Have you guys and gals, ever been obsessed with something? Well, not every obsession is bad to have. Obsessions can be good. It can drive you to do something that you perhaps never would have completed. For example, my obsession to submit a blogger application for MIT Admissions is driving me to finish this blog. But that is not the obsession I am here to talk about. Obsessions come in various forms, sizes, and types. For me, you could say that I am really into making memes. Memes about MIT and the Class of 2022 in particular. In fact, I post nearly daily on the MIT 2022 page with 2-3 memes on average. Why do I do this? Because I enjoy making memes. The process of making memes forces me to use my brain power to be creative since I have to mix how relative a meme is with how funny it is. It’s a great use of my time when I’m procrastinating (most of the time usually).
So how does one actually make a meme? Well for me, since my current area of memes is more focused, I often tend to start by simply looking at potential formats. From experience, I find that stock image sites and especially r/MemeEconomy on Reddit is extremely useful. The subreddit MemeEconomy is set up like a stock market where people post potential new meme formats or images and other “redditors” can invest virtual points(meme coins) in them. I usually spent up to 30 minutes looking through new posts for original formats that I can use. Gotta get that OC content, {Okay hand emoji}. (I’m too lazy to actually add proper emojis to my website) As I am looking through the formats, in the back of my mind I always ask myself whether I can use it for something MIT related. It could be something positive regarding to how MIT is the best college out there(it’s true!) or something more negative focused around a complaint, problem, or simply annoyance with the system at MIT. In the beginning, this is usually pretty strenuous because I tend to go through posts pretty fast so its either do or die for a format. However, after a while, the process becomes more automatic and there usually are trends in what kind of meme format works. In a later post, I will be discussing the genres and archetypes of memes. A good format, for example, would be:
After finding a good format, I would then analyze which parts of the format I would need to photoshop out and replace. Usually, it is pretty clear which text I can replace to make it relevant to MIT. In the case, of the above format, it is the text in the different font. (Disclaimer: I neither made that meme nor will say I agree with the statement within the meme. Please don’t rescind me. I think I know Biology well enough.) The meme, in general, goes by the archetype of something already being true. (I’ll analyze possible archetypes in a later post) By using Adobe Photoshop’s or Paint.NET’s, for the people who can’t torrent buy PS, selection and crop tool, it is easy to get a fresh clean empty format to add MIT flavored text onto it.
Then, using the text tool of the software of choice, I simply add in something relating to MIT. For the example meme above, I chose to take a more positive approach. One that hails MIT in a positive light. But, the shown format is much more versatile. In fact, it could be used to roast(as younglings call it these days) as effectively as venerate. After thinking a short bit, for this one, I decided to say “MIT is the best college in the world”. Clearly, you can see why this statement is true. It may take a little of bit of adjusting to get the text within the bubble and to get the right font. Usually, for style ironically, I stick with the default Calibri which stands out from normal memes fonts found online. There exists another type of editing called labeling, a process where a text is directly put over a part of the format to label it; this is very pervasive yet easy throughout the meme making community.
Normally, I would have added another layer and found a MIT logo with a transparent background to overlay the chest of the person standing there to make it more obvious that it is an MIT student but since I am kinda lacking in time right and the wish is true for everybody, I am going to be lazy and say meme complete. By this point, I would relook over at the meme to make sure I did not make any mistakes and then go onto the MIT 2022 Facebook page to submit it.
Well, now you know how to make a meme. You can now join me in the obsession of making memes. Don’t worry about what other people say about it, true friends will never judge you for who you are. Besides! Making memes reinforce creativity and fast thinking skills that would go to waste when you procrastinate or when you are taking a break.