The New York Times Has Become The Meme Police
Luke Rohlfing
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Internet trolls and “shitposters” are a regular fixture of the internet. From generally tame Reddit communities like The_Donald, to the darker reaches of 4chan and 8chan, memes are a way of life. But after spending enough time on any of these platforms, one thing becomes clear: The left can’t meme.
The official definition of a meme is “an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online especially through social media.”
The best comedy has always been provocative, and the internet hasn’t changed that. So while the left continues to freak out about “trigger warnings,” and micro-aggressions, the right has been having fun. Edgy memes can regularly be found originating on 4chan, and Reddit, and make their way all the way up to the President of the United States.
In July of last year, President Donald Trump shared an animated GIF showing himself tackling a man with a CNN logo over his face.
https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/881503147168071680?lang=en
That meme angered the mainstream media so much that they tracked down and blackmailed the creator, who originally posted the meme on pro-Trump Reddit community, The_Donald.
Now, as time has gone by, mainstream media outlets have continued their assault on internet meme culture. In recent days, an internet troll edited an animated image purporting to show Emma Gonzalez, an anti-gun student organizer of the March for Our Lives, ripping the Constitution in half.
In response, The New York Times posted an article shaming those who shared the image, that was clearly made as a joke (with true sentiments).
But The New York Times hasn’t stopped there. They are now targeting memes that those on communities like 4chan would call “normie” memes. 4chan would refer to those who don’t regularely use their site as a “normie,” short for “normal person.”
The same day they went after the Emma Gonzalez meme, the New York Times also attacked “dog memes.” Dog memes are nothing more than funny pictures of dogs, which are often found on Facebook feeds.
Enough with "funny dog" GIFs. It might look like the dog is smiling, but that expression actually indicates fear or worry. Worse are the dogs stuffed into human clothes. https://t.co/EgXLWMxmtP
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) March 27, 2018
In the article, The New York Times alludes towards dog memes being abusive and degrading to the dogs being pictured. It is absolutely ridiculous to try to shame people looking at funny pictures of dogs doing things such as wearing human clothes.
But this may go farther than what meets the eyes. Memes were used very successfully by Trump supporters prior to the 2016 election. Memes were so prevalent that many of those who shared the memes during the election consider themselves “Meme War Veterans.”
In the eyes of those online Trump supporters in 2016, they were at war with the left, and the mainstream media, and their memes were their ammunition against them. Many in the media want to strongly deny that any war ever occurred. But here at Big League Politics, we stand with the brave meme warriors who helped elect Donald Trump.
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