Memes are some of the most popular — and important — ways people communicate. Today, we’ll go over what makes the Internet meme special and share some of our favorite IT memes.
What Is an Internet Meme?
The concept of the meme was actually an academic idea coined by biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene. He suggested that it was the evolution of society to create units of cultural transmission.
Today, that thesis plays out millions of times a day through the Internet meme. They are messages shared across the Internet, typically using images to represent the underlying feelings, thoughts, and beliefs of the people creating and sharing them. Their prevalence cannot be underestimated — they’ve evolved to cover all of human existence (and further).
There are three variables that make an Internet meme successful: longevity, fertility, and copy-fidelity. This means that the most popular Internet memes resoundingly resonate with people, creating the need for duplication and ultimately replication using similar scenario-specific criteria.
Basically, the meme is shared, copied, shared, altered slightly, and shared again. With the advent of social media, meme use has exploded, becoming a cultural phenomenon that transcends specific topics.
Our Favorite IT Memes
You probably already understand why you like memes: they make you laugh because you relate to the perceived message. Here are a few of the IT memes we like:
This meme starts from a scene in the movie Taken, where retired CIA field agent Bryan Mills has his daughter stolen. In the movie, he utters the phrase, “I have a particular set of skills…” The meme was adapted to use that well-known phrase and image to list IT management skills instead.
This meme shows the character Andy Dwyer of NBC’s Parks and Recreation — a simple man with a heart of gold whose naivete and enthusiasm have landed him in an uncomfortable position. In fairness, there are many people who still aren’t sure what managed services actually are, making this meme timeless.
IT Support
This meme shows Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott on the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Despite the Enterprise being far more complicated than your average PC, the line “Have you tried switching it off and on again?” still lands — because it’s the first thing IT support will ask anyone if their device isn’t working properly.
Backup and Disaster Recovery
Some memes are funnier than others. This one, featuring “disaster girl,” suggests that the reason you need disaster recovery is because your sweet, unsuspecting child just might be a demon-seed. Protecting what you have is important, and for any business, that means having a solid backup and disaster recovery plan in place.
Cartoons, like the one above, can absolutely be memes. There are actually five potential memes hiding in this cartoon, but we thought we’d share the full version because it’s too good to crop. If you were to meme this cartoon successfully, it might look something like this:
Sometimes memes get right to the point instead of trying to be cute. This one features Morpheus from The Matrix and delivers the ultimate truth about computing in the cloud: it’s just another computer somewhere on the Internet that lets you store your data, run applications, and more. Simple as that.
Cyber Security
Cyber security is one of the most crucial issues any organization faces. Taking a beat from Star Wars, Darth Vader — who famously tells Admiral Motti, “I find your lack of faith disturbing” — now finds your lack of cybersecurity equally disturbing. Using an iconic figure like Vader results in a witty retort to those who skimp on their security initiatives.
The last one we’ll share is objectively funny. If you work in IT support, you run into scenarios where end users swear they’ve done nothing wrong — and that the machine is slowing down or misbehaving all on its own. In this case, the meme creator uses well-known daytime talk show host Maury Povich, who routinely gets to the bottom of his guests’ tall tales. The 12 toolbars on the browser are a dead giveaway.
Memes say the things that we don’t want to have to explain — and for the most part, they work great. Have you seen any IT-related memes that made you chuckle? Share them in the comments below, but please keep it PG.
And if any of these memes hit a little too close to home, contact WheelHouse IT — we can help with the real-life versions of all of them.
