HYDERABAD : Meme pages have never had it so good. These Facebook and Instagram handles, which give a funny twist to everything serious, are making it click while Corona shines. We take a look at what goes into making these viral posts
While everybody is doing their part in spreading awareness and sharing i n f o r m a t i o n through social media, meme pages have been taking it up a notch. Well if you’re not aware of memes (no offense, you have had a sad life); they are jokes or funny videos or images that go viral on the internet. Over the years, memes have become rather influential and also the most popular content on the internet. During the recent days as India is reeling under effect of Corona virus, there have been quite a few Telugu meme pages which became popular with the youngsters that have been actively spreading awareness. They create memes that are totally hilarious and straight forward and informative, and of course popular among the local crowd.
One of the admins of a Telugu meme page called Unprofessional Trollers, Mukesh, says that memes are not just to make someone laugh; memes have to make someone think. He shares, “As we try to create humour, followers start to like us.
They share many things about their daily routine, their likes, and dislikes, and a few also share their love stories, break ups and also suicidal thoughts. In some situations when our followers need our help, we do our best to bring them out of their negative thoughts,” he adds ‘as they treat us like their friends, we take the responsibility of entertaining as well as educating them.” Mukesh and his friends Koushik and Nikhil started this meme page in 2017. They collaborated during the holidays and named it the ‘Unprofessional Trollers’.
He says that awareness should be added with a pinch of humour so that it reaches the maximum and is understood by the maximum. “However, a few sensitive issues must not be made fun of.” They come across different kinds of news every day and there are many followers who rely on them for information, so they make sure that its real and verified news. “Verifying news is a major part of my work; I check with the official twitter handles and news channels to make sure it is not fake.” On whether they get trolled Mukesh clarifies, “We usually don’t get trolled. Only sometimes when we make some unintentional mistakes is when we get trolled. We also avoid controversial topics.
There are many situations where we get hate comments. People get offended if their favourite actor or a movie reference is taken. They start off spreading hate messages.” “It is almost an addiction to make memes,” he states.
Most of the meme pages do not make any money. The only way they can earn some money is by promoting small products and movies. ‘We do not just promote anything, as we worked really hard for the page and we have a great audience who rely on us so we promote verified products and good films even if we don’t get any money off it.’ says Prashanth, who is the admin of the page called ‘Meme Raja’. He is an MCA student and has been running the page for three years now. Memes rule social media lately, he adds, ‘There are so many people who use social media quite a lot, and a lot of people who do not like watching the news. We are spreading awareness through an entertaining platform so it will make a difference for sure.
I also don’t think I did something different; I wanted to spread awareness and not make a joke out of this sensitive situation. I anyway included humour and information as they would be understood much better.’ They also check with verified sources before posting memes. A female meme maker, while talking about what it’s like to be an admin, mentions that it is great to be a meme maker when the audience is right. She talks about her memes being related to the LGBTQ+ and literature, and her audience enjoy her content.
“There are a lot ofmeme pages that post sexist, homophobic and generally bigoted stuff whether they realise it or not. I’m sure these guys would never approve of my memes,’ she shares. There are tonnes of meme pages on social media, of which local meme pages are the most opular in Hyderabad. There is Celluloid Panda, lite ba, Aithey Enti, Babu Nuvu Btech ah, CAPDT, So Called cinema, Thyview, Manam Thopulu ehe. There are also many meme pages run by women like meme rani, Being telugu girl. Whilst there are hundreds of fake Whatsapp forwards and news, meme pages are going by catchy templates and movie references to bring in consciousness through social media, and most of them are doing it in a responsible manner.
Making you laugh, and think too TThere are tonnes of meme pages on social media, of which local meme pages are the most opular in Hyderabad. There is Celluloid Panda, lite ba, Aithey Enti, Babu Nuvu Btech ah, CAPDT, So Called cinema etc which not only entertain, but also educate its followers