The thing about the internet is that it’s stupid. The stupid things get popular, and the really interesting or fantastic things don’t.

What do you think is most likely to go viral? A video of a science lecture on the origins of the universe? A news story about a man saving a child from a burning building? Or a picture of a cat with a misspelled caption on it?

I got news for you, it won’t be the first two. And that makes me sad.

But it’s the nature of humanity, we find the dumbest things funny, so we keep coming back to them. So what do you do? Well, you exploit it of course.

That’s how most websites operate. They exploit some lowest common denominator, and earn millions off it. Whether it be funny top ten lists, videos of idiots talking about bullshit to no one or stories about people being stupid. And the fact is, they’re all pointless. They’re just wastes of time that produce no economic, political, or artistic value. Except for the Business Cat thing, that’s just adorable.

Heehee! He thinks he’s people!

Which brings me to the concept of memes, which is from the Greek meaning ‘joke overused to the point of meaninglessness.’

Memes are nice in small doses, but I find all too often they get thrown into internet conversations while missing the original context. So it’s just shitty pencil drawing someone threw in for no reason. Which is why I hate memes. They’re not funny, they’re just annoying.

But when a new one pops up, it can be halfway amusing for a few minutes. Then the point comes crashing down. It’s the 15 minutes of fame scenario. Unfortunately, for some people, those 15 minutes can be the scariest 15 minutes of their lives.

Which brings me to a recent episode of Littlest Pet Shop. See how everything ties together? Continue reading →