Despite the overlap that internet memes and their various communities have with non-fungible tokens (NFT’s), the meme subculture seemingly just cant accept that NFT’s are here to stay. Many meme users have either fiercely negative opinions or are indifferent/ignorant to NFT’s. Originally, I wondered why that is. I had originally set out to get to the bottom of this conundrum, only to realize my prior research for my book The case Against Memes already answered this issue.
First, let’s start with commonalities, internet memes and their fanatical users frequently run afoul of commonly accepted artistic standards, in terms of a graphic design standpoint. In my book (The Case Against Memes, comes out October 18th, hint hint) I describe the aesthetic fouls that plaque internet memes as an artistic medium. Among these are poor color choice, inconsistent outlines, lack of contrast and more. The Bored Ape Yacht Club has come under fire for having some of these same issues; it’s as if these monkey JPEG’s were drawn by amateurs. This common ground should endear the average 4chan poster to NFT’s.
Another area where these two communities meet is their target demographic. Reddit’s user base is an overwhelmingly young, male, early tech adopting audience that eschews mainstream advertisements. NFT’s seem to have a similar audience; NFT’s have gotten a lot of bad press as of lately however a common argument from NFT buyers is that they are just too early and that society will catch up with them. This early-adopting, albeit outwardly nerdy, mindset lends itself to the subcultures of both memes and NFT’s.
Memes are also known for their addictive qualities as well. As a brave 603-er wrote in the soon-to-be-classic mentioned earlier, meme use tends to become a heavily self-deluding hobby. The community ties formed only exist online and mounting evidence shows that those ties are normally weak. Even in the realm of mostly well-intended social activism, meme use has proven ineffective in lasting social change, despite their users boasts to the contrary. Such grand delusions also run within the NFT community, present with the claim of being the future of the art community. Self-delusion is present and accounted for in both communities.
Another source of alignment between memes and NFT’s is the relative amount of crime in both communities. Memes are often pirated content, pilfered from many different corners of society and posted without ever mentioning the original source. Meme use is a toxic habit that ruins the bedrock of intellectual society. NFT’s have long been the target of accusations concerning their widespread use in alleged money laundering. The cultures of dishonesty in both mediums are alive and well.
With so much in common, why can’t meme users accept NFT’s? The answer is a simple one; meme use is an addictive and isolating hobby (if you need evidence, look no further than The Case Against Memes!). With such isolation and withdrawal into their small communities and away from functional society as a whole, meme use is not conducive to building cultural bridges, opting instead to hoist up cultural walls instead. This is the overwhelming reason the two factions cannot get along; meme users cannot get out of their own way.
Memes are doomed to a fate of content piracy and irrelevance. In my book, I examine the historical etymology of the word, but suffice it to say that memes will always be just a cheap, inaccurate and consent-less plagiaristic view of events. However, NFT’s have the opportunity to rise above their current image problem. With the rise of the MetaVerse in the coming years, NFT’s will evolve past their current artistic domain and morph into commodities inside Mr. Zuckerburg’s virtual world. NFT’s, unlike memes, will serve a practical purpose.
If the problem of fraud and money-laundering can be solved within the NFT community, then they stand a much better chance at being integrated by society as a whole. Also, in order to be accepted into the Metaverse, everybody’s favorite Millennial Harvard dropout will surely want to solve the fraud problem before passing NFT’s through the metaphorical St. Peter’s gate that is the MetaVerse vetting process. Fortunately, these are not unsolvable problems for the NFT community.
Given these silver linings that exist for NFT’s-and the lack of silver linings for internet memes- I am much more biased towards the plight of the NFT investor than I am of the average Redditor. Investing in NFT’s carries risk of course, but the upside is clearly there (even if modern investors are too early). Memes however carry the risk of plagiarism and isolation for no tangible benefit. In conclusion, shoo a little white alien if you see one lurking around but make sure to adopt a pet monkey in a costume!
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