Internet culture is the worst community. I am disgusted at the current state of the Internet. For the past two years I have seen the internet, specifically communities, such as Reddit and Twitter, decay into mindless circle jerks. The popularization of “meme culture” is a direct threat to the potential of what can be done through the Internet.

The first order of business to address is the term “meme”, which is what I believe to be, the source of decay. This term has been used since 1993, and every year since, it’s popularity has grown exponentially. One goes to any college campus and ask any college student if they knows about “memes” and their eyes will light up and they will ramble about how much of a “memer” they are. Go to any cul de sac in the suburbs. Ask a housewife if she knows what memes are, she will also parry with a lengthy response. Online, the true rot can be seen, so many websites and their communities such as Buzzfeed, Smosh Pit, and iFunny will circle jerk about “memes” and a supposed Internet culture. Communities like Reddit are a similar cancer but with a superiority complex. All over the internet and even real life, people flatter their own knowledge about “memes”. Every time I hear someone say “I have an addiction to memes” or how “Fire my memes are” my heart aches at what could have been with the Internet. Recently, many individuals belonging to these groups have started complaining about how “memes” have been quickly run to the ground due to rapid overexposure. This should not come as a surprise. Millions of Internet users have access to the current “memes”. Memes lose their humorous nature because nearly all facets of the Internet are overrun with its use.

Most people online could be considered a normie in the true sense of the word. A straight. A follower. A normie is a person who gravitates towards social standards, accepted practices such as circle jerking about memes, and fads of their own time, memes. A normie possesses a lack of interest in ideas not easily accessible or being outside of their society’s current range of acceptance. Ironically a lot of normies support radical ideas. The word “meme” itself has been eroded by the waves of casuals. Therefore, I will not use the term “meme” in the rest of this document due to its cringe-inducing nature. I will use the term “internet phenomenon”. A normie has a weak mind and thus a short attention span—this is the reason you drive these Internet phenomena to the ground in a couple of days. This is the same reason everything is ruined. Something spontaneously natural spawns from the minds of few. When a larger community sees this and likes it, it creates a demand. People start pushing out shitty forced memes as a response. Many iterations of an Internet phenomenon could be seen as ironic and intentionally bad remixes of the original idea. Criticizing a creation while contributing to its existence creates a sense of comradery. The disrespect creates a sense of informality while contributions are seen as an acceptance of the idea. Internet phenomena are bound to rise in any informal close knit environment, much like an inside joke. However, Internet phenomena now are less of inside jokes and more just jokes, and a joke everyone knows the punchline to is not funny.

If one wants to secure the longevity of an Internet phenomenon, gatekeeping is necessary. One may complain that gatekeeping is unnecessary and encourages pretentious behavior. I would argue that when gatekeeping is done right it can preserve and mold an ideology into something greater. Let’s go back to the idea of an Internet phenomenon being like an inside joke. Is the joke as enjoyable when everyone references it? What about movie quotes? Gatekeeping only creates pretentiousness when the bar of entry is set at a questionable level. Does an individual joining a group of like minded fans diminish what they value when he or she does not know the name the couch of a sports team during the 1930s? Does it diminish when one does not know one of the writers in an 80s comic? I would argue no. One however does bastardize the ideas of a group when suddenly the newcomer proves his or her incapability and attempts to take control of the group. Would a comic book fan club lose passion if its leader not only did not know the difference between the villians and the heroes nor their intentions and started printing out the new issues? How about this new wave of pseudo intellectuals who trust no publications but the ones that feed their narrative? Should they not be gatekept from legitimate establishments?

Internet phenomena should be gatekept because they fall into the same category. People can bastardize and create their own Internet phenomena. In a way this is what Internet phenomena are for, but unfettered production of Internet phenomena is the equivalent of considering any canvas art. The Ice Bucket Challenge was for ASL wasn’t it, but that devolved into purly pouring water on your head. Imagine how much more money could have been donated if that message was not lost. It is impossible to stop someone from using an idea. Especially if the majority wishes to adopt the idea. I suggest that if one wishes to make an Internet phenomena, he or she must take steps to make it intentionally difficult to spread. The reason 4Chan had been so good at producing new memes for awhile was its awful website design. It deterred those who wanted to jump in and unnecessarily ruin an Internet phenomena out. Eventually though, Twitter became popular and all those people who could not gain entry made their Internet phenomena there. Now Twitter makes the most Internet phenomena just from the sheer volume. People who wonder why Internet phenomena feel like they are dying faster, there is your answer. The people who were not competent in making lasting Internet phenomena suddenly were making all the memes.

Despite the sheer volume we are facing there is a simple final solution to “saving” Internet phenomena. We can start calling them nigrs. The word nigger will not be adopted by the general populace. Leave the word meme to the normies. The ones who truly wish to create lasting Internet phenomena will have to make entry uncomfortable to newcomers.