NOTE: This article is not in any means trying to single out one person. This is an accumulation of experiences I've had with many people over the course of my life, and if anything, I'm mostly pointing at myself for doing these things. Please enjoy.
We all have that one friend. That friend that clings onto a funny trend for dear life by their teeth, sucking the enjoyment and novelty out of it like a consumerist parasite by over-referencing it until nothing but an empty husk is left of what once was considered "fresh" and "cool". Then, and only then, do they swiftly latch onto another joke, never conforming to the constant march of time and its evolving trends. Sometimes it gets to the point where you subconsciously avoid prolonged interaction with them, as means of sparing yourself from hearing the same handful of jokes. I am talking, of course, about the "meme friend".
Now, let me be clear: I'm not saying that being the meme friend is bad. There's nothing wrong with the occasional meme to lighten up the mood or to get people chuckling. To be quite honest, I don't think it would be a stretch to say that I'm the meme friend in my own friend group. And, trust me, I've made these same mistakes many times over. I probably still do and don't even realize I'm doing it, too. It's tempting to revert back to jokes that you remember fondly from a few months ago, but just like everything else in life, things change-- and you can't just throw up one of those "doge" memes like you could back in 2012 and get the same reaction. Being the meme friend requires you to have a steady finger on the pulse of the times. If you're reading this, chances are you're a twenty-something college student, so based on this information, referencing relevant jokes shouldn't be that hard to do.
Repetition also has to do with the death of memes, too. If someone repeats the same joke over and over, after a while it's going to stop being funny. Trends can only hold onto their original novelty and charm for so long, and memes are absolutely no exception to that. That one dog meme was funny the first seven times you quoted it, and it only continues to get funnier with each telling. Have you shown me that specific version of "We Are Number One"? Yes. Twice, now. Haha.
It's fun to reference memes in order to get a good laugh out of your peers, but for God's sake, don't just rely on them as your sole source of humor. The whole point of memes are to build upon them and apply them to situations that make them even funnier. Imagine them as an element you would add to a meal, but not eat on its own, like wasabi or garlic. You wouldn't just eat a whole clove of garlic like an orange slice: you would add it to something to make it better.
On the other hand, there's a difference between quoting a meme for the sake of it being a meme and quoting it for the sake of it being an inside joke. If you're my friend and have talked to me within the past month or so, chances are you've heard me say things like "It's bad, Todd" or "I'm glad, Todd" at least three or four times in a given conversation. This is because of this image:
Think of the name "Todd" as a replacement for "guys", if you will.
The point being, I am not free of sin when it comes to these sorts of things, either. The only way I have learned is through trial and error, and I'm sure I've irked a few friends over the years. Now, I only reference things when I know it fits the given scenario and doesn't disrupt the flow of conversation with interjections of "Oh my God, not this again" or intermittent groans of disapproval. Know your audience, folks.
Maybe it's a matter of personal preference, but at the end of the day, memes are a garnish, not a meal. We love you, meme friends, but could you tone it down just a little?
