Mark Zuckerberg Congressional Hearings

This week I'm going to talk about the Mark Zuckerberg Congressional Hearings. Recently, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivered a testimony before the United States Congress. They discussed how the data mining and analysis firm Cambridge Analytica used personal data that Facebook collected. The memes spawned from Zuckerberg's robotic mannerisms during the hearings. Here is the first example that was posted to twitter.

https://twitter.com/MikeTokes/status/983857513454956551?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fknowyourmeme.com%2Fmemes%2Fevents%2Fmark-zuckerberg-congressional-hearings

Here are more examples:

I think these memes are hilarious. I've heard of Mark Zuckerberg being compared to a robot before, but I've never seen an actual meme of it. While these memes are funny, there's an ominous underlying theme to them. The issue of privacy is increasingly a big concern, and Facebook is at the forefront of this concern. I'm not paranoid or anything, but I believe hearings like these are necessary. I'm a private person that uses Facebook, and I don't want all aspects of my personal life to be available to the public.

Walmart Yodel Boy

This week's meme is the Walmart Yodel Boy. This meme refers to a video of a 12-year old boy named Mason Ramsey performing "Lovesick Blues" by Hank Williams in a Walmart. The video went viral as people applied various captions to it and remixed it. The video was filmed on March 24 and uploaded to YouTube two days later. Here's the original video:

The first iteration of the meme appeared on March 27 when the video appeared with the caption: “Me: which aisle can i find light bulbs? Walmart employee:”

The Walmart Yodel Boy meme has taken many different formats:

There have even been remixes of his yodeling:

I enjoy this meme because it is music-based, which is pretty rare. The fact that it's a yodeling meme makes it one of a kind. Despite the memes, Mason Ramsey is actually very talented, especially for his age. It's always refreshing to hear genuine talent like his. Also, I love that since this meme lacks a particular format, it can literally be anything it wants. However, I think this will prevent the meme from gaining many iterations and that it will die out soon.

Tired Spongebob

This week's meme is yet another Spongebob Squarepants meme, "Tired Spongebob." The meme is from the same episode as last week's meme, "Savage Patrick." In fact, it is from the scene immediately prior. In the image, Spongebob is naked and out of breath. Accompanying the meme are situations in which one might be exhausted. The funny part is that these tasks actually take minimal effort. I won't post the original version, as it is too inappropriate, but I will post some other versions.

What amazes me about this meme is that the image is from literally seconds before the one used for "Savage Patrick." It impresses me how creative people are and is a testament to the fact that anything can become a meme. However, like the meme itself, it could be a reflection of how lazy our society has become. After all, the creator of the meme did just use the same episode as the last Spongebob meme. Either way, I, unlike Spongebob, am not tired of Spongebob memes just yet and say keep them coming.

Krusty Krab vs. Chum Bucket

This week's meme is "Krusty Krab vs. Chum Bucket." This meme is relatively new, with the first iteration appearing on March 9, 2018. The two pictures used in the meme are rival restaurants from the animated series "Spongebob Squarepants." On one side is the delicious Krusty Krab, where Spongebob, the protagonist, works. On the other side is the gross Chum Bucket, where Plankton, the antagonist, works. Since the Krusty Krab is associated with good and the Chum Bucket bad, users of the meme put things they like over the Krusty Krab and things they dislike over the Chum Bucket. Here is the first example and many others.

This one sums up the meme pretty well:

The meme even got political:

I enjoy this meme, although I have to admit it's getting old fast. I think this is due to how simple it is. Most people can understand one instantly, and the idea of comparing things isn't very original. It's already been done in a couple of memes, including the "Left Exit 12 Off Ramp" meme I've discussed before. However, I do appreciate the fact that it's a Spongebob meme. Spongebob used to be my favorite show and it's always enjoyable and nostalgic to see more memes from the show appear.

Savage Patrick

This week's meme is "Savage Patrick." Savage Patrick is an image of Patrick Star from "Spongebob Squarepants" with a maniacal look on his face. The picture comes from the Season 1 episode "Nature Pants" which aired September 11, 1999.

The image became a meme in February of this year. Patrick's face is accompanied with any action that may be deemed "savage." Its first use is too inappropriate for me to post on this blog, but I will post other examples.

I enjoy this meme for a few reasons. Having a meme where a savage action is the punchline is really funny to me. Also, I've always been a fan of Spongebob memes, and for once we get a Patrick meme. I hope the trend of having a popular Spongebob meme every year continues.

"Change My Mind"

This week's meme is Steven Crowder's "Change My Mind" campus sign. Crowder is a conservative that has a popular podcast and Youtube channel. He has a segment called "Change My Mind" in which he goes to college campuses and has people with different viewpoints sit down with him and try to change his mind about a particular political subject. On February 16th, 2018, Crowder tweeted a picture of himself at one of the events. He was sitting behind a sign that said “Male privilege is a myth / Change my mind." Here's the original tweet.

Soon afterwards, people began posting their own hilarious opinions on Crowder's sign.

I love this meme because of its infinite possibilities. You can put whatever you want on the sign, change Crowder into someone else, or have him seated next to a random person. I love all of the memes I've seen so far. When I first saw one, I didn't expect it to catch on, mainly because not everyone knows who Steven Crowder is. However, I guess this wasn't a factor in the meme's likability. Crowder's sign is literally a blank canvas, which is the perfect subject for a meme. Plus, this meme stemmed from a political discussion and is continuing the dialogue in meme form. I think this is great, but not to be taken too seriously.

Steamed Hams

This week's meme, "Steamed Hams," is a video. It is a clip from the episode "22 Short Films about Springfield" from the animated series The Simpsons. In the scene, Principal Skinner invites Superintendent Chalmers over for dinner. The dinner, however, goes awry. Skinner burns the dinner, forcing him to come up with lies about what's happened. He tells Chalmers that he’s making “steamed clams” for dinner, and then runs to get hamburgers from Krusty Burger. When Chalmers is confused by this, Skinner tells him that he made “steamed hams” instead, what he calls hamburgers. Here's the original clip.

The episode first aired on April 14, 1996. While the term "steamed hams" has been joked about on the internet since it was posted to Urban Dictionary on November 15, 2007, the video itself didn't become a meme until recently. Memes of the video are often titled "Steamed hams but _" with it's differential quality in the blank. Here are some examples.

I think this meme caught on for several reasons. One reason is that The Simpsons is a source of nostalgia for many, so it's has wide appeal. This particular scene is also hilarious and the dialogue is very well-written. One can memorize the scene easily, so when the meme interrupts the natural flow, it is noticeable and humorous. I hope to see more video-based memes like it in the future.