Through social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, we keep ourselves up to date with the newest Internet memes and culture. From those Internet memes, we incorporate certain slang and terminology we view on the Internet into our dialect — troll faces, rage faces, iPhone Auto-Correct Fails, etc. Often it takes only a few Internet addicts to catch on until the whole school integrates these memes.
How fast do we jump onto these trends as a school in general? Even though most of us are Internet-oriented, we still haven’t gotten to the level where we create Internet trends ourselves. Nevertheless, we are still able to adapt quickly, and that helps us to communicate our ideas and opinions effectively. For example, if someone who lived on the other side of the world were to create a meme, the majority of us would adapt to that particular meme within about two or three days and would incorporate the meme when we talk with others. Most of us generally accommodate to popular memes like the term “troll,” but what about memes that are not so popular? They die out before we grow accustomed to them.
Internet memes aside, other trends such as fandoms (or fan bases) also reach us through the World Wide Web. Tumblr has become a well-known site to host fandoms for popular television shows, movies, music, and other entertainment. Anyone can create his or her own such blog and have people follow and re-blog postings. As this process is continuously repeated, these blog posts and fandoms become a trend. Soon, almost everyone is “fangirling” over their favorite characters or celebrities and the “shipping wars” (arguments over the fate of certain characters’ relationships) begin. A growing number of students use Tumblr as a source to follow these fandoms, and as a result, we also quickly adapt to these trends. International media is also spread and becomes trendy; a prime example is the British television series Doctor Who which owes much of its popularity and success to its Internet fan base.
By being able to hop onto Internet trends and fads promptly, we’re able not only to connect as a school, but as members of a larger community. Those who don’t adopt these trends as fast have a harder time relating with others, especially in social media. But most trends eventually become a part of our wider pop culture and their purpose is to make communication with the people around us much easier.
