Memes have the capability of driving moods, marketing strategies and economies. Okay, may be the last part was a little exaggerated but memes are indeed powerful. I have so many college and school friends in touch with me just because of memes. We don’t talk to or call each other. It is just a random transaction of a couple of memes everyday. And that’s what keeps us connected. For those of you who think that memes is not a serious business, here’s a 25 page research paper on origin of memes. Also, as per some sources, university of Cambridge also offers short courses on our beloved memes. So how do I get my daily dose of fun? What is my source of best memes on the internet. Enter, 9gag. 9gag is also available as an application on Android/iOS.

Through thick and thin of one’s life, memes are available for all kinds of situations. 9gag is the largest community generated content platform I have come across. The sense of being a part of this community, being able to understand the complex memes is simply delightful. Let’s explore why a meme application deserves a 1000 word blogpost dedicated to it.

9gag Sections:

This is probably the first thing that you’d notice when you login to 9gag. It is also the best part about it. As they say, there is a meme for all situations. These sections would be a perfect example of that. There’s funny section for those socially awkward parties. Animals section if you want to see cuddly, derpy dogs and cats. If you’re into anime, they have a dedicated section full of Naruto memes and related stuff. If you are here for serious business, you may get memes related to relationship, politics etc. You get the point.

There’s also a country specific section to checkout the content from your fellow country men. And trust me, ‘India’ section is quite humorous and relatable. Here are some of my favorites from India Section.

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Each of these sections have three sub sections, hot, trending and fresh. As the name suggests, it contains memes sorted on the basis of popularity. I once spent 7 hours on 9gag in a single day (I was travelling to another town to attend a boring wedding). That is when I had to take support of the fresh section to keep me entertained. Apparently, getting your meme out of fresh to trending/hot is a big deal. So, I used that time to support genuinely good memers.

Comments:

User generated content doesn’t end at the memes alone. Even the comment section of 9gag is LIT AF. There are times when I found the comments funnier than the post itself. The community has gained an expertise in the use of relevant images and GIFs in comments. At times I wonder, how is there a GIF specific for each post?

Boards:

Boards are groups in 9gag parlance. There are tons of boards to join under each section. For example, under science and tech, you would find boards like Apple, Canon, Huawei, Photography etc. Boards are interactive platforms to post a query or discuss a general topic. Thousands of like minded people randomly discussing on a topic is a rear sight to see in non digital world.

Contribution in 9gag:

If you are a pro memer and contribute back to the community, the process of submitting a meme in 9gag is as simple as uploading a photo on Facebook or Instagram. However, make sure that title and section that you have chosen is apt. 9gag community loves to burn ‘less witty titles’ and incorrect sections. And they don’t burn like our regular friends, they can get pretty mean by using some dank memes.

I have uploaded 15 odd posts in the past 10 years of my time on 9gag and I have been able to reach hot only once with 2.5k likes on a post. I have no idea how that happened. I had posted much better memes in my opinion.

And Finally:

Getting hooked to such a platform can be quite easy. Unless you monitor your usage, this can totally backfire. Therefore, I ensure that I use digital wellbeing to set limits on this application. I make sure that I don’t use 9gag for more than 60 minutes in a day.

Also, there’s an unsaid disclaimer for most of the online platforms. Community can be pretty harsh at times. There may be a post which is pretty sensitive for you but you will find people mocking that as well. I have been on the both sides of the table so I would recommend not to take any comment/post seriously.