What Is a Meme on Social Media?

Everyone knows what a meme is. If you have to ask what a meme is, you’ve probably been hiding under a rock. It’s time to come out and experience memes – the newest and most important thing that’s happened to humor and joking in this part of the century.

But what is a meme on social media? There’s nothing more to it; it is just a funny picture with or without text posted on any social media platform. You can post memes on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. You post memes on social media to be funny. You can make one yourself, or you can share what’s already there. How to post a meme is all up to you.

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Table of Contents

What Is a Meme?

A meme is a quick-witted, in-your-face jab at anything a creator deems worthy of making humorous. Memes aim to poke fun and point out the less-than-obvious funny things that we all somewhat notice. Memes make them concrete jokes for everyone to have a good giggle about.

A meme first took the form of pictures with awkward, yet concisely composed texts overlaid on them. Memes also, later on, took the form of GIF files and even short videos. These memes in all their forms would be made and shared in early social platforms like forums, chat rooms, and even emails.

There is no hard and fast definition of what a meme should look like because, just like anything that originated from the internet, the meme is constantly evolving. You could even go as far as to say that memes are what you make them. As long as another person gets the humor in your meme, then your meme is a meme.

How Brands Can Take Advantage of Memes?

Only personal users made memes for the longest time. Internet nerds in forums and chat rooms unwittingly invented the meme and was a means of expression in a pure and unadulterated form. But now, brands and influencers make them to help their popularity. Purists on Reddit or 4chan would probably condemn these corporate memes, but memes are just jokes, and nobody can rightfully say using memes for mileage is wrong.

Humor is a universal language that everyone understands. Brands recognize this and now harness the power of memes to get to their target audience. The funnier a meme, the more exposure it gets, and brands know this fact. Despite that, brands often get memes wrong, and their memes come off as over-endeavoring and trying hard. Some brands hit the nail on the head, go viral, and get the mileage they sorely want.

Memes are taken advantage of by brands and influencers as advertising tools. Ad agencies take on the role of meme creators and try to capture the market where memes are the foremost ways to elicit laughs. Memes, though created in the 2000s, will always belong to a young demographic. Grade school to college kids are the primary consumers of their jokes-in-a-post. So, if brands and social media influencers want a piece of the pie of this younger demographic, then memes are a way to go.

Pros and Cons of Using Memes on Social Media

Now, even people beyond the younger demographic get a kick out of memes. People who understand memes are not limited to the millennials and the Gen Y’s and Z’s. If you are a brand that posts memes for advertising, it is safe to assume that almost everyone gets it. Not everyone, but at least a lot of people will.

So, why use memes on social media at all? Let’s discuss what could work and what would not work for your brand. Here is a table of some disadvantages and advantages of using memes for advertising your brand.

Pros/Advantages	Cons/Disadvantages
EASILY UNDERSTANDABLEMemes are easily understandable material. If you target the general masses, then memes are a way to be perceived as approachable.	HARDLY UNDERSTANDABLE FOR OLDER PEOPLEThe older generation does not understand memes. If you have an older demographic as your target audience, memes might be a little hard to comprehend.
NO IPMemes are free property, and you can copy memes to your heart’s content. Nobody will file a case against you if your brand’s meme looks like another.	HARD TO CREATEYou may have made a meme but is it funny? Memes may look like very simple things to make, but it takes a special X-factor to create really funny ones. Meme-making is a true art form. Meme-making takes practice and research.
VERY FLEXIBLEMemes follow no real and rigid format, and creators, influencers, and brands can make them as they want to. Once they find a way to make memes that their target audience appreciates, they will have a real take-off point for making other newer memes.	MEMES ARE NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLYA campaign you have might run into the trouble of not being taken seriously by your market. Memes are taken as jokes, and people might not take what you say seriously.
EASY TO MAKEOnce you have a good, funny template, you can churn out memes for days. Be sure that you are well-versed in your chosen topic and that you are primed to make memes of your own.	MEMES GET OLDHave you noticed that the memes we have been laughing at 5 years ago are not being used these days? It is because of the organic fact new memes are being created as we speak, and older ones are going out of fashion.

Tips on Creating Memes that Can Enhance Your Brand

1. Be well-versed in your content, topic, genre, or niche.

Pick an interest that you know by heart. Only a sincerely made meme is a funny meme. As you have probably deduced by now, memes may be funny but creating them is serious business. Being a corny meme maker is the last thing you want to be.

2. Be updated with the latest memes.

What is the most popular meme today? Make sure to stay updated with these. Memes and the context in that memes operate are intricate and abstract things that you can only understand by delving headlong into the world of memes and meme-making.

Meme Me More, Meme Me More!

If your meme isn’t funny, don’t bother posting it. Making sure that you find your meme funny will be the foundation of your meme campaign on social media. Practice and consult your friends about how funny your memes are, and making them will be a solid part of your brand’s advertising repertoire.