{"id":763,"date":"2020-03-16T15:48:52","date_gmt":"2020-03-16T21:48:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ctlj.colorado.edu\/?p=763"},"modified":"2021-04-02T09:10:58","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T15:10:58","slug":"law-school-memes-for-edgy-t14s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ctlj.colorado.edu\/?p=763","title":{"rendered":"Law School Memes for Edgy T14s"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\" style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1131 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/ctlj.colorado.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/meme1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"504\" height=\"339\" \/>\r\n<figcaption><br \/>&#8220;Who is intellectual property? I don&#8217;t know her.&#8221; The exact date of the internet\u2019s advent continues to be debated by scholars, but the origin of one of the internet\u2019s most popular content mediums can be traced directly back to 1976, and the publication of Richard Dawkins\u2019 <em>The Selfish Gene. <\/em>It was in this book that Dawkins first<a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/arts-culture\/what-defines-a-meme-1904778\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" proposed the concept of a \u201cmeme,\u201d (opens in a new tab)\"> proposed the concept of a \u201cmeme,\u201d<\/a> which he defined as \u201ca unit of cultural transmission.\u201d Dawkins offered nursery rhymes, catchphrases, and fashion trends as examples of such transmissions. \u00a0A couple of decades later, in 1994, internet scholar and attorney Mike Godwin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/1994\/10\/godwin-if-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">proposed the idea of an internet meme<\/a>: \u201cA \u2018meme,\u2019 of course, is an idea that functions in a mind the same way a gene or virus functions in the body. And an infectious idea (call it a \u2018viral meme\u2019) may leap from mind to mind, much as viruses leap from body to body.\u201d<br \/><br \/><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\" style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1134 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/ctlj.colorado.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/meme4.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"559\" height=\"391\" \/><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\">Early examples of internet memes\u2014units of cultural transmission created by and for the internet age\u2014include the late-90s phenomenon of <a href=\"https:\/\/knowyourmeme.com\/memes\/hampster-dance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">\u201cthe hampster dance\u201d<\/a> and \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/knowyourmeme.com\/memes\/all-your-base-are-belong-to-us\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">all your base are belong to us.<\/a> In 2020, memes might be <a href=\"http:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/2017\/07\/howdy-im-the-sheriff-emoji-memes-how-to-make.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">a certain joke format<\/a>, a <a href=\"\/techcrunch.com\/2014\/09\/03\/the-ice-bucket-challenge-by-the-numbers\/%3B\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">viral \u201cchallenge,\u201d<\/a> or, most popularly, a <a href=\"http:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/2018\/05\/the-pigeon-meme-from-the-anime-brave-of-the-sun-fighbird.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">photo with text laid on top.<\/a><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\">While once mostly found on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">insular internet communities<\/a>, today memes are the dominant form on content you see on the internet. Memes generally start on Reddit, 4chan, and sometimes Twitter and go viral from as they cross the borders of social media platforms. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/ryanholmes\/2018\/10\/29\/are-facebook-groups-the-future-of-social-media-or-a-dead-end\/#7d52134e1d23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">Demographic-specific groups<\/a>, long a part of Facebook\u2019s core ecosystem, began to form for the purpose of creating and sharing memes. During the 2016 election, for instance, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/berniesandersmemes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">Bernie Sander\u2019s Dank Meme Stash<\/a>\u201d became a repository for political memes about the presidential candidate.<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\" style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1132 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/ctlj.colorado.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/meme2-514x1024.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"383\" height=\"763\" \/><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/lsm4et14s\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">Law School Memes for Edgy T14s<\/a> is one of those groups. (T14 is shorthand for \u201cTop 14,\u201d referring to a law school\u2019s ranking, though members come from a multitude of variously-ranked law schools all over the country). With more than 70,000 members, Law School Memes has become a social media hub for discussion both serious and frivolous; who is more virtuous, prosecutors versus public defenders, for example. \u201cThere\u2019s a space\u2014a very important space\u2014that memes occupy,\u201d Benjamin Burroughs, assistant professor of emerging media at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/the-intersect\/wp\/2016\/02\/23\/how-bernie-sanders-became-the-lord-of-dank-memes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">told the Washington Post.<\/a> \u201cThey speak in a language that people have grown up with on social media \u2026 which can make them very articulate and very poignant.\u201d<\/figure>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\" style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1133 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/ctlj.colorado.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Meme3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"502\" height=\"434\" \/><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<p class=\"aligncenter is-resized\">CTLJ briefly chatted with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LolOverruled\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Alex (opens in a new tab)\">Alex<\/a>, a third-year law student who helps moderate the group, about what it\u2019s like to maintain a social media community of law student, and what makes a good meme.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><strong>CTLJ:<\/strong>\u00a0 How did you become an admin for this page? What did that entail?<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><strong>A:<\/strong> Like any young child, it was always my dream to be an admin of a highly popular meme group. Some other law students from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.berkeley.edu\/\">Berkeley\u00a0Law<\/a> started the group and I just did what everyone should do to get ahead in life: shit-post constantly.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><strong>CTLJ:<\/strong>\u00a0 What\u2019s the most interesting part of being in charge of this type of community? Do you think memes can help foster a sense of community?<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-image\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>A: <\/strong>There are a handful of us who moderate the group. The most interesting part is probably just dealing with the weird interactions in private messages and in real life. For me personally, I&#8217;ve gotten the full gamut of vague death threats, fan mail, and sexual propositions. All of the moderators have, at one point or another, dealt with strange (sometimes good, sometimes bad) interactions with people on and offline. It&#8217;s a weird vibe. I think the community is really great and generally everyone likes to have fun and has a good sense of humor. Considering how many people participate actively on the page (in the last thirty days we&#8217;ve had nearly a million posts, comments, and reactions and we have about 70,000 active and regular users) it&#8217;s pretty amazing the environment isn&#8217;t way more toxic. In terms of fostering community, I think it&#8217;s less about the memes and more about it being a place to share the common experience of being miserable in law school and even miserable as a practicing attorney.<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\" style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1136 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/ctlj.colorado.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/meme5.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"417\" height=\"449\" \/><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><strong>CTLJ: <\/strong>\u00a0Why do you think some posts perform better than others? What makes a good meme?<\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><strong>A: <\/strong>Being current is pretty key, that&#8217;s the way to flourish in the meme economy. Your memes gotta be fresh baby. You also need to establish that your content isn&#8217;t bad or in the very least, build an audience of people who will consume it and appreciate it. There are plenty of people on the page who hate my existence, myself included. But you&#8217;ve gotta remember, haters are losers (myself included). You&#8217;ve also gotta be willing to delete your bad content. I delete basically anything I post that doesn&#8217;t break 120 reactions in the first 60 minutes. It&#8217;s brutal out there.<\/figure>\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\">As far as what makes a good meme? You may as well ask Mozart how he wrote The Magic Flute.<\/figure>\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\">What makes a sunset beautiful?<\/figure>\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\">It has to speak to the very soul. In the very least, it has to make some say &#8220;heh&#8221; and press a button on their phone to give my brain the good chemicals.<\/figure>\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\">All of this also makes me seem like an insane person, which I am.<\/figure>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\" style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1137 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/ctlj.colorado.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Meme6.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><strong>CTLJ: \u00a0<\/strong>What\u2019s your favorite meme from this year? From last year?<\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><strong>A: <\/strong>Way too early in this year to pick out a meme, in my opinion. Some years have some incredible late entries. Last year my top was probably <a href=\"https:\/\/knowyourmeme.com\/memes\/storm-area-51\">Storming Area 51<\/a>, in a dead heat with <a href=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/EKg1tjBXYAAs4MG.jpg\">&#8220;Are you in the right headspace&#8221; text.<\/a><\/figure>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\" style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1138 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/ctlj.colorado.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/meme7.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><strong>CTLJ: <\/strong>Do you think the virality of memes in general is a good or bad thing? What about their ephemerality? Do they foster or hinder good discussion?<\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><strong>A: <\/strong>Memes have been a thing well before we were all extremely online. If you sat around quoting the movie <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0iyo9AGkWvs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">Anchorman<\/a>, or if you and for some reason every person you know knows the words to &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iZw9V-007Uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">The Krusty Crab Pizza<\/a>&#8221; or the &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=g_y15ozNchY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">F.U.N<\/a>.&#8221; song, you&#8217;ve participated in meme culture. Life is ephemeral, I see no reason to be alarmed if forms of artistic expression are any different.<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\" style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><strong>CTLJ:<\/strong> Has the group ever received a takedown notice from a copyright holder? What do you think about the legal position of memes in terms of intellectual property?<\/figure>\r\n<figure><\/figure>\r\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><strong>A: <\/strong>We&#8217;ve been safe so far, and typically we&#8217;re protected by Fair Use. Who is intellectual property? I don&#8217;t know her.<\/figure>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" 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