Issue 34 - October 2019 www.memeinsider.com
A Petscop Finale? Page 12 Memes in Hong Kong Page 22 Did We Have A Hot Girl Summer? Page 48 And More!
CYANIDE & HAPPINESS SPILLS! WELCOME BACK! TO MEME INSIDER
Welcome to our October issue! The team Directors Noerdy here at Meme Insider is proud to present our CartoonWarp most significant and powerful issue to date. LuckyCosmos This release marks the start of a partnership Benwubbleyou PhatClowns between Meme Insider and Know Your Meme, the world’s most trusted source for Designers Gallleonard | Illustrator information on the latest memes. As Meme Sesamii | Illustrator Insider is now a part of Know Your Meme, we Payton penny | Illustrator will have access to a lot better analytical and Writers technical details on what memes are trending, Deros | Lead Writer and what is doomed to fail. Toastmeme69 | Lead Writer timeinternetgod thelegend28 This month, we have an unprecedented Matt Schimkowitz Philip Hamilton interview with an active member of the Hong Kong protests, here to shed some Editors light on how Hong Kong activists have used Sammy314 CodeOfZero memes as a powerful tool in their struggle Julianimal for freedom. As you will see, we discovered Developers just how these protestors co-opted popular WickedAssassin | Lead Dev memes, including adopting Pepe the Frog as RedRiderX | Lead Dev a uniquely troubled symbol of struggle. LyricBalloon80 SpookyUser DeJay Dave from Cyanide and Happiness, the old- Garnt school webcomic juggernauts, has met with Founder us for an interview. We chatted to discuss their DigitalOrange success and their thoughts on the modern Advisor web and the meme economy we have today. LukeSkyWacka
We have also lowered the price of print Meme Insider copies to only $7.69 a month, with a If you would like to join our team, please email us at [email protected] free, no-obligation first month trial as part of our new service „Meme Insider Premium“. You can subscribe today at memeinsider.com/ subscribe to get the magazines and more! Thank you again for supporting Meme Insider! INSIDE THE ISSUE
Comic Cults The Curse of the Exploring the Strange World of Four Panel Webcomic Fandoms Page 4 Page 8
The Possible Petsop Silence, Brand Finale Page 12 Page 16
Memes As Political Elitism in Protest Symbols Music Memes An Interview with a Hong Kong Citizen in the Midst of Protest Page 22 Page 34
Cyanide & Happiness! SrGrafo: Reddit’s Darling Meme Insider has an exclusive Webcomic Artist interview with the comic legends Page 44 Page 38
Did We Have a Hot Girl Summer? Page 48 COMIC CULTS EXPLORING COMIC THE STRANGE WORLD OF WEBCOMIC CULTS FANDOMS /u/thelegend28 Comics have a presence on the internet that’s as staggering as memes themselves, and are often taken as a type of meme due to their shareability, relatability, and popularity. Webcomics come in many diff erent forms, but most typically in a four- or fi ve-panel image depicting a narrative scene with a punchline. Because of their comedic versatility, this format of webcomic remains readily available on almost any meme platform, and comic creators can amass large fan bases waiting for the latest updates to enter their feeds.
One notable example is the infamous Cyanide & Happiness, created by Kris Wilson. With over 2 million Instagram followers and untold millions of Reddit and 9gag reposters, Cyanide & Happiness has earned a reputation for storylines so edgy they can be categorized as dank or off ensive, landing its characters and style instant recognition on any site where memes exist. In simple, direct comics such as Cyanide & Happiness, the lines between dank and normie are blurred, and a huge variety of internet users can enjoy the content for diff erent reasons. 6 THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL
But gag-a-day series like these don’t represent the multitude of comics online. A dark, bottomless chasm runs through the internet that’s home to something known as ongoing webcomics, which couldn’t diff er more greatly from traditional, stand-alone comics. These webcomics are occasionally updated as a “page” of panels that continues a previously established story, often in the realm of fantasy. Some closely resemble a digital edition of a comic book, while others refuse to be bound by laws of common courtesy and insist on confusing, chaotic, and emotionally distressing formats and content.
So why are ongoing webcomics so popular? Well, as shown by the constant appeal of short-form comics, the internet community has created a “safe space” for sharing boundary- pushing content that doesn’t strictly follow the newspaper funny page mold. When comics with names like Cyanide & Happiness are perceived gaining a popular following, comic enthusiasts assume there’s no reason they shouldn’t delve deeper into the chasm of despair that rightfully conceals ongoing webcomics from the surface world.
I’ve lost many personal friends to Homestuck, the long-running webcomic that took their personalities and replaced them with incomprehensible “bucket humor.” There’s only one thing you need THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL 7
to understand about Homestuck: it’s a disease, Webcomic fandoms contribute to the phenomenon completely meaningless, addictive, and soul- of niche memes, which are diffi cult to comprehend draining. Make it through the fi rst few pages of without knowledge of the subject matter they’re Homestuck and any sense of who you once were based on, but thrill fans and haters alike in their will soon be cruelly ripped away in favor of troll potential to convey hot takes through memetic headbands. language. This collective endeavor of reactive niche memes unifi es the internet and manages to Webcomics feel so addictive and mind-consuming bring even more attention to comics of all sorts, in part because of the avid internet communities which explains why series both serialized and that surround them. Members of these fandoms self-contained have increased in mainstream actively follow each update, add to one another’s popularity over the past few years. interpretations and enthusiasm, and depress their own capacity for critical thinking. Certain Truthfully, the internet would be a very diff erent subsets among these communities have place without these webcomics. Not necessarily unintentionally evolved into a wind tunnel of a more wholesome place. But even if you could delusion, empowered to infl ict punishment on the venture online without accidentally stumbling rest of humanity. I’m unable to fully explain the across a confusing fanfi ction about a humanoid nuances of a toxic fandom in this family-friendly tiger who learns to love, you’d know on a magazine, but I guarantee that if you type the subconscious level that it just isn’t the same. name of any webcomic into Tumblr, fanfi ction.net, Webcomics are still a vital part of the online or DeviantArt, you’ll get the gist (and probably ecosystem, a huge mine for memes of all sorts, some very strange nightmares to boot). and yet another reason to keep an interest in the short and punchy funnies we know and love. Though they have little in common with standard comics, these ongoing webcomics still belong to the universe of memes, due not only to screenshots that bear meme-worthy potential but also to meme production by the most ardent fans. Since the fandoms gather and converse in online cult-like communes, they communicate their feelings on the comics largely through memes, the universal language of the internet. As is the nature of online discourse, millions of memes are also launched into circulation designed specifi cally to make fun of these fandoms. The Curse of
Four Panel
THE EASY SETUP, PUNCHLINE AND REACTION OF FOUR PANEL COMICS MAKES IT THE STANDARD FOR MOST WEB COMICS FOR BETTER OR WORSE
/u/Deros94 THE HARM“ OF THE FOUR-PANEL CURSE STEMS FROM THE PROBLEMS CREATIVES FACE WHO ARE TRYING TO GET A FOLLOWING “
Although it is unfair to say that many comics consistent content. This is where the curse arrives online have varied paneling, there is a general as the best engagement likely comes from the standard for many artists. This is the four-panel use of a four-panel format. Then as the audience comic. A premise, build-up, and a punchline it begins to follow it can trap the artist as users makes for a simple flow and seems to maximize engage strongly with consistency. How to break engagement from users. To long of a comic and this curse is where the real challenge for artists the average user will ignore it. To short and the and their webcomics begins. user can get the entire comic from the thumbnail. This leads to the curse of the four-panel where The curse can be disrupted through artistic effort it might be the best way for artists to get a lot and time as the curse has to be broken by guiding of engagement, but it also chains them to the the webcomic’s audience. The best way to change paneling and can limit the writing. it is to write comics that need more paneling for a stronger execution. By making a simple change, The harm of the four-panel curse stems from like adding a panel for a reaction or additional the problems creatives face who are trying to set-up, will begin to pull the comic away from the get a following. The issue is that while some can limitation of four panels. This can also be true in capture an audience with a knockout comic on the opposite direction where cutting a panel can any number of social media platforms it is much make for a stronger punchline. The simplest way easier to slowly acclimate to the audience through would be to just modify paneling as the curse 10 THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL
will fade as the audience begins to appreciate the shows that to move away from the four-panel diversity in panel styles. curse with dynamic characters mean effort must be given in creating a strong bond between the A second stylistic choice would be to create audience and characters before moving into a characters that won’t work in a four-panel setting. greater plot. Unlike the day to day introduction of concepts through non-recurring designs, a defined and The curse of four panels is less about the comics dynamic character can act as a bridge for the themselves and more to do with user engagement audience to engage with. This can begin within and social media algorithms. The reason it is a four-panel style and then be used to branch described as a curse is that a very good comic can out as the artist wants to say something more have terrible engagement on social media sites. meaningful. The issue with this is that it involves This curse is more often applied to newer artists advanced planning to move away from characters because previous webcomics had individual as daily non-sequitur punchlines to an involved websites run by the author. These do often get story plot. posted to social media sites but often they lead back to the author’s site. That being said, the curse An example used poorly was the infamous Loss began with these older webcomics which is why where Ctrl+Alt+Del tried to drop in a dark and users and the algorithm favor a four-panel style. impactful comic in his four-panel daily non- Ultimately, however, the blame falls on users sequiturs. The reason this failed is that the for choosing to engage with lighter content over characters were flat and the audience felt like they potentially deeper material. were not the guiding strength of the comic. This
The (Possible) Petscop Finale @PhatClowns Petscop was an internet anomaly. There will never be another like it. It’s hard to believe that Petscop, the surreal and As one might imagine, the series attracted a highly unnerving Let’s Play-creepypasta-ARG large community of hyper-attentive fans, who hybrid which grew a sizable and obsessive online compulsively dissected every detail to figure out fanbase, may finally have come to an end. Or what the heck was actually going on in Petscop. maybe it didn’t. Who knows? Fans theorized the game was inspired by the Candace Newmaker incident, a true story in For those unaware, Petscop was an ongoing which a ten-year-old girl was killed during a YouTube series that initially appeared to be a 70-minute “rebirthing” session, a controversial run-of-the-mill Let’s Play. In the first episode, practice where a person is brought to the brink released in March 2017, an unnamed man begins of death in order to return as a “new person.” playing an unfinished game from the Playstation While the series did feature several words and 1 era named “Petscop.” He offers what one might scenes that seemed to reference the tragedy, later expect from a typical Let’s Play, a genre where episodes shifted away from the incident. creators play video games with commentary. He interacts with what appears to be an average On Reddit and Discord, sleuths eagerly puzzle game in which the player frees animals exchanged ideas about how the various stray from a pet store. He remarks on the banality of threads in the series connected. Fans compiled the puzzles and the small, brightly-colored first a 38,000 word Google Doc with relevant clues level of the game. However, things take a strange and mysteries. Some YouTube videos dissecting turn at the end of the episode, when he inputs Petscop became more popular than the series a code that grants access to the dark, sprawling itself. The Game Theorists YouTube channel “underworld” of the game. What follows is one of posted videos that gained four times as many the most brilliantly unique art projects of the 21st views as the original Petscop episode. A video century. by YouTuber Pyrocynical contains an hour and twenty-minute breakdown of the first several Over the next two years, the Petscop series episodes and became so beloved that clamoring grew into a bizarre, labyrinthine mystery as the for “Petscop 2” became a meme among his fans. narrator, identified only as Paul, explored the esoteric underworld of the game, wandering around mostly empty space, discovering When looking at the bevy of affective alternate opaque texts and encountering a handful of reality games that have grown popular in the highly memorable and disturbing characters. past decade, each has utilized a familiar social Each episode only seemed to introduce more media trope and twisted it to tell an unnerving mysteries, such as the time Paul discovered a mystery. For example, “The Sun Vanished” used mysterious “tool” that only answered highly- Twitter to bring live updates from an apocalypse specific questions. In a different installment, happening somewhere in America, Pronunciation Paul expresses shock at discovering an item Book’s “77 Days” began sprinkling long and hidden behind a censorship bar. At a certain disturbing messages into its daily stream of point, Paul begins addressing an unknown off- goofy “How to Pronounce” videos, and Tumblr’s camera presence, which gives the whole series “Hey Peebrain — You Teleport?” used the site’s the air of a found-footage horror film. Soon after, notorious population of porn bots to lead users Paul stopped narrating episodes altogether. The down a rabbit hole involving a guardian angel video descriptions changed to reflect the voice of and a sick little girl. Petscop, however, struck another unidentified group that appeared to have gold by twisting the world of “Let’s Play” videos. struck a deal with Paul to control and post the This genre had already become an established recordings. mainstream force as people like PewDiePie, Markiplier, and the Game Grumps became well-known names to anyone with an internet 14 THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL
connection. Every Let’s Play follows a basic outline: a gamer will play a video game while off ering commentary and jokes over the action. Let’s Play streamers update regularly and usually act as over-the-top as possible to keep fans’ highly-sought-after attention.
Petscop follows none of these rules. Paul has a dry, nasally voice, never jokes and leaves lots of dead air in his videos. The channel would go months without updating, then suddenly release several episodes all at once. Each installment felt like the release of a network television show episode, with the community gathering around the proverbial water cooler to discuss what they think happened. It was like a Gen Z Twin Peaks.
On September 2nd, Petscop released its 24th episode, which was simply a credits sequence for the game itself. This led some to believe the series had come to an end, while others were understandably unconvinced, given the series’ erratic upload schedule and the myriad questions that remain unanswered. If it is truly over, it concluded as one of the most eff ective horror stories told in the 21st century. The eff ort poured into creating the fake, gloomy atmosphere of Petscop and its deep and detailed lore constitutes an achievement the likes of which we’re likely to never see imitated. Maybe we’ll never know the full story behind Paul, the Tool, the Newmaker theory, or any of the other bizarre breadcrumbs Petscop left behind. But, as Lost fans will tell you, sometimes it’s better not to know.
SILENCE, BRAND 17
Matt Schimkowitz
The summer of 2019 came with a ton of massively popular organic memes. From “Woman Yelling at a Cat” to “Ight Imma Head Out,” the last several months have been chock full of trending content for us to research, explain and enjoy. But lurking beneath the cool ocean of summertime fun was a great white shark: brands.
Memes meant big money for advertisers in the summer of 2019, with billion-dollar corporations like Marvel, Sony and Popeye’s Chicken soaking up the sun without having to do any work. While memes and fandom have always had a symbiotic relationship, with memers using pop culture to inspire their work and giving them a sense of ownership over the things that they love, this year online communities seemingly became the street teams for companies that might not even need their help.
August reached a tipping point as we saw a near-constant online chatter about consumer goods, ranging from chicken sandwiches to alcoholic seltzer to superhero movies, essentially advertising on behalf of brands. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen may have benefi tted the most from the online buzz resulting in an outpouring of reactions to their new chicken sandwich. After tweeting some harmless jabs at competitor Chick-fi l-A, the company saw a surge in sales and retweets. Memers began posting jokes about their love and admiration for the company’s deep-fried chicken, keeping the new product at the top of 18 THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL
everyone’s timeline. In the end, all those memes the widespread accusations that the company about liking a chicken sandwich helped generate ruined childhoods with the Star Wars sequel an estimated $23 million in free advertising in trilogy. Hashtag wars, mournful memes and less than two weeks. Popeyes ended the summer messages of support to help get Spidey back into sold out of chicken sandwiches and being ever- the Disney fold, but in the end, he’s a Sony boy present in the public zeitgeist. Not bad for a now. Still, Disney’s image online has never been company worth billions. better.
Don’t be surprised if this becomes the new This isn’t the fi rst time memes have rehabbed a norm as the line between sponsored and organic product. Look content gets blurrier, corporations will be the at the initial ones reaping the benefi ts, attempting to replicate the strategy again and again. Jonathan Maze, the executive editor of Restaurant Business Magazine, said, “All this is really going to do frankly is embolden other chains to do similar things when they introduce new products.”
Even companies that have historically been derided online got a redemption arc thanks to memes. Disney was rebranded as underdogs after a deal with Sony fell through and the Marvel Cinematic Universe lost its Spider-Man. Memers took sides about which of the two massive corporations were responsible for the Avengers-level threat, casting Disney as the good guys. This was quite a rebound from THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL 19
reaction to Apple’s AirPods to see how memers While legacy brands might feel the need to control can rapidly shift the perception of a product, the narrative, newer ones are more than happy turning it from an abject failure into a highly to sit back and let memes take the wheel. White desired commodity. Upon their announcement, Claw, the unoffi cial drink of the summer, didn’t the internet exploded with jokes about the have much of an online presence prior to this AirPods design, posting jokes about how they year. A cult favorite at best, the hard seltzer barely resembled a toothbrush head dangling from the had a brand identity until memers labeled it an ears of users. Just one year later, the AirPod had ironic but tasty alternative to beer, made for chill been transformed into coveted Christmas present times and bleached hair. Memers have actually that allowed rich kids to fl ex their wealth while taken the role of shaping and defi ning the brand, also looking fashionable. Somehow, that fl ex giving it a unique angle without White Claw became one everybody wanted to show off . having to do any of the work. Normally millions would be spent to promote this sort of product, especially across the digital landscape, but White Memer’s relationships with brands have slowly Claw just had to wait and allow people to generate changed over the last few years, from initially it organically. outright rejecting companies that co-opt internet culture to eventually warming up to the idea. They didn’t have to wait long. By the end of the Some brands, like the fast food chain Wendy’s, summer, memes had given White Claw its public have successfully jumped into the online fray, face. Owned by Mark Anthony Brands, the posting memes and roasting competitors on same company behind Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Twitter, while infl uencing other brands to get in White Claw had been given a market test most the game. The thing is, it works. People seem to companies could only dream of, and the savvy love the idea of Wendy’s and Arby’s arguing about marketers at Mark Anthony were more than who delivers better food poisoning in the form happy to let it happen. To save costs and keep of a Mocking SpongeBob meme. Brands are just your drink on the lips of prospective customers is like us, at least according to the Supreme Court, the name of the game, and memers, thirsty for a and memers seem to agree. The meme linguists fresh format, were more than happy to oblige. behind the keyboards of fast food social media have learned that to survive in the fractured It’s clear that memers wield a greater power to landscape of modern media, they can’t just be shape the fabric of online conversations than they the topic of conversation, they have to join as may realize, so why are they choosing to use this participants as well. power to prop up corporations that don’t need their help? Ideals surrounding what it means to make money and sellout have evolved in the last few years, as people seem more concerned with getting their likes than recognizing who their helping. However, we’ve reached a point in the online discourse where brands have begun to shape the conversation. They have a wider reach, more followers and a bigger slice of the pie. Perhaps it’s time for memers need to take a step back and think about who is really benefi ting from their jokes. After all, does the world need another meme about liking a chicken sandwich?
A rumbling began in the Far East over the summer. At first, small groups of demonstrators running up and down the mall hallways were the only signs of unrest to be seen. Before long, though, the groups grew and the streets filled with umbrellas and bloodied eye patches. Foreigners saw relatively few of these curious sights, all emerging from a far away place known for being shanghaied Marvel movies’ last port of call.
Whatever unified these people would have gone unreported by the media if not for independent sources digging further and responding to the symbols of the movement. In this piece, Meme Insider breaks through the censorship of the iron curtain for a glimpse at the common language of memes and how Hong Kong protesters are utilizing them in their plight. HOW PRO-DEMOCRACY PROTESTERS ADOPTED WORLD-FAMOUS MEMES AS POLITICAL SYMBOLS
An Interview with a Hong Kong Citizen
Aaron Gall 24 THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL
Aaron Gall: Hello! This is Meme Insider. I’m TC: Aaron. Nice to meet you! 1. Bloody Eye Patch TC: Great, what would you like to know? On 11 August, a first-aider outside a police station where clashes [had] occurred but already stopped AG: Well, I think to give people a better idea of got shot in the eye by a bean bag round — rifle what is happening across the world in Hong Kong, rounds that police claim to be “non-lethal” or “less we should start with what is happening and what is the message of the protests. lethal” but still hurt a lot. It’s reported the next day that she lost that eye permanently, and people TC: Right. Basically, the protests were borne got angry. out of a controversial bill to extradite criminal suspects, including HK citizens, to any other The specific symbol was started by a Korean jurisdiction without an extradition treaty — actor who cared about the Hong Kong situation including the PRC [People’s Republic of China], whose human rights records don’t look good on Instagram, user @kimeuisung, and people — with forced confessions and mysterious followed up with the #eyeforhk, #eyeforhongkong, disappearances. But as the government refused and #eye4hk hashtags. to respond properly, it has [long since] grown into protests that call for accountability, [in terms of both] police brutality — as now they “enforce the law” with impunity, so what happens is that they do what they like — and democratic government.
A good analogy is that somebody lit a match. A cup of water might have extinguished it, but now it’s the Amazon fires — you can’t expect a cup of water to work.
AG: Extradition was a very serious place for all of this to start. I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten more media coverage. To put it into perspective, imagine posting memes that are indirectly breaking internet speech laws in another country only to have the Pakistani prison system knocking at your Nebraskan door. That being said, three symbols being used by the protestors have caught global attention: “bloody eye patch,” “Pepe the frog,” and the “Star-Spangled Banner.” What do these symbols mean to the protestors/protest? THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL 25
2. Pepe the Frog I am aware of its alt-right connotation in the US, but our usage has nothing to do with it. While there is no single authoritative reason why it got so popular, my feeling is just that its ugly look has a weird cuteness in its ability to express our different emotions.
This pack is customized to the Hong Kong situation with the eye patch symbol, and the meaning is clear. You see some crossovers with existing memes, like the Drake meme.
These three are like the mascots from LIHKG, Hong Kong’s [version of Reddit] which is the platform where many of the creative initiatives got off the ground, and there are entire sticker packs of them. 26 THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL
These two are “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution These are, respectively, “I have to make a of our times.” complaint,” “I need to see a doctor,” and “I have nothing to say,” in the context of police stations, reminding people of their rights from the early days of protests and arrests. THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL 27
3. Star Spangled Banner
This isn’t really an informal symbol/meme we use These are the flags that the police were holding daily; it’s a conscious attempt to appeal to the US up before they [would] use force or tear gas. lawmakers to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights Sometimes they don’t follow the rules, but anyway [and Democracy] Act of 2019 as soon as possible, it’s a convenient way of people telling each other since we think it’s a key way to pressure China. how escalated the situation outside is. Just see it got made into a Lennon Wall. AG: This stuff is great!
Who’s this guy? And who is the pig? I assumed he was a mascot or emoji.
TC: It’s got a bit of history from way back, before the movement. We call it 腦魔 , which is hard to translate, but the name and icon was from a particular user, although it’s no longer about him and hasn’t been for years already.
You will realize it’s the same slogan as the above stickers with the LIHKG dog — again, about the rights after the arrest. His most famous look is a pervert [laughs], cause [before it got popular in the protest] LIHKG was mainly for banters and subcultures, among which there were occasional quality posts — guess it really is like Reddit in a sense. We are surprised to see middle-aged people using it. And the pig is simply the new set of icons rolled out by the LIHKG admins. This says “withdrawal” [of the bill].
This literally means “Gimme the money.” And the blue hat, generally held hostage by the other side as their color, as opposed to yellow — see more by searching “blue ribbon” and “yellow ribbon” in “Liberate Hong Kong. the context of Hong Kong —, is a satirical way to describe the pro-Beijing, pro-government, and/ or pro-police protestors who only come out for the money.
“Revolution of our time.”
This sticker reenacts the scene where people gather in the Tsim Sha Tsui harbor to play with laser pointers and have some fun for a night, as police arrested a student leader buying lasers for “possession of offensive weapons.”
Fuels up, “Ga Yau,” Hong Kong. This guy is Wan Chin, who started out as a serious academic but became a controversial figure, to say the least. Many people, including myself, think he is crazy. [laughs] He keeps picking fights with mainstream leaders, and it’s like he’s here to make trouble, rather than helping.
The sticker is him demonstrating how to use a briefcase as a shield — it’s satirical, as he kept saying we should get militarized but comes up with amateuristic ideas. Ironically, these days frontliners do use briefcases to block tear gas cans and rubber bullets. Somehow he got a loyal following, which we call 熱狗. It’s a word play, by calling 熱血公民 (Civic Passion, a Hong Kong political party) dogs; it’s obviously not very respectful. Basically these people support him and people with a similar way of doing things — very irrational, and [he] likes to pick fights on LIHKG, Facebook, etc. This is something from the 2014 days, and isn’t that important these days.
This is Edward asking, “What’s up?” a way for us to remember a spiritual leader in jail for the 2016 “fishball riots,” which inspired many to think about Hong Kong’s future. For some, it’s a reminder against our 道德潔癖 (“moral neat freak” tendencies) to use force, either as a legitimate self-defense or [as] active deterrence of police brutality. THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL 31
AG: How have you noticed the spread of the Hong Kong movement outside of Hong Kong itself? Where do you see it going in the future?
TC: I think the bits and pieces of the movement must have gotten some attention worldwide from the international coverage of the protests, key scenes being in the 1 million turnout range on 9 June, 2 million turnout on 16 June and 18 August, storming into LegCo [Legislative Council of Hong Kong] on 1 July, defacing of a [Chinese] national emblem of the Central Government Liaison Office on 21 July, gang members beating up people on 21 July, water cannon with blue dye, etc.
There are also a few rounds of crowdfunded newspaper ads, one in early July in the UK, a global one near the G20 summit, and one on 16-17 August. People just got another one funded for 1 Oct, PRC’s national day and 70th anniversary. Even the Hong Kong government has placed some copycat ads in the Financial Times, etc., trying to fight back.
But in terms of people participating in the movement itself, it’s necessarily a bit smaller — like, it would be quite good to see a few thousand in each city’s rallies. But still, it’s significant when you look at the dozens of cities organizing these marches or assemblies for Hong Kong, and it’s encouraging to see Hong Kong’s diaspora and This is Chairman Mao’s teachings, apart from even foreigners staying in solidarity with us. In particular, things like #eye4hk did get some turbulent times. traction for a while. For the global solidarity events, I’m aware of a wave on 17/18 August with another wave around 31 August, when the Chinese legislature imposed pre-screening for any popularly elected Chief Executive. And I see one coming on 28 September.
People have been doing letter campaigns in the UK and the US, respectively. From what I have heard all constituencies seem to be covered, and we received the replies that some MPs/ congressmen made to our supporters. It’s quite encouraging, especially in light of what we see with the US’ [Hong Kong human rights bill] these days.
Looking into the future is always difficult, as things could change really fast, but generally it looks optimistic in view of how the extradition bill, which once seemed to pass anyway, is now gone. As long as Beijing does not accede to the key demands, this thing will go on for a while more.
Photos by Joseph Chan @lokklokkk
Elitism in Music Memes
Philip Hamilton
Streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and wherever and however you want. You may even Soundcloud largely dominate the music scene find some people who agree with you and open today. They’re convenient and cheap alternatives you up to brand new sounds you never could have to buying and owning music and probably stop a conceived of. Mostly, however, you’re just going to large number of people from pirating. But with get meme’d on. Never expect anything less. the advent of streaming, the music scene took a little bit of damage to one of its most important As music moved to the internet, the discourse limbs: collecting. While many still collect vinyl, surrounding it inevitably moved too. Boards CDs, and other physical formats, these collections like 4chan’s /mu/, for example, dedicated to usually pale in comparison to, say, a record discussing any and all types of music, have risen collection in the 70s or a CD collection in the 90s to great prominence since then. Constantly when the only viable option was to purchase your brimming with hot-takes, obscure and dug-up music. With even one of these larger streaming tracks, and virulent arguments, these boards services you have almost every album you may be open for discussion of all music, but could ever want at your fingertips in an instant, like any community there are norms that grow meaning physical collecting is left for only the and implant themselves over time. Therefore, most die-hard collectors and fans, and those who having an opinion against the norm leaves you want to support their favorite artists. But that open to criticism. /mu/core is a term that refers doesn’t mean we don’t still share our music. Now to albums, artists, and songs seen as “essential” more than ever, opinions on music are what it’s listening for /mu/ browsers. These /mu/core all about, and if you have a good one — at least essentials often split members of the board, in your mind — then you can go about spewing it leading to lots of arguments about the same slew THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL 35
It’s“ easy to take an elitist approach on any medium
of artists, with new ones always being added to through streaming algorithms or the opinions the mix. Opinions on the internet tend to be the of the people on the web. Being a music hipster most entertaining when they’re extreme, and so has never been less difficult or less impressive. love-it-or-hate-it seems to be the most common Therefore, those who may fall into the category approach to posting on /mu/ and other music are often meme’d on the hardest. We can see this boards on the web. It’s all about the debate, and the most through a variety of “Indie” music meme a lot of music nerds are prepared to debate to the pages on Instagram, which tend to hone in on that ends of the earth. All things considered, it’s no exact joke for the bulk of their product. The result wonder these posts tend to come off a bit elitist is interesting, if not one-note, but worth taking a and self-loving. dive into.
It’s easy to take an elitist approach on any At first glance, memes on pages like sadboicentral, medium, but music seems to be the easiest. boasting nearly 30,000 followers, seem like they Finding a good, obscure album and lording it would require an above-average knowledge of over your friends who haven’t listened to it has current music and trends to completely get, but always been one of the defining traits of “fake- that isn’t necessarily the case. The pages just deep” music enthusiasts and hipsters who try won’t be as rewarding without a bit of knowledge. to stay ahead of the curve to be the coolest in That should go without saying for any niche- their group. But there’s a lot of music out in themed page you might happen to follow; but, the world today, and there’s a lot more being while you won’t get all the references or reasons made all the time. It’s never been easier to find behind all the memes, the vibe and joke that these a great independent album, whether that’s memes put out is pretty easy to understand. For 36 THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL
the most part, the joke is: My music taste is better be exactly what these pages want. Music nerds’ than yours, your favorite band sucks, ha-ha. The most cherished possessions are their knowledge memes take an elitist stance and work as reaction- and opinions, and what’s the use in having those bait by trashing on other users’ music tastes, if there’s nobody with whom to argue them? sometimes in favor of another musician or work. Followers of these pages will never agree with all The best of these pages play it fair. They meme the opinions they put forth, and that’s the point. not only about artists they might not appreciate or The ones interested in engaging will have plenty listen to much, but also about their favorite bands to engage with through these memes and stories in an attempt to show their invincibility to anyone full of reaction-bait, irony, and honest opinions. who might want to throw flak at them or misread Can you always tell what’s what? No. But usually, their page as anything other than entertainment. someone will find something to argue about. Yes, they’re reaction-baiting, and the jokes are one-note, but most of the followers are in on it. Another glaringly obvious influence in Indie The battlefield is equal. And besides, they’re really music memes is the presence of Anthony Fantano. not there for the memes anyway. It should go without saying that Anthony Fantano is one of the most important music critics Beyond making memes, the most successful of working today. He helps a lot of independent these pages double as a way to share their owners’ artists find new fans, and vice-versa. Fantano’s music tastes and expand upon their own. Many of opinions absolutely drench a wide selection these pages, like Instagram’s pageformusicchads, of these memes and pages. They either praise sadboicentral, and indieheadTV, have a major albums that Fantano has also praised, or critique Story game filled with constant interactions. They Fantano for reviewing something poorly that post about what they’re listening to, reviews of they like. Levels of irony present in these memes their favorite and least favorite albums, judgments differ but are usually high. Some people see the of others’ tastes, and plenty of polls debating the Fantano memes and the fact that the owners of merit of artists’ work. If one thing is certain, it’s these pages share some opinions with Fantano that successful music meme pages on Instagram as a problem. They see it as people “latching on” get that way from more than just sharing memes. to Fantano’s opinion and not having their own, These pages become just as much about the simply following along with the trend. But if you opinions of the owner of the said page as they are really look at the people sharing these opinions about the memes, if not more so. This seems to — at least through their meme pages — it’s easy THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL 37
to see that this is an inaccurate and surface-level argument. The influence that Fantano’s opinion has on internet dwellers is a meme itself in the online music landscape, and Fantano recognizes this by regularly reposting memes that fit into that category on his Instagram page. The simple fact is that these meme pages are owned by music nerds and fanatics who appreciate Fantano for being one of them. Of course opinions overlap, how could they not in some cases? Anyone trying to read too deeply into the presence of Fantano in these memes or bash the opinion of these pages in a serious manner is the exact type of elitist that these memes are about. They fall into the trap and leave themselves exposed. It’s just music, after all. There’s no need to get too upset. It’s this self- awareness that keeps the haters out and the music nerds in.
The memes presented on these pages aren’t all winners. The jokes can get stale and one-note, and sometimes the punchlines are forced. But as with any niche meme area there is a winning formula here and a reason why people keep returning. In this case, it’s largely thanks to the personalities behind the pages and their insatiable need to share and develop their music tastes. Opinions are everything in a world where streaming music is king, and memes have proven a successful tactic in letting these users voice their own. Cyanide & Happiness 39
Welcome everyone to our featured Cyanide and Happiness interview! This month we are interviewing Dave, one of the masterminds behind Cyanide and Happiness. Dave has created content enjoyed by millions, and he continues to be one of the most active Meme Insider: The landscape of the web is a forces behind the evolution of the lot diff erent than it was a decade ago. How do internet. Cyanide and Happiness was you feel about the culture shift that has faced the internet and the changes to memes and other one of our inspirations for creating online media? this magazine and continuing to develop high-quality content with our Dave: Everything’s a lot more relatable now, and incredible volunteer team. The work memes are more about a slice of life that relates of Cyanide and Happiness has helped to people. Before that, it was a little more random revolutionize the animation industry or crazy. I don’t like to use the term mainstream, but that’s essentially what they are. Maximum online and create a new generation of relatability is where the trend of memes is now. people interested in art and comics. Memes lean more towards allegories and We spoke with Dave about the history metaphors – such as the distracted boyfriend of online memes, and where he sees format –but there is other stuff that doesn’t them going in the future. You can fi nd really have a format that is popular as well. My Dave @daveexplosm on Twitter. favorite subreddit or meme format right now is “BoneHurtingJuice”. Half the humor for me is taking a step back and asking why does this Please note, these were taken from an format exists! Memes now are less character- interview, and the answers may not based than say, Depressed Daniel, or Socially be verbatim, but were approved of by Awkward Penguin these days, and it’s more about Dave before publishing. particular images now. 40 THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL
MI: Exactly, those are the easiest to spread and hold cultural information.
Dave: They say a picture can say a thousand words, and if a picture can fully nail a complex emotion you have, it’s almost like a new, higher, language. It’s a deeper language. Memes are just created by another dude on the internet. There aren’t a bunch of guys in suits sitting around trying to fi gure out how to create memes, it’s literally a fellow user creating the content. It has made expressing yourself a lot more accessible. It used to be more in the realm of people like comic artists, but now anyone can have a go.
MI: A lot of companies and creators have had issues adapting to the times and the audience, but it looks like C&H has done a good job adapting to that.
Dave: I’ve had issues adjusting to that too; sometimes I don’t even know what’s going on with my Twitter feed. THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL 41
MI: Advertising on YouTube has changed a lot, as well. People have become accustomed to sponsored videos, and they are now a part of normal YouTube. A lot of YouTubers became afraid to do it when it fi rst started.
Dave: I think it certainly depends on how you explain your ads to people. Someone like Gus “They say a picture Johnson, who I greatly admire, says “Here is an ad I need to do to keep paycheck moving in” and can say a thousand he will kind of make fun of it, and companies that sponsor him do not seem to mind at all. People perceive Cyanide & Happiness as a little more words, and if a corporate, and they kind of think we are a bit more money grabbing when we are trying to push picture can fully an ad. nail a complex MI: You became large and played your cards right and put out the eff ort to create new content that always is what your audience likes. emotion you have,
Dave: For sure, and a part of that is Youtubers it’s almost like like PewDiePie have people drawn into him, but other channels such as ours are less personal. It’s a new, higher, harder for people to get behind a hidden team than a person. Our brand is very recognized, but the people behind it may not be as much. We language. are defi nitely looking to create more live-action content. I’m also in a podcast called “The Noise Hole” with my friend Joel Watson. We just play guitar and sing and talk about rock music and talk about growing up with it. ” 42 THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL
MI: What originally got you into animation and comics, and what is your opinion on how online animation has changed over time?
Dave: My interest in comics came from my childhood. I loved reading comics and drawing. As far as my interest in animation goes, I’ve always enjoyed cartoons like any other kid, and around the turn of the millennium (the start of the internet as I personally knew it), I started making stick fi gure death cartoons and became friends with Kris and Rob, who created Explosm and Cyanide & Happiness with me.
We are very fortunate to still being able to do what we are doing. Animation has changed, but I don’t think what animators have wanted to do has changed that much. YouTube defi nitely has not supported traditional, old-school animators as much as they have other creative and instead push people towards watching more digestable, “storytime” content. The Cyanide and Happiness YouTube channel doesn’t really push the creators or team in the same was as, say, TheOdd1sOut. There’s a channel that promotes the creator as a brand and individual as much as the actual content. I think that works for them, but a big diff erence is that these new Youtubers diff er much from what you would fi nd on say, Newgrounds, which emphasized raw animating skills rather than relatable stories. It feels like animators are punished for focusing on the quality of their animation, and YouTube is almost asking people to instead pull out a camera and vlog.
MI: Thank you Dave so much for your time, it was great speaking with you!
SrGrafo Reddit’s Darling Webcomic Artist THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL 45
A feature look at Reddit’s most prolific webcomic creator
@PhatClowns
Somewhere, in the fantastical lands of Argentina, a browser RPG inspired by Final Fantasy Tactics a guy spends the majority of his free time which, at the time of writing, is currently in early creating webcomics on the internet. People in Alpha. this situation are in no short supply, as webcomic artists have occupied the web landscape so deeply Not much is known about SrGrafo’s life, aside that it has become saturated with them. Chances from living in Argentina, being a young college are high that when you see a meme appear student, and looking like he belongs in a Smiths on your feed, that meme will be a rendition of cover band (but in a good way). His art career some meme template which originated from a as we know it began in 2017 with his RimWorld webcomic — that’s just the state of the internet at series, which was a massive success on the the moment. But, somehow, this Argentinian guy RimWorld subreddit. After branching out to other, is different. more general subreddits while expanding the horizons of his content (to more general, often His comics aren’t just art, they represent a “relatable” concepts), the platform latched onto symbiotic interaction between the artist himself his comics like no other. and the people who read his work. In the comment section of any of his posts, you’ll be By 2019, his comics had become a mainstay swimming through a sea of the word “EDIT,” of Reddit, and SrGrafo had become one of the each of which are links to a hand-drawn, curated platform’s most consistent and engaging creators response to one of his fans. This guy is Andre — complete with his signature look of bubbled Rojas, better known as the majestic SrGrafo. characters, clean lines, and colorful, hand-drawn text. SrGrafo is also an avid gamer, frequently using his comics and social media to promote his But what makes SrGrafo’s comics so special is his opinions and thoughts on various video games. affinity for fan engagement. The comics he creates He’s also involved in the development of RpVoid, are designed from the ground up to facilitate deep 46 THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL community interaction at every step of the way, from the comic itself to the thread its posted to. His comics often reference the reader and their thoughts directly. He often holds contests for his fans to showcase their own creative flexibility. Most importantly, he responds to most (if not all) comments his fans leave on the threads he posts to. A fan can expect that a meaningful, entertaining comment of theirs will be met with SrGrafo’s signature “EDIT” link, where he draws a curated response to the user. Observe:
And this, by far, is his biggest strength as a community creator. While nearly every webcomic artist needs to master their brand and interact with their fans, few other webcomic artists have integrated their engagement with their own artwork to the degree and success that SrGrafo has. He’s one of the few major Reddit figures who has followers, for instance, a feature which boggles the mind as to how it exists. His fans are so attached to his work and so innately involved that they get SrGrafo to Reddit’s front page on a near-daily basis. At its core, it’s a symbiotic relationship between a friendly Argentinian man and his internet. anyone who sees the above template in use in the wild generally won’t associate the meme with the Many of his comics, however, are made-to-meme template itself, but rather with SrGrafo in general or template comics. So much so, in fact, that he (in terms of familiarity). This makes his more frequently posts comics which are just textless “memeable” templates somewhat difficult to break (or near-textless) and are posted explicitly for into markets in which is comics don’t already his fans to use as an exploitable and post their occupy (i.e. Reddit specifically), giving his memes own memes. For SrGrafo’s brand, this is excellent a relatively low return value and short shelf-life. marketing; it strongly follows his theme of fan engagement while allowing him to hold the keys The market that SrGrafo occupies — hand-drawn on how his content is used and abused. internet webcomics — is a highly saturated market. Because of this, many webcomic creators But this is a market strategy that does not lend struggle to find their voice, niche, and presence itself well to the longevity of the meme. By doing in the online community, which makes SrGrafo’s this, the “templates” themselves become wildly success all the more impressive. His brand over-saturated, flooding the market with a litany establishment in a sea of competing artists means of loosely-related templates. After a few dozen that building one’s identity is an uphill battle. meme templates are released into the wild, each His difficulty mostly remains in his tethering to template individually tends to be associated with Reddit as a platform. There are other platforms the group of templates as a whole. in which he could typically occupy, but most For example, due to the sheer volume of templates of them would require a tailored approach for from SrGrafo’s comics in the meme marketplace, each platform, and the potential for success on THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL 47
these platforms is unpredictable. Because of this, SrGrafo branching out to other corners of the internet is unlikely, as he appears to be pretty cozy on Reddit.
This, however, only relates to how his webcomics impact the meme market specifically. For SrGrafo’s brand, this is a big brain move that works wonders to help build, expand, and maintain his audience and influence on Reddit. And since he now lives exclusively off of Patreon donations to continue his work, his artwork is essentially his business (as well as his passion) and so marketing is important for him. His unique approach to community engagement and nuanced understanding of the platform in which he inhabits more than explains his explosion in popularity.
Also yeah, his comics are pretty good. Did We Have a Hot Girl Summer? In three powerful words, Megan Thee Stallion summed up a season. But did Twitter practice what she preached? timeinternetgod Fans rule the internet, or at least a pretty visible part of it. We all know about the huge volume of memes generated by pop culture fandoms, yet the most exclusive variation on pop culture memes comes untainted from the culture’s source—a marketing campaign of sorts that brings an artistic touch to personal branding. Rapper Megan Thee Stallion created such a meme in the season-defining phenomenon of “Hot Girl Summer,” which has swept through Twitter and into our cultural consciousness at large.
The popular narrative suggests that Megan’s fans, known as “Hotties,” brought the phrase into the common vernacular. However, its reach has spread so far that even those unfamiliar with the original artist have appropriated it. With the release of the accompanying song and music video, the combination of words is now burned into the brains of millions, whether they are aware of its origins or not.
The clichés surrounding the warmer months are so entrenched that anyone can think up a few on the spot: sun, beaches, vacations and the behavior that comes with them. “Hot Girl Summer” shrewdly grouped these images under a zeitgeisty name while adding a large but approachable dose of self-actualization. No longer just some enjoyable pastimes tied to a few public holidays, these icons of summer now had a purpose. “Summer” is part meme, part mantra, making it ideal for customization and proliferation.
Indeed, the beauty of Hot Girl Summer lies in its ambiguous universality, capturing the essence of having fun and living in the moment. The only truly mandatory part of the phrase is the last word. The hotness in the meme’s context is completely subjective, and according to Megan herself, being a girl is not mandatory to participate. 50 THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL
Even the “summer” of the meme refers less to a Coming hand in hand with this second level is literal point in time and more to a philosophy of another variant, most far removed from Hotties life. For some parts of Twitter, Hot Girl Summer and their ideals of expression: the anti-Hot segues into a pumpkin spice-flavored Christian Girl Summer meme, which may not oppose Girl Autumn. Or, as Megan suggests, the return to the concept itself but treats it as impossible to school ushers in a Hot Nerd Fall. In this apparent achieve. Often these memes will complain over mood of reflection and study, we rightly take the a lack of something, such as money, free time, or time to consider an academic question: was peak a romantic interest, that prevents the user from hotness achieved on the internet this summer? reaching “summer.” One high-profile example self-deprecatingly introduces a photoset of It would be wrong to consider the phenomenon Ronald McDonald putting on his wig with, “me without noticing its primary concern: its joyous tweeting ‘hot girl summer’ and then sitting in and unapologetic vanity. First and foremost, my room texting ‘haha hey what r u doin’.” This “Hot Girl Summer” graced us all with a seasonal development of the meme highlights the gap spin on a canned selfie caption—a more in-your- between material or emotional aspiration and face “I’m baby”—which its earlier adopters used reality. enthusiastically. For the duration of a photo set, your attractiveness was not just like-worthy; it Hot Girl Summer is a combination of meme, was contributing to a global social movement, marketing ploy, and individualist crusade. With united by nothing more than loving oneself. Self- this multifunctional use, its influence on Twitter esteem undoubtedly forms the base tier in this expands beyond the content directly related to the hierarchy of needs, and it has fed most direct single. It co-opts and gives name to a ubiquitous interaction with the meme. feeling with a clarity afforded to only a select few memes, and as a result, it works as a backdrop for Despite the tacit endorsement of equal- contemplating other viral Twitter formats with opportunity hotness, however, many selfie similar themes. captioners unsurprisingly fall high on the scale of conventional attractiveness. From this The meme blueprint, as well as some legitimate point developed the next level of the meme, the crossover, can be found in the turn towards literal quirky edition, which focuses more narrowly wildness signaled by a pair of post formats this on conveying the spirit of the meme. This type summer. The formats’ names, Fish Tube and could be somehow related to the maker’s life, 30-50 Feral Hogs, immediately evoke the surreal albeit rarely accompanied by selfies, or it could alternate universes that they’ve created. Both publicize some deserving person or thing that were accidental phenomena, Feral Hogs being the distills the meme’s essence. The quirky level tweet reply of an irate rural gun owner and Fish was also more likely to include men, usually as Tube an informational video on rehabilitating unconventional but admirable role models for the salmon. These enjoyable, apparently random cause. Some have inserted the phrase alongside behaviors exuded the implausible yet relatable DJ Khaled snapchats, for example, or next to the quality that the archetypal internet Hot Girl now infamous photo of Tom Hanks with his white pursues. shirt tied in front. THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL 51
Arriving later in the summer, these memes spurred discussion about the possible replacement of Hot Girl Summer for the new seasonal mood. However, it makes more sense to think of them as part of the party. Their extreme specificity—the number of hogs (“that run into my yard within 3-5 mins while my small kids play”) and the logistics of the tube—embellish the vagueness of the Hot Girl Summer concept with anecdotes of sorts, carrying the real world celebration it supports back into the weird online realm. For the duration of On top of this crucial grounding role, the animals “ involved in each format align them with the a photo set, your unpredictability of quirky Hot Girl Summer memes. Fish Tube and 30-50 Feral Hogs provide attractiveness an unlikely yet fitting example of the genre, exemplifying the movement becoming bigger than was not just like- its publicity in a way that both decontextualizes it worthy; it was and enriches its manifesto. Spontaneity and outgoingness are prized as contributing to essential parts of the Hot Girl Summer. This connects the meme with the resurgence of the a global social longstanding Number Neighbor trend, last popularized in late 2015. The premise of texting a movement, united stranger and starting a conversation draws on the same vital components of Hot Girl Summer for its by nothing more gimmick. When the spirit of the meme is shared, positive outcomes like sharing advice or a joke than loving oneself can represent a more innocent embrace of the movement’s ideals.
On the flip side, more negative phone interactions (such as one participant whose friendly number neighbor turns reticent upon learning he’s texting “ with “Mohammed”) can show a willingness to dictate one’s self worth regardless of negativity or prejudice, as well as pose an opportunity to make humor out of something insulting. 52 THE NATION’S LEADING INTERNET TRENDS JOURNAL
For all its carefree attitude, Hot Girl Summer has The message, which Megan on Twitter defines unavoidable connotations of attractiveness and as “being unapologetically YOU… living YOUR popularity, a tendency the anti-Hot Girl memes truth,” confers an offline currency to the meme rebuked. As such, a meme concerned with social beyond its immense monetary value, allowing status like Where Y’all Sitting? arguably falls for extraordinary personalization even beyond under the influence of Megan’s anthem. Where the hot summer days. Much as being a Hottie is Y’all Sitting? has similar stan culture roots, with a state of mind, so were the fleeting months of its many iterations involving seating different identifying as Hot Girls, a lifestyle often difficult celebrities, songs, or movies at various lunch to pinpoint from the outside despite the collective tables. The game format adds an element of choice movement backing it. Risqué name aside, Hot that’s easy to interact with, granting the user full Girl Summer is a more rebellious cousin of power over the social status in their decision. the wholesome tradition, encouraging self- Where Y’all Sitting? reimagines the sometimes improvement as well as entertainment. Deciding traumatizing experience of the high school social if we had a Hot Girl Summer ultimately falls to us, ladder as a defiant personality statement, keeping the meme consumers, and whether we chose to with Hot Girl Summer’s theme of self-love and write it off as unattainable or boldly embody it. integrity.
Although not all the aforementioned memes directly cross over with Megan’s movement, all have extended its shadow of influence by exhibiting and expanding upon its traits. They may have gone through some bearish patches or their makers’ crippling insecurity, but for the most part they have complemented the hectic rise of Hot Girl Summer. As of July, Megan has tried to trademark the expression—proof of its real world pop culture impact.