Mashable | Pepe the Frog became a hate icon so his creator killed him off Mashable Pepe the Frog is dead, killed off by his own creator after he watched Pepe turn from a wholesome meme into a symbol co-opted by neo-Nazis for the alt-right. Pepe was created by cartoonist Matt Furie back in 2006 for his comic Boy's Club, but after ... |
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Pepe the Frog became a hate icon so his creator killed him off - Mashable
Days after the first round of the French presidential election in April, an anonymous user on the messaging board 4chan waged war total meme war, that is against centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron.
We must bombard French social media with pro [Marine] Le Pen propaganda, to remind the French who is on their side, the user wrote.
Avideo embedded in the 4chan post urgedusers to generate memes depicting Macron as Marie Antoinette. "Make Macron look ridiculous. Make him look elitist," the male voice in the videoinstructed.
Hundreds of userscommented in support of the campaign. Many of them"had been very active during the US presidential election and ...took consistently strongly right-wing views, particularly anti-Islamviews," said Ben Nimmo, a senior fellow for information defense at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, who's beenstudyingthese efforts and their reach.
But their efforts don't appear to be resonating with French voters.
"There was very little penetration there," Nimmo said, adding that much of the content was "lost in translation" quite literally, some of the content was not translated to French.
And some of it included images that could be deemed especially offensive by French audiences, like images intertwining Le Pen with Pepe the Frog,a meme that came to be associated with the extreme far-right during the US presidential election.
"If you think of the English language connotation of referring to the French as frogs it's not complimentary, and the French are aware of it," Nimmo said. "Marketing anything in a different country, in a different language, in a different culture is hard work. And frankly, the alt-right is not usually known for its cultural sensitivity."
Other social media generated by English-speaking alt-right internet users to influence the election has also largely failed to gain traction in France.According to a review by The New York Times, "more than one-third of posts linked to certain political hashtags originated from the United States, although few went viral in France." The French academic who conducted the Times review also found that about two-thirds of Twitter messages using the hashtag MFGA (Make France Great Again) originated in the US.
"The irony is that much of alt-right is strongly nationalist and strongly anti-globalization. And what it's doing in these campaigns is trying to act as an international and globalized effort to support nationalist and anti-globalist people in other countries," Nimmo said."Right there,there's a philosophical problem."
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The US alt-right 'meme war' to sway the French election is failing - PRI
This essay was written as part of a pretty dry structure writing class in Advanced Expository writing for Classification and Division. I was a student teacher at U-32 this past fall in the class when this was written. Nate Morris chose the subject of memes. If you dont use the internet, particularly social media, or are older than I am, you may have no idea what he is talking about. I know just enough about technology to think this is very witty, but not enough to really get it all the way. Carla Occaso, managing editor.
The internet is an incredible place. It has altered the landscape of business, allowed us to reconnect with childhood friends and given us common (though not necessarily neutral) platforms to discuss our opinions with millions of other users. On a less serious note, the internet has developed its own subculture with its own tropes and its own humor. The staple source of laughs come in the form of what is called an internet meme. On the surface they can seem like simple puns or jokes when in fact they mean so much more to the people posting them or the audience its intended for. Memes have distinct audiences, historic icons, mechanics such as the meme economy, and oftentimes second meanings that put it in a very different light.
A meme is a concept, catchphrase or piece of media that spreads from person to person, gaining an audience, and with the endless stream of information thrown at you on the internet, memes have become widely accessible by all audiences. Examples such as grumpy cat or rickrolling have been adapted by all kinds of people, and thanks the the straightforward format of the original image macros, anything can be made into a meme. Everyone is able to use or create a meme, but due to how broad its spectrum has become, not everyone will understand a joke or even the fact that there was a joke. Ironically, in a medium meant to connect everyone, memes can be more divisive than they are connective.
Some internet users go past the base definition of memes, and assimilate with what is called meme culture. They dedicate time to studying memes to understand all aspects and corners of the meme spectrum. They see the term meme as the broadest descriptor of one of these pieces of entertainment. In reality, memes can go much deeper than what you see viewing it for the first time. There are subcultures of memes and subcultures within those subcultures.
To get an idea of how deep a meme can go, the perfect example is the rise and fall of Pepe The Frog. Over the course of its lifetime, Pepe has been reiterated the most out of any meme, changing appearance and meaning to the point where it has no core message or joke. Pepe became the apex meme because it encompassed broad portions of the humor spectrum. However, every meme that exists will eventually cease to do so, and Pepe went down in flames.
Pepe The Frog originated in a comic called Boys Club by Matt Furie, depicting Pepe as a laidback dude enjoying life. A specific panel in the comic shows Pepe saying feels good man when asked about why he goes to the bathroom with his pants all the way down. This panel was used as a reaction image on the internet when it started to gain popularity. Users took a liking to the friendly amphibian and began producing their own pictures of Pepe, building their own character over years of reiteration. For the majority of Pepes lifetime, he was depicted as a smug, racy frog with heavy depression. From this base, users changed Pepes appearance, keeping his general look while altering things such as his color, shape and clothing while making sure it could be identified as Pepe. These are called Rare Pepes, theyre referred to by that name because they are posted on obscure sites or forums. Pepe thrived and during this period was referred to as the best meme or the king of memes, until it kicked the curb hard when it intermingled with hate groups. The KKK and Neo Nazis adopted Pepe as a mascot and used iterations of him in uniform for propaganda. Around this time Donald Turnip also began posting pictures of Pepe in his image on twitter. Pepe was marked as a hate symbol because of his adoption by these hate groups and he tanked. The landscape of Pepe memes became barren as no morally-sound person would use them after what happened, and as a result the true Pepe fans got what they wanted. Pepe is considered obscure now and thats exactly what Rare Pepe creators desire, allowing them to create Rare Pepes in peace.
All memes collect and converge in what has been dubbed the meme economy, a metaphor for how the lifetime of a meme works and its popularity. Similarly to how a new stock acts, a new meme is under the radar at first, and then it begins to gain recognition. It picks up steam and then spikes in usage. Then it plateaus before gradually losing footing before it stops being used completely. Some memes stick around longer than others due to when and how long it takes them to plateau, too fast and people will lose interest quickly. Too slow and its apex will be lackluster. The parallels to the stock market are strikingly close.
Sometimes, memes can have a darker meaning behind the initial joke for reasons other than ironic or black humor. A study showed that the admins running popular internet meme pages on facebook actually use memes as a coping method for crippling depression. Some memes would have double meanings that only dedicated fans would perceive, hinting that they are unhappy; others would straight up be ironic jokes about suicide or self harm. Many Pepe memes alluded to this and became a popular outlet for expressing these feelings.
Groups involved in the the Rare Pepes or the distorted hood memes take the basics of these memes and further its definition to the point where only those involved after weeks of following the way it changes will understand the humor it has to offer. The most prominent subculture is by far ironic memeing. It takes any meme and uses its first meaning as a mask for a new joke. The original meme will experience either subtle tweaks or a complete overhaul, rewriting the joke while making sure it still identifies with the original meaning. These people create ironic memes as a way to set themselves apart from the regular Joes of the internet, referring to them as normies who steal memes and dont give proper credit to its maker, therefore classifying memes as art in a strange turn of events.
When you take a step back, memes really are just a way to express humor or opinions in a variety of ways. The people viewing or creating them all want the same thing whether they claim to be unique or not. Normie or memelord we all want to laugh, and memes do a great job with that, no matter how many layers of irony its on.
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ESSAY: What Does It All Meme? - Montpelier Bridge
Trump approved of the crowds approval. Photo: Patrick Semansky/AP
President Donald Trump emerged from behind a blue curtain with a wave and a clap of his hands at the Pennsylvania Farm Show and Expo Center in Harrisburg on Saturday night, beneath a sign that read, PROMISES MADE PROMISES KEPT.
He wanted, he said, to commemorate his first 100 days in office with the Pennsylvania voters who had helped put him there. But he also made clear that he intended to provide counterprogramming to the events taking place back in the swamp: the White House Correspondents Dinner and the constellation of related events wherein the fake-news media and the rest of the Washington elite dress up and schmooze, from cocktail hour on Friday until hangover brunch on Sunday.
I hope they have a good dinner, Trump told the press just before the rally. But ours is going to be much more exciting, I think. We have a big crowd. We sold thousands and thousands of tickets.
It was definitely something. Entering a Trump rally in the year 2017 would require you to suspend your critical faculties to a degree, since the people there (the president, most of all) seemed to be under the impression that the campaign was ongoing, that Hillary Clinton remained Trumps most formidable foe, and that they were united against the creatures of a swamp controlled by someone else. Its not clear who. Several times Saturday night, the crowd chanted, LOCK HER UP, seemingly unaware that Clinton retreated long ago into the woods of Chappaqua.
In a less surreal time, the president of the United States would be at the dinner, which supports the White House Correspondents Association. He would deliver his own comedic monologue, and then he would endure a stand-up routine at his expense. Trump has attended this affair in the past; this includes, most memorably, the dinner in 2011 at which Barack Obama, having just released his birth certificate following a months-long campaign by Trump to imply that he was not born in America and thus not a legitimate president, roasted him a night some say was the impetus for Trumps 2016 campaign.
Not showing up, then, was both a fuck-you to the media that Trump publicly pretends to hate, and a thank-you to his fans who still believe he is a different sort of politician. One man walked around the floor of the stadium holding a sign that read, MY PRESIDENT SKIPPED THE DINNER TO GIVE US OUR DESSERT. He proudly stopped before the press pen to ensure the journalists all got a good look.
As you may know, theres another big gathering taking place tonight in Washington, D.C. did you hear about that? Trump asked the crowd. They booed in response, and he dramatically threw up his hands.
A large group of Hollywood actors and Washington media are consoling each other in a hotel ballroom in our nations capital right now. They are gathered together for the White House Correspondents Dinner he lowered his voice mockingly without the president.
As the crowd erupted in cheers and whistles, Trump smiled.
And I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be more than 100 miles away from Washingtons swamp, spending my evening with all of you and with a much, much, larger crowd and much better people, right? Right?
The Harrisburg space holds more than 7,000, but tickets for the event as for all Trump rallies during his campaign werent for sale. Instead, they were offered for free on DonaldJTrump.com, and they werent required for admission. And while the crowd was substantial, it didnt fill the room. Seats remained open in the stands, and space remained available on the floor.
But the people who were in attendance were excited. One man, sporting a long ponytail and a leather vest, turned to the person next to him when Trump started talking; I love him, he said. And they provided a stark contrast to the scene back in Washington, where people were dressed in gowns and tuxes and pretending to like each other. Studding the crowd were rather menacing-looking members of Keystone United (previously KSS, or Keystone State Skinheads), which the Southern Poverty Law Center characterizes as a white-supremacist hate group. Bald and heavily tattooed, they wore black T-shirts that read Keystone State Central PA and featured their logo, a black-and-white rendering of a dog. (The White House press office didnt respond when asked to comment on the skinheads at the rally.) Outside, a man who said he was named Jeff Thomas wore a green Pepe the Frog mask a symbol of the alt-right and waved the fictitious flag of the Peoples Republic of Kekistan. He was there, he told me, because the normies took my meme.
And while the crowd was animated by Trumps claims about his accomplishments executive orders hes signed, the Supreme Court justice he got confirmed they seemed to take the most delight in feeling, finally, a sense of superiority. (They also chanted build the wall! although there is no concrete plan to do so.) Look at the media back there! Trump said, They would actually rather be here, I have to tell you. Thats right. The crowd booed, and then broke into a chant: CNN sucks! CNN sucks!
Media outlets like CNN and MSNBC are fake news, fake news, Trump continued. And theyre sitting and theyre wishing in Washington theyre watching right now, theyre watching, theyre watching and they would love to be with us, right here, tonight. But theyre trapped at the dinner which will be very, very boring.
I Worked at Fyre Festival. It Was Always Going to Be a Disaster.
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Unlike the draft order of February, Trumps order is rhetorical and doesnt mention LGBTQ issues. Hes feeding Christian right in other ways.
But only for a small portion of high-risk applicants.
The White House claims her flurry of appearances the week her book is released is just a coincidence.
And revisiting their greatest anti-Obamacare hits.
Nancy Pelosi had a theory for how this would work out. Paul Ryan didnt.
Their song choice was meant to send a pointed message about the midterm elections.
There was no room for error, but a comeback led by Fred Upton enabled House Republicans to enact Trumpcare as Democrats sang Good-bye!
There is some flexibility for states to pick and choose in the new bill. But also a lot of measures that will affect everyone.
Life comes at you fast, Paul.
Hes visiting Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the Vatican.
It looked like the GOP congressman dealt a coup de grce to the bill on Tuesday. By Wednesday he was back onboard and had changed the momentum.
Vicious insults, an overwhelmed moderator, and talk about Hitler.
Law-enforcement officials say its likely suicide, though the medical examiner will make the final determination.
There were plenty of weaknesses and mistakes that made her vulnerable. But James Comey still flipped the result.
They reportedly got engaged last weekend in France.
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Fetid water fell from the ceiling of the LIRR Concourse for hours on Wednesday.
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Trump's Alt-White House Correspondents' Dinner - New York Magazine
Anna Iovine, AOL.com
Apr 27th 2017 9:16AM
Ahead of the 2016 presidential election, the Pepe the Frog meme became co-opted as a symbol of the alt-right. The Anti-Defamation League declared it a hate symbol.
Now, another symbol with neutral origins may be going down the same route: the "okay" hand symbol.
The Outline put together a report of evidence that the sign is quickly becoming co-opted by white nationalists as Pepe was.
Prominent members of the alt-right movement have been seen making the gesture, such as Milo Yiannopoulos:
Richard Spencer shared a photo of him making the gesture the night of the election:
According to Forbes, "the air pinch with thumb and forefinger" also happens to be President Trump's most recognized gesture.
Ryan Lenz, a senior investigative reporter at the Southern Poverty Law Center, told The Outline that the meaning behind the symbol depends on the context. He said, "I don't think anybody's going to accuse any user of Facebook for posting a picture of their wife or husband after giving birth to a child and giving the OK symbol as propagating racist messaging."
This can change, however. If an overtly racist politician starts using the symbol, and it becomes a "rallying cry" for supporters, Lenz told The Outline, "then I think the symbol is lost."
"Okay" received national prominence during the 1840 presidential election. "O.K." stood for "Old Kinderhook," a nickname for candidate Martin Van Buren, who was from Kinderhook, New York.
Like Pepe the Frog -- and the swastika before it -- the symbol may be appropriated to be hateful despite different origins.
See Richard Spencer through the years
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Alt-Right leader Richard Spencer through the years
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White nationalist leader Richard Spencer of the National Policy Institute speaks on campus at an event not sanctioned by the school, at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, U.S. December 6, 2016. REUTERS/Spencer Selvidge
Richard Spencer of the National Policy Institute arrives on campus to speak at an event not sanctioned by the school, at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, U.S. December 6, 2016. REUTERS/Spencer Selvidge
Undocumented Texas A&M students and their supporters protest silently as white nationalist leader Richard Spencer of the National Policy Institute speaks on campus at an event not sanctioned by the school, at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, U.S. December 6, 2016. REUTERS/Spencer Selvidge
Organizer Preston Wigginton shakes hands with white nationalist leader Richard Spencer after introducing him at an event on campus not sanctioned by the school, at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, U.S. December 6, 2016. REUTERS/Spencer Selvidge
Jacob Jackson, a freshman international studies major, listens after asking a question to white nationalist leader Richard Spencer of the National Policy Institute at an event not sanctioned by the school, at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, U.S. December 6, 2016. REUTERS/Spencer Selvidge
White nationalist leader Richard Spencer of the National Policy Institute speaks on campus as a silent protester holds a placard at an event not sanctioned by the school, at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, U.S. December 6, 2016. REUTERS/Spencer Selvidge TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
White nationalist leader Richard Spencer of the National Policy Institute speaks on campus during an event not sanctioned by the school, at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, U.S. December 6, 2016. REUTERS/Spencer Selvidge
White nationalist leader Richard Spencer of the National Policy Institute waves goodbye after his speech during an event not sanctioned by the school, on campus at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, U.S. December 6, 2016. REUTERS/Spencer Selvidge
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 19: Richard Spencer is in town for the largest white nationalist and Alt Right conference of the year in Washington, DC on November 18, 2016. Spencer, a 38-year-old Dallas native and graduate of St. Mark's School of Texas prep school, is a key intellectual leader of the alternative right, a label he coined in 2008 to describe the radical conservative movement defined by white nationalism and a fervent resistance to multiculturalism and globalism. Spencer currently resides in the resort town of Whitefish, Montana, in what was described as a 'Bavarian-style mansion' in a profile in Mother Jones. He was born in Massachusetts but moved to the Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas when he was about 2 years old. 'It was a fairly idyllic, suburban childhood,' Spencer said with a laugh. 'I remember riding bikes around the neighborhood, and so on. I guess you could say I lived in a bubble to a certain extent, like a lot of the kids in that area. But it was very nice.' (Photo by Linda Davidson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 19: Richard Spencer is in town for the largest white nationalist and Alt Right conference of the year in Washington, DC on November 18, 2016. Spencer, a 38-year-old Dallas native and graduate of St. Mark's School of Texas prep school, is a key intellectual leader of the alternative right, a label he coined in 2008 to describe the radical conservative movement defined by white nationalism and a fervent resistance to multiculturalism and globalism. Spencer currently resides in the resort town of Whitefish, Montana, in what was described as a 'Bavarian-style mansion' in a profile in Mother Jones. He was born in Massachusetts but moved to the Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas when he was about 2 years old. 'It was a fairly idyllic, suburban childhood,' Spencer said with a laugh. 'I remember riding bikes around the neighborhood, and so on. I guess you could say I lived in a bubble to a certain extent, like a lot of the kids in that area. But it was very nice.' (Photo by Linda Davidson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 20: (L-R) Discussion panelists Peter Brimelow, Jared Taylor, Kevin MacDonald, 'Millenial Woes' (thats the name he goes by) and Richard Spencer field questions at an Alt Right ( alternative right) conference hosted by the National Policy Institute in Washington, DC on November 18, 2016. The think tank promotes white nationalism and critics accuse them of being racist and anti-semitic. The chairman of the National Policy Institute, Richard Spencer, has been permanently banned from entering the UK, and was deemed a 'national security threat' after his arrest in Hungary in 2014. He was recently banned from Twitter in a prominent purge by the company this week. (Photo by Linda Davidson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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