That memes are one of the best things the Internet has left us is a fact that no one denies. But can such digital jokes be considered cultural heritage? Especially one that needs to be preserved for future generations? So says the National Library. and since 2009 he has been collecting the best Internet memes as a documentary legacy. And the truth is, they have a lot of work ahead of them.
When an important event happens or a politician makes this or that statement, the world of memes gives free rein to its best bets. The speed with which the ingenuity of many unleashes creativity is amazing. For the National Library, eager to collect memes, that’s a bet. Another type of view of the great events of history.
Mar Perez Morillo has already spoken about this in an interview. elDiario.es. The work, which began somehow by accident after the takeover of the social networks of the National Library, it became a task and an obsession after a short time. Also in problem. On the one hand, the Internet is a changing world. Webs close, others open, others are lost. How not to lose these memes forever? On the other hand, the National Library’s tracking and storage resources were quite limited.
The Institution then contacted the Internet Archive, an archiving company on the Internet and the owner of one of the first digital collections in the world. Later, the National Library created its own system with meme keepers team. Using NetarchiveSuite, the same as in France, Austria or Sweden, since 2014 they have kept the best that the network has given over the past 8 years. Now this practice is followed in the United States. Meme is everyone’s business.
Do all memes deserve to go down in history?
Of course not all. It would also be an impossible task. Some because they are inappropriate, and others because they are simply not noticed. They know from the National Library that they cannot save everything that happens on the Internet. However, some of it is automatically by tracking domains and other manually. And it all starts with the basic settings: domain weight, tracking depth or frequency. It is then divided by topic, event – this is quite common – or region – also very common in Spain. Without any prior preservation criteria, which may resemble criteria for books or documents, the aim of the conservation group is that the material preserved be as broad and multiple as possible.
So yes, there are memes of Pedro Sanchez, Rajoy, Pablo Iglesias or Casado on the list. Surely the anthology “smells like milk” by Albert Rivera. Julio Iglesias is probably the father of the meme and “Distracted Guy”, which was the cradle of millions of varieties. El Risitas, which has gone beyond the borders and, at least in France, in the whole institution. And recent events, those that were born along with Philomena, or the recurring heatwaves, of course, those that left the pandemic in which humor on the Internet was the best way to survive imprisonment. Anyone likely to be part of the list.
And the reality is that while the months are a source of ridicule, they are a pure social manifestation of new generations who have grown up online. A form of expression that evolved over the years until it found its place on the web. If the French Revolution had a comic pamphlet with its own “let them eat cake” meme, now there is Julio Iglesias and his “And you know it!”. And this is something that is very clear in the National Library. These are different ways of reading culture and its manifestation on specific events, which in a few years will become the subject of study.
The phenomenon, which is also It overcame the question of generations. While its creators, which include those who already live as professional meme artists, may belong to a particular niche, those who spread the word do not respond to age or gender. Whatsapp and social networks have helped everyone become a speaker for hundreds of memes. Synonymous with the horizontality of the phenomenon today, which even found a curious fact: the use of references, many of the old school – thanks for everything Julio Iglesias – that appeal to collective nostalgia.
Source: Hiper Textual
