CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts -- If you want a real-world indicator of just how far meme culture's come in the last four years, look no further than the ROFLcon merch table.
In 2008, the inaugural year of the online-culture confab, there was little schwag aside from a few books and a special-edition Goatse condom. But registrants at ROFLcon III arrived here Friday morning to find a hypercolored spread of meme-comedy products, from Nyan Cat stickers to "Free Bieber" T-shirts.
Though such goodies would likely confound 98 percent of the general populace, the fact that a one-off joke can now be turned into a (potentially) lucrative mini-franchise is a sign that web humor is no longer as inaccessible -- in every sense of the word -- as it was even just five years ago. This internet thing might really take off!
In fact, the slow meme-jacking of the masses dominated the day's first few ROFLcon panels, starting with a zippily engaging keynote speech by Harvard law professor Jonathan Zittrain, who used beloved memes like Star Wars Kid and the Numa Numa Guy to examine what happens when someone goes from no fame to web fame to even-your-dad-knows-who-he-is-and-won't-stop-forwarding-it-around fame.
Zittrain wondered about the "ethical dimensions" involved when propelling an unknown stranger to meme-infamy, and while he proved his meme-love numerous times during the speech, he gently suggested that the size and skills of the online community could be used for more than mere lulz.
>"The most countercultural way to deploy this force is against the unfunny cynicism of mainstream institutions."
"In some ways," he said, "the most countercultural way to deploy this force is against the unfunny cynicism of mainstream institutions" -- that is, churches, politicians and the media. This went over well with the near-capacity crowd, so if you happen to be employed by any of those particular powers that be, maybe add a few more digits to your passwords this weekend.
The web's outreach to non-nerds was further illuminated by the "Global Lulzes" panel, which traced the impact of memes generated outside of the United States (oh, great -- even our LOLcats are being outsourced).
Artist and designer An Xiao Mina discussed how political memes are used to circumvent China's free-speech rules, highlighting viral efforts in support of lawyer Chen Guangchen and Ai Weiwei, while blogger Anas Qtiesh described how Syrians use acidic web gags to protest the Assad government.
The panel also traced just how big memes have become in Brazil, where a web-culture convention called youPix recently drew nearly 6,000 people, thanks in no small part to a countrywide dance phenomenon called the "I'm Awesome" dance, which more than lives up to its name.
Finally, the "Life After the Meme" panel brought together a few web celebs whose tenures were brief but glorious, including Kyle "One Red Paperclip" MacDonald, Ben "Leeroy Jenkins!" Schulz and Austin "Daft Hands" Hall.
All recounted tales of midlevel success -- whether it be landing a book deal or getting a mention on Jeopardy! -- while detailing some of internet fame's downsides: unfunny hate comments, angry e-mails and the occasional unpleasant meatspace run-in.
The most surprising revelation came courtesy of Chuck Testa, the taxidermist whose cheeky TV ad took off last year. According to Testa, he's received calls from "some homegrown terrorist animal people" threatening to cut off his kneecaps and put his head on a spike.
Testa seemed unperturbed by the threats, though his story reinforced a truism many of the participants and attendees at ROFLcon know all too well: No matter how strange things might get on the web, it's nothing compared to those weirdos in the real world.
