iOS stolen meme indicator

Who doesn’t love memes? As someone who has functionally been glued to a screen since the early 2010s, I have a concerningly deep understanding of internet culture and how memetic language has evolved in the past 10 or 15 years. As I write this, I realize I’m getting old, as 15 years online is a substantial amount of time.

Throughout my years on the internet, I’ve often had friends who act as sources for different types of content. One friend might be deep into the corporate/work meme sector, while another specializes in deep-fried memes you only stumble on after 2am. Cultivating a diverse network pays unexpected dividends I guess.

Thinking back on my high school and college years, I remember how seriously teachers and professors took plagiarism. Ironically, this behavior is likely rife in the digital era, but since there are no stakes (other than the exchange of social capital), no one cares if you steal something like a meme.

What if we engineered accountability for meme thieves? You can imagine an experience where a label/disclaimer is appended to messages where someone steals content.

This would out so many people as content thieves. Having a “paper trail” is an interesting concepts, as the technology to support this likely exists, but it’s such a petty feature I doubt it’ll ever get built.

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