We reached out to Ariane Sherine, a comedy writer, published author, and music producer from the United Kingdom, to get her opinion on memes, standing out from the crowd with social media content, as well as the upsides and downsides of internet fame—something that plenty of people desperately want.

Bored Panda was curious how content creators can stand out from the crowd with their memes when pretty much everyone around them is trying to stand out as well. 

"A unique and funny take on a topical issue is always a winning formula," she told us.

"Especially if it’s relatable and universal, so people worldwide will get the joke instead of just people in a specific town, for instance," the comedy expert suggested that meme creators broaden their horizons and aim for a wider audience.

Meanwhile, we were interested in the pros and cons of internet fame, something that loads of people dream about (though it can be quite a double-edged sword/monkey's paw).

"The pros are that people are impressed. It also opens doors when it comes to getting jobs as companies always want people with a following as they can promote their products and services. And it’s often nice to get lots of engagement," comedy writer and author Ariane shared with Bored Panda.

"But the main con is that if you tweet something controversial and/or stupid, it’s easier to get canceled and receive hate mail than if you have virtually no followers. And even if you don’t do that, the level of engagement means your phone can constantly be blowing up with notifications, which can be very distracting!"

The ‘Awkward Memes’ page is wildly popular on Facebook. Nearly 1 million internet users follow it for the fun, chaotic, and sometimes even relatable memes they collect from all around the web.

‘Awkward Memes,’ along with the ‘Dark Humor’ Facebook page, were both created by the founders of the ‘Occult Fox’ project that’s all about “irresistible viral entertainment” and helping highlight some of the work created by artists, designers, and photographers.

“Awkward Memes provides a voice to those who want to share their awkward situations with the public without disclosing their identity. This can include workplace events, interactions with others, or embarrassing ideas. We turn this content into memes without disclosing your identity,” the page founders write on Facebook, adding that they also aim to help people forget about their own awkwardness.

Feeling awkward or embarrassed is a very human emotion. However, it’s quite uncomfortable and most people either shy away from those icky feelings or run away from the situation altogether. The problem is that if you keep doing that, you might turn your embarrassment into deep-rooted shame. (Think: remembering something awfully awkward you did back in school while you’re desperately trying to fall asleep at 3 am.)

The antidote? Embracing these feelings and acknowledging that they’re a part of you and a part of life. The next time you feel embarrassed or awkward, you’ll be far better equipped to handle your emotions. Congratulations! You’ve taken a huge step toward emotional maturity. It’s a far better alternative to cringing when you remember every little mistake you’ve ever made.

There’s a lot of overlap between awkward memes and ‘no context’ memes, a popular niche of entertainment on social media. There’s a focus on chaos, randomness, and making the audience laugh by serving them up something unexpected. And if you can get your audience to laugh, you’ve practically won! We’re not going to lie, we giggled way longer than we’d like to admit after we saw this meme about Ed Sheeran.

Very recently, Bored Panda spoke about memes with content creator, comedian, and broadcaster Trev Lewis, from LA. He shared his thoughts on how random ‘no context’ memes are actually the "purest distillation of what a meme actually is."

"The standard definition of a meme is, 'an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme.' So, if a meme is nothing more than an image, and it's entirely up to the audience to interpret the symbolic meaning rather than offering any sort of caption or explanation, this is the very nature that memes are founded on," the content creator explained to us during a recent interview.

"It makes sense, then, that they are widely popular. If we think back to the earliest popular memes, stuff like the 'I Can Has Cheezburger?' cat, they were basically inside jokes for the terminally online. As the internet became more mainstream, so did memes, but it wasn't that long ago most people weren't familiar with the word and were often pronouncing it 'maymay.' There's something about an inside joke that makes people feel more passionate about it. I suppose it's the nature of exclusivity, or perhaps just the bond we feel when other people share in our niche interests,” Trev shared his thoughts.

However, there’s really no “perfect formula” for a long-lasting meme that will stand the ravages of time. Though, content creator Trev noted that there are a couple of things that can help your meme have longevity.

“If a meme relies too heavily on current events, its relevance will likely fade along with those events. A standup comedy routine about food can be enjoyed for generations, but a talk show monologue about this week's news is going to expire quickly. It's the same principle. Someone may be able to resurface a screenshot that contains the original context, but already you're losing people if the joke has to be explained too much," he said.

"The other thing that helps is, as this [‘no context’ meme] genre showcases, not relying on a written language to convey the humor. Slang is a lot like memes in that it's constantly changing and being discarded. A funny phrase today may be seen as corny tomorrow. There's also the language barrier. If an image is funny without words, that's a more universal meme than one that relies on English, Spanish, and so on. The more people enjoy and understand a meme, the more it gets shared, and the more likely it is to live on."