memes are like clocks! they mark the passage of time as the days and weeks and months melt into each other. every meme recalls the vibe of its micro-era. for the very online, ‘go brr’ will be more evocative than ‘march 2020’

most words are timestamped in the sense that etymologists have a rough idea of when they were coined. but unlike language memes function as v precise timekeeping devices because they evolve really quickly. they reference much shorter windows of time

memes are better at mapping subjective time than the old school clocks. a calendar date doesn’t tell you much about what people’s inner worlds were like at that time. but a meme stores lots of info about the interiority of its creator (and the people who found it funny)

clock time sustains the illusion of a shared historical reality. it implies that everyone is living inside the same calendar. meme time acknowledges that each subculture has its own subjective ‘time zone’ and bespoke sense of history

meme time is a bottom-up creative expression that reflects the idiosyncrasies of multiple reality bubbles. clock time is a top-down synchronization mechanism that tries to enclose the world in a single reality bubble

putting memes inside the gregorian calendar as a stepping stone toward a new type of timekeeping. it’s like tfw you’re learning a new language and you still have to reference your native tongue to make sense of things

becoming fluent = achieving escape velocity from old system https://twitter.com/singareddynm/status/1219620663612395522