Relevance and the power of memes
Word of mouth cuts through the strong algorithmic currents
We are well and truly living in the meme era where accounts like SSENSE have brought memes to the forefront of their social media strategy.
With vanity metrics like follower counts meaning less and less, it’s possible to gain traction on each video, finding fresh audiences every upload and forming micro forums in comment sections. Relevance is “the quality or state of being closely connected or appropriate”. Everyone is seeking the same relevance from the same audiences. It used to be that an emerging artist for example would be trying to find their audience in a completely different manner to a giant corporation. TikTok and hyper-personalised algorithms have flattened the playing field. The name of the game is now, “how do we find our audience and stay relevant?”.
A crucial byproduct of relatable content is shareability. The ‘silver bullet’ to virality is how content is being shared. Word of mouth cuts through the strong algorithmic currents. Memes are cultural shortcuts that carry shared meaning, leading to cognitive fluency making them feel honest, less risky and more likeable. According to Jonah Berger’s research in Contagious “people share content that provokes strong emotions” like amusement, awe, anger or delight.
Memes trigger an emotional reaction and desire to share a feeling with others. We’re constantly building social capital through signifiers of taste, timing and cultural awareness. Memes pack a punch with maximum engagement per pixel that create a loop of virality that is hard to throttle and prone to remixing, reposting and circulation in group chats, private DMs and stories. Understanding memes happens in milliseconds, acting as a dopamine-rewarding puzzle. Rather than asking for attention, they earn attention creating a stronger connection.
Last year, Ethel Cain declared we are in an ‘irony epidemic’ where “everything has to be a joke at all times…I LOVE funny shit…. but there is such a loss of sincerity”.
The risk of leaning too heavily into meme culture as a brand or artist is the complete lack of identity and ironically, loss of relevancy. Making memes your entire personality can hurt your brand in the long run. Enjoy it while it lasts!
