I love them. They’re like political cartoons. Since I am very visually oriented, memes go right to my emotions.

Memes don't replace conversation, but they do enhance it. They can be both humorous and thought provoking.

And with the times we live in, sometimes the best way it speak truth to power is by injecting comedy into it.

My thoughts? I like memes. And I have shared ones that do expose vulnerability as well since they are related to mental health struggles. It all depends on the memes one chooses to share or pass along. I can be too verbose and some memes do a MUCH better job of making my point in a succinct way that I never could. Hence, I share the meme. If my difficulty in being succinct makes me immature, oh well. Fck it then. I shall die immature in that case. heh

Memes and headlines are both useful in quickly calling attention to an idea and starting a corresponding conversation. As effective as "I feel tired of memes. Your thoughts?"

There is some merit in what you say, but that said, I can see the positive aspects of memes, as somebody who uses them a lot. First off, you can generate your own and be as creative as you want with them, both in the text and the visual. Also, their form is a kind of structural limitation similar to haiku or other short poetic forms; a good meme says much using few words. I'm not sure where vulnerability enters here--people can hide behind volumes of words just as easily as they can behind a meme.

I don't seem to have a problem with saying what I think, actually the foot in the mouth is what happens a lot to me.

I have mixed feelings on them . Overuse can get tedious, but well placed when appropriate is nice.
I have macular degeneration ( trying to read is like trying to drive looking through a 50 year old windshield that has been on nothing but gravel roads. It's a chore, and makes proofreading my own posts a bigger chore, so please excuse my typos ).
My late Grandmother, a real live Victorian English teacher, would have been the first one to defend the use of memes and text speech as a natural progression in the expression of the English language. Text speech, with its phonetic abbreviations, is no less correct in spelling than the commonly used spellings. As she pointed out , "English is NOT a standardized language just because Websters claimed it, but in fact a phonetic one,. in fact there are as many correct spellings for a given word as there are flags under the commonwealth". She gave me, and my grade school teacher , who had been marking my spellings , largely due to my Canadian mother, incorrect., but to get back on track, she embraced most modern progressions in language and its expression as part of evolution. How many people are left on the planet who can actually read old English?
Many times in history, pictures have been used to relay information. Some written languages are based on them. As we get older ( get off my lawn we may not like the changes going on around us, but that doesn't make them wrong..

I do appreciate what you share, including your vulnerabilities and failings. You have also accomplished many “good” things too. I share a little bit should share more. I was 60 years in environments where being honest was discouraged and judged.

I do repost memes when they resonate with me, but I rarely actually create them. The ones I share are ones that say what I would have said but do it, if not better, in a way that is communicates well.

I enjoy them because in this political climate, I need a good laugh.

Now this is hilarious. IMHO

I love memes! Mostly the funny ones. And sometimes the serious ones because they can say a lot in a few words with an appropriate image. I don’t think memes should replace discourse, but sometimes they’re just spot on.

And sometimes they just have cute animals.

Thus the "Literate" in your name.

First up: the way you share all your feelings here I find to be wonderful.

But to return to the matter of memes (and I will also add clichés to that): There are times a well worn theme, be it a meme or a cliché, adds a necessary nuance to my words precisely because it is hackneyed, so I have no hesitation in using them.

I can get over saturated with them. However, a lot of them get to the essence of a matter and I appreciate that. But, original thoughts from individuals, is appreciated the most.

I have to go with sparky, seeing them as cartoons, and cutting to the chase.

Being a non believer who sometimes is challenged on social media with the most ridiculous and inane arguments believers use to justify their own beliefs, I resort to memes to make a point in very few words. So no, I'm not tired of using them. Example:

I'm not a huge fan of hers but I saw one of her Ted talks any was able to pick out a couple of pieces of wisdom although I can only remember one now.

She said that everyone has a story that would break your heart. I suppose I was so caught up in what was going on for me at the time that it truly was a revelation that not just me and select others but absolutely everyone, at least by a certain age, has experienced something horrific outside of the normal human experience that has affected them forever. For me it was quite humbling and I try to keep that in the back if my mind at all times in order to practice compassion on a regular basis. Thank you for the reminder.

Sharing memes is the lazy person’s political commentary,........

No I am sorry. Some people may not be able, willing or brave enough, to express themselves in any other way. Yet they may be the very people who need the chance to express themselves most, and are most in need of the communities support, or at least ear.

The old style over content argument applies.

What people say should not be judged by the quality of the words alone, a love poem by Lord Byron may be beautifully written, but could it ever mater as much, or try to express as much, to you as your mothers last comical birthday card she sent you before she died ?

After November, maybe....

I'm not much of a storyteller and the area I live in about the only thing I can tell you is people in trucks are stupid drivers, the larger the truck the harder time they have, a, keeping it in their Lane b, parking it in a parking space if you can't drive it don't own it.

They are becoming useless, and mind numbing because people do not go past the meme. If it starts comments and conversations, well that is fine. I like them sometimes abhor them others. They can go either either way, kinda like using a double headed tree ax as a pendulum.(also they can be used by the "other side", no matter the side you stand with on any given situation.

A good article in NY Times LA Times , Boston Globe etc is unconsumable to some, as they are so detailed and , well really good, usually, but very very long. Meme's get a point across pretty fast , so for me they are a great starter Like a nice soup or salad before a full Italian Feast!

But the feeling that too many people don't THINK past the meme, nor do they engage in any discussion afterwards, kinda reduces the value of one.....
IMHO others may feel the need to disagree.

I see your point but it is not the same for me. My fear is more like apprehension and I do not feel shame. Sometimes I have idiot moments but no shame. We would all have done things differently in our past and we all should learn daily. Just today I am doing a project that changed 3 times. Now I think I'm happy with the finished project.

As for memes, some people do not get it. Most of them never will. My Texas Trumper relative reacted to a meme I posted with this ? I thought it was hilarious and posted back to her with ?? I don't think she is really stupid, it's just that she wants to debate. I don't want to debate. Neither the meme nor debating is going to change her. Memes should be obvious but not to everyone maybe. Some people are so stupid that they say outright all of this is just like apples and oranges to them. CORRECT, but an apple is not and orange and an orange is not an apple. They still do not get it.

As with most things, in excess, use of memes can definitely be toxic. The exception, for me, is the truly humorous ones. Anything that makes me laugh is a good thing in my book, and there are some truly witty meme makers out there. Laughter doesn't come from a numb place. But to use them exclusively to convey political or self help/philosophical sentiments seems to me a curtain someone is hiding behind as well. Though, truth be told, the more I am exposed to people's thoughts, I think some of them use them simply because they are incapable of an independent and coherent thought, and I suspect they became numb a loooong time ago.

Everyone does but with carpal tunnel and using a tablet memes are simpler