Written by Sam Reeves, Online News Editor/Webmaster/Social Media Director
There’s a new language that has become popular amongst teens: the language of memes. The viral internet images and videos become increasingly popular as time goes on, and kids are beginning to use them at younger ages.
“They help bring people together,” said McKinlee Medeiros, a senior at Bev Facey Community High School. “People who often relate to them tend to create friendships by bonding over them or find the same kind of humor between people you wouldn’t expect.”
Other teens agreed that memes have been able to help with making friendships and connections, changing the way they communicate with each other.
“Instead of small talk, we now send each other memes. That’s how I make friends at this point,” said Lia Berg, an Indian Trail High School & Academy senior.
While helping to bring younger people together, the newfound language has seemed to cause a rift between younger and older generations.
“They’ve created an entirely new vernacular, that most, if not all, people from generations before Millennials simply don’t understand, because they were not raised in the technological age that we are currently living in,” said Centennial High School senior Lindsay Mackinnon. “It just doesn’t make sense to them, so it creates a ‘generational gap’ between those who are in on the jokes and those who are not.”
Several other kids also acknowledged the gap between generations due to the fact that Generation Z has always known and been surrounded by technology. However, some teens also suggest the gap was also created due to difference in age and beliefs.
“Our generation is a bit younger than most, and we are kind of more accepting of certain ideas, and with memes it’s more of a visual idea of certain things,” said Elliot Kness, a General Studies junior at Indian Trail.
According to research conducted by the Pew Research Center, this generation is the most diverse generation yet, which explains why so many topics can be discussed through viral images and videos.
Teens agreed that memes being used as an education tool or to shed light on certain issues can make it easier to communicate with each other as well as with adults.
“Because the ‘meme life cycle’ is about two weeks, there’s always a new stream of content through which to discuss world events,” said Mackinnon.
For example, anti-vaccination memes have been extremely popular as of late as teens speak out on the importance of vaccinations and argue that anti-vaxxers should protect their children with vaccines instead of letting them be exposed to deadly diseases.
“People just want to impose their ideas on others,” said Kness. “So with memes, it’s easier to mask who you are and make it a funny joke.”
However, teens also spoke on how memes can potentially be harmful to one’s well being.
“When comparing the memes of 10 years ago to the current ones, they are often chock full of inappropriate content, because that is what our generation laughs at,” said Mackinnon. “I believe this can have a negative impact on the overall mental well-being of teenagers who are hooked on social media.”
Several agreed that despite the potential risks that internet memes could create, there are several positives, they just have to be used carefully. Research by Australia’s National Youth Foundation Centre found that memes about mental health actually can be helpful to break social stigmas when used correctly.
“It depends on the person. Memes can be funny, they can be political, they can share ideas, they can be knowledgeable. It really depends on how the meme is used,” said Kness.