Do you recall the time when meme stocks were all the rage? When a single thread on the Reddit forum could make the stock of a company that is on the brink of collapse soar? Well, move over Wall Street, because the future holds a new kind of market frenzy: the meme market.
But what does the term meme market mean? It’s not a physical market place with Doge statues and ‘woman yelling at cat’ print. Instead, it’s a hypothetical system where the cultural value and virality of memes are monetized. Think of it as a stock market for internet jokes.
The Rise of the Meme Economy:
Memes have always been a cultural force, controlling trends and laughter. However, with the advancement in technology and the introduction of blockchain technology and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), memes are gradually transforming into possible assets. Possession of a meme, or a derivative of it, could be associated with an NFT, meaning that the creators and even the participants could make money from the meme.
Suppose the owner of the “Distracted Boyfriend” meme receives a few cents every time the picture is used in advertising. Or a system where users who “stake” in a rising meme through a meme-based token experience their tokens appreciate with the meme’s popularity.
Challenges and Opportunities:
The meme market as it is, is rather interesting but it does not go without its problems. Meme culture is all about the organic generation and the ability to quickly adapt to the new trends. This creativity might be suppressed through forced monetization and memes might end up becoming more similar to one another.
Moreover, the question of copyright in the meme world can be considered one of the most acute. Who actually owns a meme that is a spin-off of another meme or a joke based on existing pop culture knowledge?
However, these are the challenges that the meme market faces and despite these challenges, the market has a lot of potential. It could help meme creators, encourage the production of better memes, and potentially open up new ways of meme-ing. Suppose memes are used for fundraising for social issues or as a platform for the marginalized voices to be heard.
The Future is a Meme:
The meme market is still a long way off. But with the advancement in technology it is not a matter of whether but when it will happen. Whether it is NFTs, meme-based crypto, or something else that we cannot even imagine at the moment, the internet’s currency is set to get a new meaning. So, the next time you encounter a hilarious meme, remember, you might be looking at the future’s hottest stock. Just don’t forget to LOL while you are raking in the cash.