Week 3. What makes it successful?

 What You Think You Look Like vs. What You Actually Look Like

I choose the meme called "What You Think You Look Like vs. What You Actually Look Like", this is a two-pane image macro series illustrating the discrepancy between one's own self-image and outside perceptions of physical attractiveness. 

This meme is very popular, and many people have created new memes according to their own ideas. And I found three very interesting memes.

1) What I think I look on windy days

This image is a scene depicting a woman when she is blown by the wind. The scene we imagined is like a star. The picture is the famous singer Britney Spears. Her hair is blowing in the air and her expression is very charming. But the scenes in reality are not so beautiful. The women on the picture are distorted by the wind, and the whole person looks particularly funny.

2）What you look like when a guy sees you

This meme is “what you look like when someone looks at you”. What you imagine is that you are very beautiful. The picture is a star, Selena Gomez. Her hairstyle is very fashionable and her eyes are particularly charming. But the reality of the picture is a very exaggerated makeup and looks ugly.

 

3）Wearing red lipstick

This meme is what you look like when you use lipstick. You imagine that you will be as touching as Anne Hathaway, who has perfect lips and perfect face on the screen. But in fact, you will like the clown in "The Dark Knight", the red lips are very exaggerated and seem very scary.

These three memes are obviously gender-related and they all discuss the appearance of women. Imagine that women will be as glamorous as female stars, but in reality they are very different. The difference between the imaginary appearance and the actual appearance produces a humorous effect.

Reasons for success:

According to Shifman (2014) there are characteristics that help make meme popular. She describes these as the 6 Ps: Positivity/humorous, Provoking emotions, Packaging, Prestige of character, Positioning, Participation.

First of all, it is very humorous. The imaginary appearance and the actual appearance are vastly different. The exaggerated technique makes people feel very funny and has the urge to share. Then it will evoke people's positive resonance. After watching, people, especially women, will produce the sigh of "wow, it‘s me!" and participate in the communication activities of this memes. In addition, it is very simple and close to people's lives, people can understand what it means to express at first sight. Also, this meme often uses celebrities, such as female stars, as objects of comparison. It is targeted at fans and people who use social media frequently. Finally, because his content and production techniques are very simple, people not only actively participate in the spread of this meme, but also create the similar meme. This is why this meme is very successful.