From https://bsky.app/profile/gingerbreadgolem.bsky.social/post/3kj6shj7q3z2r. There's also a blank template there to make your own.
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this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2024
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Thanks. I didn't realize Bluesky wouldn't show the images to unregistered viewers
Some posts work, but you can limit your account visibility to logged in users.
Nope, I won't be changing your mind because you are correct.
Crowder says stupid words specifically designed to provoke a reaction from people.
196ers react to it.
we had a phrase for how to respond to this type of person/provocation, back in the day. something about food and trolls... but it's long forgotten 😐️
I always preferred the "bait" analogy when describing these tactics.
It's the same analogy originally. The verb "troll" means "To fish for by trailing a baited line from behind a slowly moving boat".
oh shit I never realised that. I always thought it meant like the ogre kind of troll
I can assure you he has genuine fans who don't see what he does as trolling
Seriously, I grew up on sm forums where people would constantly say don't feed the trolls. Shame society at large didn't get the memo
The original meme was mocking him, but just like the Chuck Norris memes, people will be too stupid to realize that.
The vast majority of people have no idea who he is. That doesn't make them stupid.
I, for one, encountered the meme before I learned it was Crowder. Now I'm glad to have a Calvin version.
Exactly. I read this meme and thought "who the fuck is he" googled his name, and saw the meme template I have seen million times without ever even stopping to think who the guy is
They aren’t stupid. The people who think that this meme is pointing out how smart the person sitting at the table are stupid.
It's not stupidity though right? It's poes law. People simply can't tell what is or isn't satire; is the funny looking guy at the desk smart? Dumb? Arrogant? There's no way to tell if you don't know who he is (most people don't pay attention to losers like crowder) so people have to make a base assumption based on their already existing perceptions.
The Chuck Norris memes originated on SomethingAwful as Vin Diesel memes anyway but that was almost twenty years ago so nobody is going to remember that
Plenty of people have stairs in their house
This is better
Neither does Drake. The Geordie LaForge one is just better, anyway.
Sold and saved.
So that's what that guy's name is! Never knew before. Thanks!
Still don't really know who he is. Also don't care.
A piece of shit who's right-wing grifter
Also abused his ex-wife! Real classy, fella.
And has come out against the concept of divorce because his wife divorced him
Also crossdresses to own the libs. Like a lot.
Redundant
He played Brain on Arthur, not sure what else he did after that tho
Isn't this still the meme format? Just without the original picture?
Yes it's an alternative for the same format, just minus Stephen Crowder. The post is saying that Stephen Crowder doesn't deserve to be the meme format and so uses Calvin instead
No, it says Steven Crowder doesn't deserve a meme format. His image doesn't have to be in a meme for it to be his format.
The title of the post is "Meme improvement rule," which implies that this format is improved when Crowder is replaced by Calvin. The OP also provides a template for the Calvin version of the meme.
This leads me to believe that the post is saying that this version is not Stephen Crowser's meme format. Stephen Crowder may have pioneered the format, but it has been reclaimed by Calvin, and this specific meme format with Calvin is no longer Stephen Crowder's
I understand what the meme is trying to say. I'm saying that I don't think it succeeded. I don't think this is different enough to not still be the Stephen Crowder format.
Well, a lot of the commenters here didn’t even know his name. I read about him once but all my brain registered is “the change my mind guy is an asshole”, his actual name flew out of my mind almost immediately.
I think the people calling it “the Stephen Crowder meme format” are in the absolute minority.
Change my mind: $5
Is being a meme template a good thing?
How’s it feel?
But really: it’ll lead to “origin of [meme]” searches which will lead to some number of people consuming the guy’s content.
Mid tbh.
But really: true. I guess I associate this meme with clowning on him but it doesn't get used that way as much now, and Calvin is probably better because of that.
The people clowning on him were posting "I have a bad idea I'm willing to defend."
This became indistinguishable from Chowder fans posting "I have a bad idea I'm willing to defend" but their shenanigans are cruel and tragic.
Using it like that will not help.
It gives a different meaning to the original, so it becomes a different meme.
Because the entire "Change my mind" thing came from a Crowder stunt, I don't feel like this is a whole lot better.
Don't get me wrong, Calvin in a Crowder meme is better than Crowder in a Crowder meme. But I think we should lose the "Change my Mind" bit entirely.
Good luck putting that genie in a bottle.
Bill Waterson wouldn't like this so that's a pass from me.
Ehhhhhh. I won't follow you there.
A) what he didn't like was crass commercialization, something guaranteed to ultimately subvert his intent and integrity. Nobody's making money off of this and nobody would mistake it for coming from Watterson himself. I'd be against selling this on a t-shirt... but not a single-run personal-use silkscreen.
B) I'm not worried about this hurting his feelings.
Nah, let's keep making fun of people for saying stupid shit.