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culture. He doesn’t feel like he has concrete answers, and there’s relatively little academic study on the subject. Are memes just regurgitating consumerist pop culture? Or are they reclaiming it? Are they critical of their source material? Memes were born of the internet because they’re the perfect vehicle for information online — concise, visually appealing and able to make viewers feel like they’re on the inside of the joke. But they can have offline consequences, both for those who create them and for the world at large. And once a meme is out there, it’s not always easy to take back. If there’s anything Wallace rues about the way the internet has evolved, he said, it’s the end of anonymity. He’s uncomfortable with the idea that a Facebook page can stand in for his actual personhood and that everything he does online is somehow associated with his real identity. Some meme makers seem to be recognizing the value of privacy and anonymity. Young Instagrammers often create “finstas” (shorthand VARIATIONS ON A MEME: This 2016 meme format pitted for “fake Insta”) where they Sanders against Hillary Clinton on various pop-culture post more off-color or offtopics. Critics said the memes were sexist. brand content for friends’ King doesn’t think this online momen- eyes only. Memes are shared more and tum is limited to Sanders. (He doesn’t more frequently through private direct work for the Sanders campaign anymore messages and message groups. — he’s with Middle Seat, a consulting One UVM student, who declined to be firm that’s running online advertising named for this story, anonymously started and fundraising for Beto O’Rourke’s 2020 the Instagram account @uvmwoes to campaign.) While King acknowledges criticize the UVM administration and that a lot of “incredibly talented and poke fun at campus life. The account has borderline weird” supporters — this is a gained more than 1,000 followers since compliment — flocked to Sanders in 2016, February, but the student said it isn’t he called such people the engine behind something she wants to be known for in any successful campaign. real life. “I would hope that 2016 was kind of Anonymity on the internet allows a eye-opening in terms of how important young person to try on different identiand how valuable the internet was as a ties, Wallace pointed out. tool for building awareness and generat“That’s my old-man-yelling-at-cloud ing support for a candidate,” King said. “It moment,” Wallace said with a laugh, of certainly did wonders for getting people his doubts about online culture. “Old man involved who otherwise would kind of yelling at cloud,” by the way, refers to a tune out the election process, or kind of popular screenshot from “The Simpsons,” watch it go by from the sidelines.” often shared online to indicate someone is fighting a losing battle of minor Living in a Meme World consequence. Wallace, the Middlebury digital archives In other words, it’s a meme. m librarian, spends a lot of time thinking about the impact of digital memes on Contact: margaret@sevendaysvt.com
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