Do you remember high school? It’s okay if you don’t. Time takes its toll on all of us, and the best years of our lives slip away, like dust in the wind or grains of sand through our fingers. Try as we might, we can never turn back the clock.
One of the things kids do in high school is have “spirit week” or “senior week.” Each day has a theme and everyone dresses up in a way that suits the theme. Maybe the graduating seniors wear the shirt of the college they’re going to; maybe everyone dresses up as Batman for Superhero Day, I dunno. Increasingly, however, schools seem to be doing a theme day dedicated to memes and Vines, a theme that would have been near incomprehensible half a decade ago. The teens are dressing up as their favorite image macros and six-second clips, and as a public service, they are putting all of the photos and video clips into compilations they post on social media.
It’s really good. Frequently featured are memes like “I didn’t get no sleep ‘cause of y’all,” “It is Wednesday, my dudes,” “I love you, biiitch,” mannequin heads, Hurricane Tortilla, “I could’ve dropped my croissant,” young the Rock, and of course, Yodeling Kid.
I have watched dozens of these compilations and they make me feel both incredibly old and also very confident in the youngs, who are — contrary to the worries of technophobes all over — using technology and social media not to wall themselves off from the world but to create a shared culture.
But who cares what I think; just watch these videos, please.
Does your school have a Meme Day coming up soon? Feel free to let me know about it by emailing brian.feldman@nymag.com.
