"In modern times it’s worse because of the Internet. Suddenly, a certain group of people, usually the people trying to escape society as-is, moved away to the digital society, made friends there. New cultures appeared, cultures of hipsters and /b/tards and the many cults of programming that arose. Memes, crystallized in text rather than in person, became incredibly potent and a sign of social status. The Internet favors a particular wit: humor that is referential in nature, short-term, and generally “inside” in nature. “The cake is a lie” is the first meme to come to mind. At my school, people began reciting this line whenever cake was mentioned. To people not “in” on the joke, it sounded like nonsense, which further led the meme-spreaders to a sort of arrogance. “It’s a nerd thing. You wouldn’t get it.” Mix that with the fact that “The cake is a lie” was not a particularly funny idea, so when nerds try to explain it the whole thing sounds fairly lame, and you’ve got a situation where people are further pushing themselves away from other groups. Because the Internet is relatively global, suddenly there were comparatively anonymous people beginning huge enormous trends which only make sense if you’re in the thick of things. These memes lack a local significance. They’re different from jokes about teachers and substitutes and all of the things that build together a local community. Online there’s a global community that people use as surrogates."
