At the risk of sounding like a politician telling a barefaced lie, I have been very clear when mentioning this in the past: I don’t like emojis. Horrible, meaningless attempts at communication.
A pictorial pretend-language suited to under-fives, the terminally lazy, or those who have suffered a painful dislocation of the intelligence bone.
I hate the damned things. But (and I was surprised by this myself) there is an even worse form of communication: memes.
Memes are short videos of people shaking their heads, looking exasperated, or making rude gestures. Or photos that carry a largely sense-free caption.
They are endemic on Twitter. Indeed, Twitter stinks with them.
When one person doesn’t like another’s comment they respond with this pitiful form of comment. If sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, then a video of a third-rate American actor smirking or shaking his head is what you find when you dig into the muck below even that.
Using a meme is something only the spectacularly unimaginative person will do. It is an admission you have nothing to add, nothing to say, and no vocabulary to say it with. No wit to make an argument. No point of view to promulgate. All you have is a weak attempt at second or third-hand tomfoolery.
Most of the time the gist of these memes isn’t appropriate, or the intended meaning isn’t apparent.
Even when a truly ridiculous, ignorant, or repulsive comment has been made, answering with a meme doesn’t help the case against.
If some Twitter twit has been sexist, racist, ageist, indeed any of the ists (and there are a lot of them these days) if you can’t find a rational, reasoned, informed rebuttal then you haven’t advanced the debate. You haven’t pointed out errors of thinking or failures of logic.
You have let the egregious comment go virtually unchallenged. You have wasted an opportunity to counter with a valid point. If it were a face-to-face discussion, your contribution would be to wave a photograph in the air.
Is a short clip of a three-year-old rolling their eyes really all you can think of to express disagreement?
A meme cannot win an argument because it is solely reactive. It isn’t new information to counter, puncture, or refute a statement.
The English language contains all the words, meanings, and subtle, acerbic, piercing nuances you will ever need to express yourself potently. Well-chosen words are the most powerful force on this planet.
No one ever said: “a video of an angry-looking cat is mightier than the sword”.
Word of the week
Brumal (adjective)
Wintry, or indicative of winter. EG: “Beginning this past week there has been a brumal edge on the wind”.
Read the latest Oh my word! every Saturday in The Courier. Contact me at sfinan@dctmedia.co.uk
