>>5309085 (lb Q)

>Why are memes so important?

Primarily because, as has been said, a picture speaks a thousand words. It is easier for the average person to quickly recall visual imagery (especially if it's imagery they like or provokes an emotional reaction such as disgust or humor) rather than memorize paragraphs of text. This ease-of-access inside a person's mind also allows an appropriately spicy meme to spread at a much faster rate than the information it contains would otherwise, since they don't have to remember exactly what was written, they can just remember the gist or main point being made by the image. Sharing an image (or two or five) is also much faster than writing out a proper narrative adding to the speed of transmission.

But, perhaps most importantly in my opinion, a proper meme doesn't have to be completely understood by a person in order for them to pass the information along. An average person doesn't have to actually know all the required academic information or even comprehend what is being said in the meme (this helps greatly, of course), they just have to have enough of a reaction to provoke a desire to spread it. Similar to POTUS sometimes making intentional errors in his statements/tweets so that his detractors inadvertently assist in spreading his message, even if it's just "to show how dumb he is" or however they justify it to themselves. They are carriers of the meme thought-virus infecting everyone they show it to regardless of their intention in showing it.