shock-value curiosities, as these grab people’s attention faster than deeper meme content. But as users become more sophisticated in their thinking, memes too become progressively more intellectual and philosophical and ultimately a recognised voice of the people.

#### A ‘meme’ by popular definition is a virally transmitted cultural symbol or social idea. A meme, rhymes with ‘team’ (you are welcome), behaves like flu or a cold virus, travelling from person to person quickly, but transmitting an idea instead of a life form.

Memes are a universal phenomenon, and often start in the most unconventional and unpredictable ways. On June 6th, 2012, a YouTuber uploaded a webcam video titled JB Fanvideo in which she parodies Justin Bieber’s latest single Boyfriend with personalised lyrics. Apparently the video was submitted in response to Bieber’s announcement of an online singoff contest to promote his celebrity perfume, Girlfriend.

Sample lyrics: ‘If I was your girlfriend/I’d never let you leave/without a small recording device/taped under your sleeve. I’ll always be checking up on you/Hey, boy, who you talking to?/Spend a day with your girl, I’ll be calling you my husband.’

The song, marked by its clingy, brilliantly delivered stalker-like lyrics, instantly caught the attention of YouTube and Reddit viewers and a debate began regarding whether the girl really meant the lyrics or not. Within less than 48 hours after upload, the video received over 1.35 million views. Later a grab of the video was circulated on the internet with different captions associated with the ‘overly attached girlfriend’. Both the video and online reactions were picked up by internet culture blogs such as BuzzFeed, Daily Dot, Guyism, Jezebel and The Daily What. It also spread virally on Tumblr, Facebook and a Twitter account by the name @attachedGF. The girl behind the video is now somewhat a celebrity.

Another popular meme of 2012 is the ‘ridiculously photogenic guy’ meme. On March 31st, 2012, Zeddi Little was a regular guy taking part in a marathon in Charleston, South Carolina, when Will King took photographs of all the runners, including Little. King uploaded a set of almost 100 photos to Flickr and Facebook, where one of his friends dubbed the man ‘ridiculously photogenic guy’. On April 3rd, 2012, King submitted the Flickr photo to Reddit in a post titled “My friend calls him, ‘Mr Ridiculously Photogenic Guy’.” Like the ‘overly attached girlfriend’ meme, ‘ridiculously photogenic guy’ went viral with people adding their own captions to show how his being photogenic worked.

Example: ‘Runs marathon and wins… my heart!’

‘Picture gets put up for employee of the month… for a company he doesn’t work for.’

The local meme scene isn’t doing too badly either. With so much happening in the country, it’s natural that people will look for different forms of expression. More often than not foreign memes are adapted to local relevance. A favourite is ‘Keep calm and carry on’, an injunction that originally appeared on a World War II British public safety poster. After one of the original posters was hung in a British bookshop in 2000, the injunction was shared online, sparking a series of adaptations centred around the template, ‘Keep calm and...’ The ‘format’ allows Pakistanis to express themselves with customised messages, be it our love for mangoes (Keep calm and eat aam), to asserting our unpredictable nature (We’re Pakistani we don’t keep calm).

But by far one of the most popular memes locally has to be the saeen toh saeen meme. It is what can be called the first legitimately Pakistani meme. No adaptation, no foreign inspiration. It is through and through Pakistani. Saeen toh saeen was derived from the hugely viral music video of the song Waderay Ka Beta, which has broken all records in popularity. The video is a satire on feudal culture and how the offspring of a feudal lord suffers from severe entitlement issues. The song with its topical lyrics hits home as it addresses what people already know and see around them. The song said that everything belonging to saeen was also saeen, which was exactly what the local online community needed to give everything saeen status. From dogs, fonts, Angry Birds to Google’s logo… everything was fair game and nothing was off limits. In a matter of a month, everything (yours, mine and the other guy’s) ‘belonged’ to saeen. Because of course, he is saeen.

With a fixed format and a basic starting point, memes become a fun form of expression for young people. They allow them to instantly express their opinion on topical issues without needing to be good at writing op-eds. It is instant and almost always on the mark. From rising prices, political drama to a lost cricket match, memes say it best. And if one were to choose between this or rioting on the roads, I am pretty sure we all prefer the memes.

Khizra Munir is Creative Director, SOC Films.
munir.khizra@gmail.com