Internet Memes

I feel like I've blogged loads this week but I really really haven't. Never mind, I'm here now. I've just watched Dr Who and I won't spoil it in case you haven't seen it, but let's just say my mind is officially blown. Touché, writers.

Anyway, I've got things on my mind, people. I love the internet. I love my blog, and I love reading other people's blogs; I love how easy it is to keep in touch with people through the likes of Facebook; I love internet shopping; I love Tumblr, and most of all, I love how many funny/cool/interesting websites are on the internet. However, I do not love internet phases (or memes) that are either taken too far, or that think they're funny when they are painfully unfunny. 

One of the biggest culprits currently making the rounds is "That awkward moment when..." followed by something which is supposed to be a funny awkward moment. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I seriously envy you. This 'phenomenon' has its own website, but I simply don't understand the popularity. Here's some examples, hand-picked by me from the website:

• That awkward moment when the parents of the children you’re babysitting come home and find you sleeping on the couch.
• That awkward moment when you slip while reading a “floor slippery when wet” sign. 
• That awkward moment when you realize that Waldo is not the world champion at hide and seek. 
• That awkward moment when you sit on the remote and think a ghost turned on the TV.
• That awkward moment when your chair makes a farting noise and no one believes it was the chair, so you try to do it again but you can’t make the sound.

I think you get the point. The trouble with this craze is that when it started, there were actually a few funny ones around, and people were like, "Lol, it's funny 'cause it's true." But now, like with this website, people can submit their own, and they very rarely raise so much as a smile, or they're Mean Girls references. The thing is though, they're hardly ever even what I would consider an 'awkward moment'. Honestly, go and check for yourself. I mean, is this really funny to people? Am I losing my touch with popular culture? No, I don't think so. I just think it's stupid.

Another one is I think mainly Facebook orientated where they have all those groups you can 'like'. I think it's quietened down a bit now but it was everywhere for a while. I'm talking about the "Lol jk" jokes fad. For all you non-text speakers, here is the Urban Dictionary definition -

LOL, JK - The 'textual communication' version of "Laughing Out Loud, Just Kidding".

A lot of these were pretty sexist/racist or just generally offensive (if not for the content then just for the sheer unfunniness). Here's a couple just for reference:

• I'd take a bullet for you...LOL jk that would hurt.
• I'm studying for exams...LOL jk I'm on Facebook. 
• It's not you, it's me...LOL jk, it's you. 

Again, you get the point. As I said, I think this one has pretty much died down now, but I brought it up because I saw one a couple of weeks ago which infuriated me.

I finish uni on the 18th May... LOL, jk, I do a real degree.

This page is filled with comments from people, and the crux of what they were saying is that if you do a degree where your exams are finished by the 18th May then your degree isn't viable. Most of the people commenting were engineering students, or medical students of some kind, and whilst I have the utmost respect for these professions, I find the sheer ignorance behind the individual statements astounding. For one, the students don't decide the exam and term dates, the Universities do, and so whilst May is early to finish, it by no accounts means that the work ethic is low among the students themselves. My exam is on the 31st May, but I reckon I'd still be counted in this group, because if it wasn't for the fact that I'm in my final year, I would've had a four month break. I think it's incredibly rude of people to belittle my degree choice just because it isn't one that translates into an obvious career path. And after all, if we all did engineering degrees then there'd be no demand for engineers thus rendering engineering obsolete as a degree choice. Bit of a rant, but it just annoys me that because some degree subjects finish for summer a lot earlier than say a medical degree, medical students think that they're the only ones doing anything worthwhile. (By the way, I realise not every single medical or engineering student thinks like this, I purely mean those who commented on this particular group.)

And breathe.

But yeah, back to my original point, 'Lol jk' jokes aren't funny, kay? There's so many more I could comment on but I think I'd just be going around in circles and then we'd be stuck in a neverending blog post. Which would be awful.

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Song of the Day: Where The Road Meets The Sun by Matthew Perryman Jones and Katie Herzig 

And when the day comes I'll meet you here/'Cause I know that wishes come true/Finding my way back to you