Meme misquotes

 

— Social media has given the average Joe or Jane an unprecedented platform for posting profound platitudes. 

Alliteration aside, many of us are enamored and inspired when we see something on Facebook or other social media platforms. Somehow we just have to share those words of wisdom because they resonate so strongly that we can’t wait to share them on our timeline. 

Or maybe we just find something that tickles our funny bone and we presume our friends will appreciate our brand of humor (personally I prefer puns).

Creators of memes (A meme, according to Merriam Webster, is “an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture.”) can easily take a photo of someone and literally put words in their mouth. Some meme abuses are more obvious than others. Some are funny, but others are downright misleading. 

Jelani Greenidge, wrote in Urban Faith about a variety of ways memes can be misleading or at worst incendiary, urging against posting them and reiterating the ideal of social media being a way to enjoy connecting with others, sharing things about their lives. Reasons for meme posting given include inciting passions for or against an ideology, political, spiritual or otherwise, such as a meme showing a crowd at a Chick-fil-A snarkily stating “You’d never see that many Christians lined up to help at a food bank or homeless shelter,” followed by the kicker “and that’s something Jesus actually said to do.”  For me, a Christian who volunteers with my wife to serve meals to my community’s needy and homeless, I would take offense. Such a post is insensitive to the fact that many such organizations that help those less fortunate were founded on biblical principles and are staffed by armies of volunteers from within the faith community. 

While I agree with Greenridge on some points, I part ways with her dismissiveness towards inspirational memes. Sure, some of the memes may seem trite, but this is 2020 — a tough year on so many fronts — and I am all for anything uplifting that can help lift someone’s spirits. 

While I’ve sworn on a stack of Bibles not to be political in my blog posts, I’ll say some of the worst offenders have been political memes. 

A meme a few years ago portrayed President Obama at a school interacting with a girl who was apparently showing him something she built, but the words superimposed on the image have the president saying “You didn’t build that,” a takeoff on controversial comments he made publicly at a 2012 campaign event in Virginia. Obama’s words, spoken to business leaders, suggested that the government had a role in facilitating their success. A website funded by the Annenberg Foundation, FactCheck.org, claims itself to be a resource to do — er — what the name suggests you do. While it’s not the only one, it’s a resource nonetheless. 

Personally I love sharing memes I find to be funny, as long as they’re not making fun at someone else’s expense. Sometimes it’s a good-natured ribbing of my own shortcomings. I try to be careful of selling myself short and posting something potentially damaging to me or someone I love. 

I won’t go so far as to suggest that you should never share memes you like. I think you’re capable of making informed decisions for yourself. There is value to an individual giving thought to the surface information presented and quietly evaluating the pro’s or con’s of sharing it. 

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