Dembot: Horsemaning A Forced Meme? A day in the life of Meme Research »

nickdouglas:

(Background: BuzzFeed invented a meme called “horsemaning” and pretended it was real, though people familiar with them would recognize everyone in the pics as a BuzzFeed employee. Rocketboom founder Andy Baron and Gawker writer Adrian Chen both accused BuzzFeed of a hoax. Then the discussion below ensued.)

chrismenning:

expresident:

brianfeldman:

dembot:

Kids these days.

Horsemanning is making the rounds, and it’s a creepy one. When authentically posed, one person hides their head and another person shows their head somewhere else. Over the last week, many people have been inspired by the idea, performing their own versions. It’s…

Full disclosure: In the summer of 2010, I worked for BuzzFeed as an editorial intern. I do not work for them anymore, and my comments are totally my own.

Anyway…. hahahahahahahaha what even is this? First of all, can we talk about internet meme research? That is a hilarious form of research. I will totally admit that tracking these trends and their origins is a very interesting anthropological prospect. Answering questions about why something catches on, and how it spreads are increasingly important, especially since nobody has really figured out the internet hive mind yet (and I doubt anyone ever will).

But researching this stuff for the sole purpose of yelling “Fake!” is hilarious to me. Especially since there are so many other, shittier things to be pissed about. (Tons of people are going hungry in the Horn of Africa! The stock market is fluctuating wildly and we got downgraded! Michele Bachman may become President!) I guess the point is that taking something so inconsequential, and trying to expose it as fake is a huge waste of time. 99% of people (not a real statistic) either enjoy memes or just move on with their lives. It takes a very committed (and weirdly obsessive) type of person to want to somehow strip that sense of joy away for no reason.

The other hilarious thing about this is the idea the BuzzFeed is somehow trying to cover up the fact that all of those original pictures are of BuzzFeed employees. Clearly, this is the biggest cover up since the Kennedy assassination. That mustachioed guy, Gavon, is all over the site (example: here). One of those other guys is Matt Stopera’s brother. (I assume. They look pretty similar and have the same last name.) Tanner did a really nice job complimenting his own appearance on his blog.

Oh, and that giant red couch? The smoking gun? The case cracker? You can see it right here on the jobs page.

The BuzzFeed crew is an incredibly sharp group of people—on both the editorial and technical sides. If they wanted to hide the fact that they had created a small backstory for a meme, then it would be much harder for you to figure it out.

But my main point is this: who the hell gives a shit that it’s made up? Are people going to stop taking funny pictures that amuse themselves because the flimsy, one-sentence historical background turns out to be a sham?

Mr. Baron writes: “It’s undoubtably caused joy and fun for many who have contributed. But. [emphasis added]” Why is there a “but”? Just leave it at the fact that someone made something that “caused joy and fun” at nobody’s expense.

In an increasingly polarized and exaggerated public discourse, as civilization moves closer and closer to cannibalizing itself, internet memes matter so damn little—and I say this as someone whose paychecks last summer were primarily funded by internet memes.

Finally, I realize that writing an extensive piece about how unimportant something happens to be is, by its very nature, completely and utterly paradoxical. But this article just seemed so smug and vitriolic towards people I used to work with, and so hilariously desperate in trying to stir shit up, that I wanted to point that out.

Exactly right. Especially the part about how we are smart as whips over here at BuzzFeed. I liked that part. Veritable whips up in this motherfucker. (Except Tanner. Tanner is pretty much a halfwit.)

That awkward moment where your old boss doesn’t get a joke, then spends two days trying to embarrass you in front of your coworkers, only to embarrass himself.

Everyone loses!

Though the haplessly self-serious Andy Baron overdid it, there is value in calling out a fake meme. This isn’t some obscure corner of the internet; Today Show hosts have posted horsemaning pics, and legit news organizations, looking for more hour-ending filler, have glommed onto it because they want to “stay relevant.” So yes, it actually makes sense to post something explaining that it’s fake. I’d bet his motives were less than noble, but that doesn’t make his contribution worthless.

The only thing sadder than spending hundreds of words investigating a meme is… wait, isn’t that what all of us do all fucking day?

Also, this “there are more important issues” bullshit is, in the parlance of our times, fake and gay. Because sure, if Andy wasn’t solving the Case of the Familiar Couch, he’d be out fighting two wars, feeding Africa and running a campaign against Michele Bachmann. Fuck off with that, Feldman.

What began as a satirical post about how so many things had been “X is the new planking” GREW INTO legitimate participation. Sure, an idea was manufactured, but people liked it and played along. Keyboard Cat had similar beginnings. Strutting Leo as well. This isn’t the same kind of meme as something that grows organically from within a community like rage comics but that doesn’t change the fact that people all over the world really are participating in the fad.

TL;DR The Internet Is Serious Business