Internet memes analyzed

As computer-centric as you may think The Beat is, we’re often as baffled by the latest fads as the next guy. Take the whole “LOLCAT” thing. The combination of cats and the internet being catnip to the nerds, photos of cats with humorous captions have somehow evolved into a whole language called “kitty pidgin.” “I’m in yr base, killin yr dudes,” seems to be one of the entry points for this, but it’s turned into a whole series of hilarious jokes involving linux and hamsters that everyone can enjoy.

Anyway we decided to give it a try here at SBM, but our own cat utterly refused to go along with the idea. Whereas everyone else on the internet seems to have an adorable cat who is always jumping around, leaping on things, picking up screwdrivers in their teeth to fix the computer. scampering into boxes, or else simply riding an invisible bicycle — all while accompanied by endearing expressions that remind you of how precious the bond between human and pet really is — our cat just sat there. Our attempts at improvisation via props also failed. So much for that, then.

Our next area of study was Twitter. Apparently, all the kids are into this mass-IM social networking thing wherein you can give all 2 billion of your close personal friends a second by second update of your whereabouts, food consumption and terribly important thoughts.

We thought we’d give THIS a try for a few days, but, once again, the results were less than we might have hoped for.

You can’t spell “TWITTER” without “TWIT”.