One of the primary reasons it was easy for me to leave Facebook was the proliferation of inane memes cluttering up my feed... especially the kind you'd see seven times a day, presented by seven different people on your "friends" list... each time without so much as a single word to explain why you thought it was stupid, funny, clever, offensive, on-point or something else.
Perhaps my exit was somewhat aided by the stunning explosion of political memes during the 2016 US Presidential election campaigns. It just felt like nobody as contributing anything original anymore.
Take Out Your Brain and PLAY With It!
Butterfly
Here's the thing, I wasn't even put off so much by the political shrieking on both sides of the aisle as much as by the fact that I was observing a majority of the population substituting meaningless memes for having an actual thought-through and verbalized political stance.
In some ways, it felt like 2016 was our meme-driven Presidential election.
I'll be the first to admit that I really enjoy writing, and I also recognize that many people assume the fetal position and curl up in the corner at the mere thought of participating in something requiring writing.
That said, I have this sinking feeling that we're gradually losing our capacity (and desire?) to hold and own our own opinions, in favor of sprinkling around other people's not particularly bright generalizations and going "me too!"
In case you can't tell, the general "dumbing down" of the world has been weighing on me, recently.
And sometimes I find myself getting a little depressed by the distinct possibility that my enjoyment of occasionally "taking my brain out and playing with it" somehow renders me a part of the "old fossil" demographic.
So Why Am I Writing This?
I am a bit of a "trend observer."
River near Estes Park, CO
And I've been noticing the extent to which memes and other "short formats" have been on the rise here on Steemit. Not that there is anything onherently wrong with that... as long as it doesn't start displacing the type of content people are putting serious effort into.
Of course, then we can get down inside the whole discussion of what's "popular" and what's not. And I am well-aware that "good" and "popular" are not the same thing.
One of the things I have found very attractive about Steemit is the generally more intelligent level of discourse and debate here.
Anyway, just hoping the bloggers don't end up feeling "displaced by memes." And that we don't end up with yet another example of the lowest common denominator becoming dominant!
How about you? What drew you to Steemit, originally? Has it lived up to expectations? Did anything in particular cause you to leave other social media venues? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
created by @zord189
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180211 16:30 PDT