Post-Memeology Thoughts

A year has passed since the last time I wrote about memes. In this article I try to explain (mostly to myself in a form of self-reflection) what happened and what has changed, as well as what will happen next.

Past
Perhaps, it'd be best to start with what this blog was created for. Obviously, its very purpose is to transmit my ideas and to search all kinds of interesting things. Web culture, memes, classification, etc. — it was all about sharing something I knew myself and something I wanted to share. Yet, I've never had any audience and barely "advertised" what I did, hence you can call this blog a sort of personal story, as pretty much everything I do across the web. However, the memes stood aside, as it was really important to me to understand what they are and puzzle out that essential part of the web culture. Roughly speaking, I tried to play memeologist. This went on for a couple of years, as I was developing own meme theory, trying to solve memeological problems, both relevant and fundamental, in a word, doing some amateur research; was making memes and preview pictures for the articles, and even did an interview. Those were the good old days.

Last summer I tried to figure out the aspects of post-irony, but I couldn't properly analyze it. The topic was too ambiguous on itself with some quality articles about it, so there was nothing left for me to do but succumb to it and make a post-ironic (or not?) post myself. In the fall, I rewrote a part of my article about Russian memes, since I rethought my attitude towards them, as well as towards memes in general, which can be considered a kind of turning point. It didn't come easy for me, but the fact that I looked outside the box was worth it.
That's when I put an end to blogging, at least temporarily, unless there would me more ideas worth writing about. This is an ordinary practice of mine: when I start doing something, the thoughts literally won't stop flowing one by one, but sooner or later they are all exhausted, and then I have to proceed to do something else. Yes, memeology, just like many other things, has become nothing else but yet another phase of creativity, a mere period that was destined to end someday. Therefore, I had stepped back from both studying and making memes. It's important to clarify, since theory and practice are inseparably related, and when this blog had been active, I was also trying to create quality memes and experiment with them.

Thus, all the planned ideas had ended, my opinion on memes changed, and I saturated myself into something different, finishing rather short era of Afraid to Dive. Personally, I see it as a natural way of things. It doesn't necessarily mean that I stopped considering them something crucial; instead, now I perceive memes more down-to-earth and less sophisticated, but I still apply objectivity where it's necessary. In the time that I've been engaged in this blog, I formed my own point of view which was set forth in the manifesto and which I considered progressive. To be honest, I still think it is, being, in fact, an unattainable ideal for me, because it wasn't always possible to evaluate memes objectively. For example, in the spite of the concept of idea/form balance, I put form first: that's the first sign of meme elitism which I've condemned ever since. Now the attention is no longer drawn to the bad image quality, and shitposts don't seem shameful. You can get away with saying that the memes as such have become one big shitpost and the battle between form and content is officially lost, and nobody cares anymore, including me, but that would be too categorical. I would dare to say another categorical thing instead: I think my vision is now more crystal-clear than ever. So, now it's time to take a look on memeology in a little different way.

Present
Revisiting my interpretation of memeology one year later, I do surely realize it's far from perfect. The main issue that catches the eye is the way too complex terminology which tries to explain everything, maybe even more than it actually should, being nearly impossible to be used in practice. Submemes, postmemes, subform, protoform, etc.: there are too many terms that I've almost forgotten myself. Second issue lies in the basis of the whole theory, memetics: the very definition of a meme, which I wrongly interpreted and according to which memes turn out to be all material objects created by humans. Another problem is the attempt to find definite answers to all of the questions out there, creating some kind of the memeologist bible, full of unbreakable statements, on which all meme researchers could focus on. Needless to say that such an absolute attitude kills the scientific principles and leaves no room for further research. After all, unresolved questions in science and ambiguous definition of certain phenomena is absolutely normal. On the other hand, such an approach has quite vital creative potential: following memeologists could write their own articles and probably even manifests, breaking my dogmas and acquiring their own views on politics in memes, meme elitism, ethics (for example, how one should behave in meme wars), and so on. In general, I'd say all these issues stem from me trying to take on too much, explaining every aspect at once. Nevertheless, I still like the meme life cycle theory, the concepts of form and content and their balance, as well as criteria for evaluating memes. However, had I have more experience and knowledge in philosophy and semiotics, as well as in scientific approach, the more comprehensive and accomplished these theories could be. At the moment this article is published, I've tried to make a kind of revision, changing some terms and fixing explanations. Otherwise, all those basic problems that were there remain so, so don't take this as a grand return to memeology. Just polishing the tops of my former self's ideas.

Future?
Perhaps, in the end, my articles might even serve as a basis for new meme theories if someone ever finds this blog. I, however, don't consider myself a memeologist anymore. Unfortunately, the old days are long gone: after all, 2018-2019 felt like the beginning of something new and big, as if the meme revolution was already waiting around the corner, with memeology coming into fashion, working as its theorethical foundation. I guess this very feeling of everything close and groundbreaking fueled my blogging and mememaking activity. Even though I haven't lost the interest in memes themselves, I've lost any passion to analyze them. While it's mostly because of the form that doesn't "click" with me, there is something about the content as well: it's no secret that nowadays memes are overflowing with political and social contradictions. Such problems, including both vulgar right- and left-wing populism, make it feel like most memes are in crisis at the moment, which, in fact, demonstrates the crisis on a more global scale. That being said, memes have become a weapon in the information war: honestly speaking, I don't find that interesting enough for me, although it can create a climate for many other meme researchers.

Actually, now there are plenty of people on the Internet that analyze not only memes, but various phenomena of the web culture as well, primarily on YouTube. For sure, the genres of video essays and little analytical reviews are both incredibly convenient and well-known, and I value that content myself, too. When it comes to memeology as a scientific theory, it's hard to say what will become of it in the future, but I'm sure it will never be popular enough, which is not surprising. Hard to say what will happen to memes either. Perhaps, in the future we will encounter whole new branches of evolution in the field of interactive memes, or maybe, even the Meme Singularity will come, who knows. But like I said before, the role of memes in politics and their political content will only intensify as the real contradictions escalate.

Speaking of this blog's destiny, I find it quite determined. Honestly, I have to admit that I'm not that interested in writing articles anymore. After all, as it was mentioned, the basis of all the articles on this blog has consisted primarily of my experiences and some ideas needed to be shared, and when all that's gone, I have nothing more to say. Hence, I can officially declare the blog's status as "complete". AtF has always been a truly captivating experience, since the web culture is something that not only surrounds us; as you get familiar with it, it's trying to engulf you, and there's no bottom to be seen. Yet, some of us are still floating on the surface, so the most crucial in that case is to be not afraid to dive, the deeper, the better. Just don't forget to stock up on oxygen.