Confused Gandalf

It is definitely losing some of it's original appeal :(

No comment.....lol... :)

LOL

LOL the only benefit you get is comments on your memes and a place in my tag line. Unless I have a late night, then you may get private messages with suggestive pictures BAHAHAHAHAHA just kidding about the pictures ;-)

LOL

LOL you know my second job is journalism right? ;-)

Lol. :). Hope everything is going well, somewhat in the right direction for you? Those kids and husband always seem to get in the damn way! :)

I think as a social site, trends will come and go. I still enjoy the laughs and hope that my comments make others laugh or at least smile. :)

I enjoy yours and other's memes. If I don't comment on many of your memes, just know I do upvote a lot more of them. I just don't have a lot of time to post new memes, comment on everything and upvote all at the same time. I choose to post memes and upvote and do less commenting.

Thanks and same here. It really is hard to comment on all the memes I'd like to comment on due to the time factor also.

They do. And thanks. I'll be uploading my take on the wrap.

You are welcome. I'll look for it tomorrow.

Theme weeks were started to help folks with writer's block come up with ideas for memes. Last year, I only recall pulp art week. It was well l promoted this year, and, while I didn't make front page with any of my submissions, I made it to page three a few times. The important thing, though, was the fun and comraderie I enjoyed that week. Same with nearly every other week. The problem was that everyone decided they liked seeing their names in the title and started creating themes out if the blue. I just finished up a theme week, and was surprised that a yoga pants theme week started during that time. I didn't complain. Heck, I even made a submission that landed on the front page for several days. The only problem I have with it is that it seems to have been extended into somebody else's theme week. It broke the prime rule of entertainment: always leave them wanting more.

I wish imgflip would actually be the one to determine what themes were what, but they pretty much let the inmates run the asylum.

THE TREND IS HORRIBLE!!!
JUST CHECK THIS OUT:

imgflip.com/i/1mewcs

1mewcs.jpg (click to show)

Like can this fella be serious?

Why would you even consider such a theme? It's just asking for downvotes, NSFW, and posting curtailment for poor taste. I doubt that even Hustler would carry something like that.

Swiggy, it's a joke,,,

I made that a few days ago as a meme comment, then added a quip about it as a theme week, then decided to submit it as a goof.
Note there are no dates tagged to it,,,

I mean I was even referring to myself negatively here.

It's a parody - not of meme theme weeks which I do enjoy - but of the plethora of inane ones that have popped up suddenly with no prior announcing, promo-ing, preparing,,,

Sorry, but with so many people running so many themes, it's hard to tell, sometimes. With yoga pants week being so popular, suggestions for Panty Week and Cleavage week have been proposed. You're right, though. This yoga pants week, and it's extension, I'd not heard about prior to it happening. Notice, the only two submissions I made to that was did not show bubble butts. Monty Python week was a pop-up with a one day notice. I discussed it with her,bher and Ghost came up with a great compromise and they left it up to me to make the final decision, since it would overlap old ad week. Of course I agreed and embraced it, and had super fun doing it. Pokemon week is also a success although the yoga pants week was extended to knock the wind out of those sails as well. Now a "super hero week" has popped up in the middle of Pokemon Week, unannounced, even though Comjc Book Character Week is a month away.

I'll just use those Super Hero week Posts to promote Comic Book Week.

But Yoga Pants Week was a success, hence it's extension (and I used plenty of big butts because the real thing is so much better than an illusion), and funny. Monty Python was the same hacked off limb knight meme over and over and over and... by everybody who participated (We went from, "DARNED KIDZ, STEPPED ON A LEGO AGAIN!" to "OH, DID YOU CUT MY ARM OFF? OH, THE OTHER TOO? OH").

Why not overlapping theme weeks? Like Pokemon, I was born waaaaay too long ago to have a clue or want to want one. Smurffs? My Little Pony? What next?

Overlapping themes? Find if the organizers agree to it. That's how Python week and old ad week worked. I started promos on old ad week seeks before it started. I also had help from Coysin John and DerUberSau. I incorporated promos in Python Week as well, like I'm doing for Bob Ross week next week within Pokemon week. It's like showing up for your wedding and finding out that the preacher decided to do another wedding at the same time. The extension of the yoga pants week? No regard to something else that was planned and promoted in advance. What will happen is eventually it will become boring or Drive people from the site.

What does it matter?

What the OP hasn't realized is that the reason for the change and the explanation to all those chiming in is on the Leader Board. THE very people complaining have taken the lead here, set the atmosphere, the tone, the direction, the hierarchy, the so-called clique that the designated minions claim has rendered them invisible.

Yes, this place has changed. From what I garnered since last November:
2015 - Mainly school kid memes on the Front Page.
2016 - The Election that will never end brings the attack of the trolls left and right wing.
2017 - Meme Theme Weeks Mania Galore.

Check of Latest shows that "Mrs Crandall sux at teaching math" and "Joey Pencilton farts loudly in gym" STILL are in the majority of submissions. But NOT the Front Page anymore.

Instead of fussing about downvoting, let's do away with ALL voting. THAT is so High School. Maybe we can replace it with the monthly award for Molly Ringwald Cool Kid and Molly Ringwald Dweeb for thise in dire need of an ego boost shot.

A meme gets lots of comments? It gets bumped up.
Different pages for fun memes, political memes, religious memes, NSFW memes, and yes, theme memes.

I don't mean to disrespect anyone. People here have been encouragng and helpful. But members are members, not owners. They coalesce into an order, a status quo results, and ultimately that grows stale.

The current climate is one that fosters not creativity, but the theft of idea- sorry, REPOSTS, that if anyone Googles, they can see hundreds of older memes of. Same goes for the gifs. "Aww, yes, my 23rd pet dog is soooooooo cute too" Yeah, and it can time travel too, cuz I already seen it on Facebook 2 years ago. Now THAT'S talented memeing.

And again, despite my rant, I mean no disrespect to anyone here. There is a nice community happening, and it strives to bring others into it for optimum enjoyment of this site.

But when people lose sight that this is supposed to be about:
1. Expression
2. Hopefully fun
Then they are losing sight of what it's all supposed to be about.

What's more fun than being recognized for doing something well? One thing about creativity is to stretch your mind within constraints. A recent article about the SyFy channel's show, The Expanse pointed out how having to work within the constraints of physics helps the writers to make their show fresh because they have to stretch their minds to stay within the boundaries of science.

Themes work the same way. My cousin has one basic theme that, even when he strays from it, it is still related: cars. Imagine how he feels when a theme week comes along. He doesn't complain, he embraces the challenge, and rises to it and combines his theme with that. Does pretty good.

You mentioned that the theme weeks are all run by leaderboard members. When I put in for old ad week, I wasn't a part of the leaderboard. Close, but still a few weeks away. This week's Pokemon theme is from a new user: she's only been here a few months. Less than 40K points. Far from leaderboard. Other events up are also from non-leaderboard users.

Being recognized for your works is one thing, scrounging for points is a different matter. Just ask Lance Armstrong.
I saw one Mohammed Ali fight in my life. Him vs Ernie Shavers, 1977 on TV. What a hellacious fraud. If I ever saw that bastard, I'd slap him across the face just for having the audacity to show it on public after that shameful show. POINTS. He spent most of that match clutching Shavers just to remain standing, or against the ropes. But he won on POINTS. His matches were so rigged, a seagull with a pulley coulda used em to wrench the Titanic out of the ocean. POINTS.

Upvote parties to reach 1 or 2 million is not recognition for a quality ORIGINAL (Not stole- sorry, 'borrowed') meme, it's begging, it's cheap, it's cheating. P-E-R-I-O-D. POINTS.

I never said meme themes were the propriertary of the Leader Board.
I said,

"the Leader Board. THE very people complaining have taken the lead here, set the atmosphere, the tone, the direction, the hierarchy, the so-called clique that the designated minions claim has rendered them invisible."

An increasingly self serving self indulging self congratulatory approach will end exactly as intended. With those left out jumping ship, while those inside get bored and decline...

I never been on Reddit, and have been here only since June, and only to make memes for a forum elsewhere.

Personally, I like the better known memers here, as well as others, and they've treated me well. Even after I disrespected a couple of them last year. Ghostofchurch responded to me telling one of them to go die (I've mellowed out since then) in a straight forward yet respectful manner. He's offered me helpful advice other times on how stuff works here. Others have too.

But like what you said about participation trophy. The popularity club vibe loses sight of what this site is. When memes asking to upvote someone to 2 million points because they can't wait another two days to do so hits the Front Page (I had 2 thousand in my first 6 months. I didn't die), or about a sock, or "Yay! I finally washed the dishes!" (um, yuck? How long they been piling there for?), while good memes go unnoticed, something is wrong.

One of my favorite meme thread's was DashHope's "Your first three memes"
You got to see now popular users having gotten 3 or even 0 upvotes on them. Yet once posted on that thread, BOOM! 17 upvotes in 5 minutes. Really? Oh, NOW they're good?

https://i.imgflip.com/1m7c8v.gif

Sorry, my personal troll can't get their facts right. I must have used my authority to force 13 of the top 15 memers into thinking the awards were a good idea and then getting other community leaders involved in the process as well.

It was such a power play on my part to take a shot at organizing theme weeks so people knew what was going on after seeing sitewide confusion and frustration and then talking to those who do the most promotion for others. Stream utilization is higher than I ever thought! I've seen multiple users promote it, when have you otherwise seen a stream promoted on here!?

I've gotta say, it's pretty damn awesome being one of many community leaders, the folks here have done so many kind things for me, even as recently as this week. That's what happens when you put others first. Natalie should realize that after all the help I tried to give her original account turned troll/alt.

Being hated by one of the top 5 most hated and racist people on the site means you're doing something right.

Hehe, it actually gives me a little chance to brag about myself!

Best community on the web!

I have no problems with anything I mentioned here except for the alternate profiles everyone seems to be making to troll each other. I like you're streams with the record breakers. Makes memers more involved with the site. It certainly has blown up in the past year.

I know you didn't, just wanted to reply because of my troll's obsession with me. You know how the awards went. I didn't force anything on anyone.

Trolls just hatin' and jealous.

:D I like tacos

I'm not saying it's all bad, just for the record.

It's clear you're making honest observations. Hell, I upvoted this immediately.

Mandela effect

What is theme week? Sounds like a time thing.

Somebody calls out a theme (i.e. "Yoga-Pants-Week") and imgflippers make funny memes that have something to do with yoga pants.

Usually (but this is no written law) such a theme week lasts for a week. Sometimes only for three to four days.

If you want to have an overview about the theme weeks:

imgflip.com/m/ThemeWeek

As I see, that you are a new user, you can read some interesting stuff right here:

imgflip.com/i/1bc21u

Or simply ask the community for other questions. Don't be shy, they won't bite ^^

Yeah. Imgflip is going to pot. :(

I understand that the voters have a right to upvote whatever they want, but this "theme of the week" is seriously diluting IMGFLIP. It's a fad that will go away soon. It's much like the "YOLO" fad that I seriously disagreed with personally a couple years back. As an IMGLIPPER who tries to maintain a minimum amount of accounts and who strives to create relevant, funny, and original, non-themed memes, I have to admit that I'm a bit disappointed in this fad. I would say it shows the general decline in standards in our society as unfunny, irrelevant things are now somehow considered artistic; and fresh, creative meming is being replaced for attention grabbing. If you seriously disagree with my statements, please check out my account. I'm not saying it's the funniest account out there, but I have to admit that it isn't as popular as I'd hoped. Closing statement: free speech is imperative and so is the right to choose your entertainment, but some of us are upset about the decline in art and culture. Example: compare Dumb and Dumber to Dumb and Dumber To and focus on the decline of comedic and artistic standards from original comedy to mind-numbingly unfunny toilet humor.

There's nothing wrong with freedom of speech and theme weeks do promote that. Nobody is forced to participate, but a good theme week should be available to allow artistic expression of all sorts. The current trend of objectifying women and seeing how offensive it can be to try and squash themes that are striving for entertainment value over shock value. Themes that appeal to a general audience seem to do well. If I come up with an idea that I find witty, I go for it. Toilet humor? If I find it witty enough, yes. I did one just today that used the old standard, "she was only a XXXXX's daughter, but....." format but it worked due the wordplay. To make it work, I used a lass in a bikini, and tagged it NSFW, not because it was was nasty, but because, and this is a point that everyone should understand, many workplaces do not allow pictures of bikini clad women. But it's not a TOS violation. It's just I won't have as large of an audience for it. I can live with that. I've only had one NSFW rating on a meme that I protested, and after the mods reviewed it, agreed. So toilet humor isn't the problem, but the lack of humor. We don't need a theme week for that. I made front page with a gif that specifically said that: trying to find a good meme and all I was finding was crap. This was done during a non-theme week. The only other page one memes I've done were theme related: a Lego one and a yoga pants one that showed a donkey in denim jeans. My other yoga pants one was if Yogi Bear, and that was only a few spots from making page one. Deselect GIFs and it there. They were both protest memes about yoga pants week. Seems they were popular for being imaginative, different, and artistic.

"There's nothing wrong with freedom of speech and theme weeks do promote that. Nobody is forced to participate, but a good theme week should be available to allow artistic expression of all sorts."
If anyone can post whatever they want whenever they want, themed weeks seem pointless, if not an attempt at limiting front page material.

I don't have a problem with "theme week," but I rarely participate because I enjoy seeing randomness on the front few pages. I don't care if others participate and I upvote the ones I think are funny or clever. It's when someone tags their meme "yoga pants week" to get more views and their meme has almost nothing to do with yoga pants, that I have a problem with.

True. The big problem is that anyone that decides to have a theme week just announced it and off it goes. Ghost is trying to get some organization in this, but a faction seems to want to fight the fun aspect and undermine it. I'm having fun with Pijeemon week, next week, I'll have fun with Bob Ross week. In a month, I'll have fun with Comic Book Character Week which includes May the Fourth and Free Comic Book Day.

Theme weeks can be fun, but they aren't to compete with one another. The only competition needed is what we have without: making the best meme.

Hello good sir. Thank you for your comment. I agree with trying to make funny and creative content, but I disagree with your views on toilet humor. Mainly, toilet humor is pretty much a mindless self-indulgence with little to no long-term value. Mostly because there are two ways of thinking: automatic and controlled. Automatic sees the world in very simple to comprehend terms; such as, "Oh, I see bus 17. That's my bus." Very simple, right? Controlled thinking requires much more effort. Instead of just seeing bus 17, you would be racking your brain with thoughts like: "Why bus 17; why not bus 16?."
Or, "What happened to bus 16? Where is that going? Why is the number 17 used? "How did the number 17 come to be?"

Controlled thinking is limited in comparison to automatic thinking for evolutionary reasons: nothing would ever get done because you'd be too busy hypothesizing the universe.

The problem is that the mindless thinking used in toilet humor doesn't encourage useful thought. And if it's so easy to comprehend, then what's the point of using logic and deep thinking if there is more reward in "stupidity?" The problem is that it encourages laziness, to be blunt.

How does this manifest in society today to any extent? Well, look at the social Marxist movement. Social Marxists are overly simple thinkers. "Why do black people on average have less than whites?" Clearly, it's inequity of opportunity. WRONG, actually. Social Marxists advocate for the whole idea of taking from the poor and giving to the rich. In reality, they are advocating for theft. Why? Because of inequity. In reality, there are many reasons why this is the case. Ever heard of effort inequality? Probably not, because that actually takes controlled thinking to deduce. This bad logic is promoted by a culture of "toilet humor thinking." To sum it up, "Dilutions" like toilet humor encourage bad logic and discourage thoughtful deep thinking. The logic is here: "If I can get what I want by being ignorant and lazy, why in the world would I think deeply about something?" Look at leftist! They do almost everything they can to stop critical thought because it would ruin their views on reality. Why would anybody want to work harder for social acceptance? In evolutionary terms, this controlled thinking is very tough.

But controlled thinking requires mental effort. Considering the brain takes up about 8% or so of a human, the brain uses about 1/4 of its calories. It's a very taxing little bastard!

And if you've ever spent a day racking your brain, you know how tiring that is! Nobody likes to do 5 hrs of homework after 2 hrs of lecture! But, if you can get away doing less and getting the same results, why wouldn't you? Toilet humor is a symptom of this laziness and should really not be encouraged. We seem to have a very uneducated and intellectually dishonest society because we consume worthless things that don't encourage productivity. Ever noticed how it takes more and more and more stuff to fulfill your life? That's because none of it is filling. It turns out that we only need a few fulfilling things in life to succeed, and we seem to be happier when we get those things. So, in a way, toilet humor encourages mindless, unfulfilling consumption, rather than fulfilling productivity. But, I will say that some mindless humor is okay, but promoting it is another story.

As Bill Hicks would say, it is "lowering the standards" for everybody. I know this is a huge philosophical rant, but I hope you understand my point. Thanks.

Good explanation. If I'm inferring this correctly, you are actually pointing to the difference between a dirty joke and toilet humor. Forgive me for stereo typing because too many people don't know the difference. Its the difference between a Gene Tracy Truckstop tape and a George Carlin routine. Too many don't, so when you said toilet humor, I assumed that you included anything that included body functions and "naughty bits". I hadn't even thought about racist jokes because there are so few of them that are funny, but not in what I'd determined as toilet humor. That being the case, I have to agree. I'd go so far as to put 95%+/-, of the political posts here in that category.

I like something that shows actual wit and thought. That said, I don't think you'll find toilet humor in my posts based on your definition. I don't mind people going for the easy laugh, if there's a real laugh there, but those have to have a good set up. I saw one meme last night that could have been hilarious if it had a set up to it. It didn't, and floundered. The poster will likely wrack his brain to figure out why. Oh, there's lots of those out there, punchlines looking for jokes.

I wasn't purposely pointing to the difference between dirty jokes and toilet humor, but I think you get what I'm saying. I could even enjoy humor about mundane and everyday human activities. For example, I say to people that have bad ideas: "You should go to the bathroom because you are so full of shit that you have diarrhea of the mouth." I understand I'm on a bit of a tangent here, but I saw a Raydog meme today that was nothing but some guy dancing with a superimposed cat dancing. How is that funny?! How is that a front page meme?! I respect Raydog for being so popular even one of his farts would make the front page, but that's a spot that a much, much, much better meme could occupy. "Dilution" from "toilet humor." (Well, actually, mindless consumption - somewhat similar. That ties into the theme of the week thing: it produces a lot of unfunny filler material that becomes popular just because, really.

PT 2:

They are at it and will succeed.

Now, what makes Raydog so popular? He tries to post what people like. The dancing cat? I liked it because it was so different from much of what appears here. Was it the best thing he ever posted? No, but it was a hell of lot better than 80% of the posts here. He has the ability to post what people like. That's the key to his popularity. He has his detractors because you can't please everyone all the time. I don't upvote everything he does, but most of what I see of his is worth an upvote. I judge on the post, not the person. He's built a strong fanbase, though. That's part of the entertainment industry. He accepts the potshots taken at being number one. But he's worked hard to get there. His posts are always positive in nature, something I learned to try and project. He's #1 on the leaderboard because he leads by example.

I told you before, I've been in your shoes. :-D.

Well, I didn't intend on taking pot shots at Raydog. My apologies: collateral damage. I was just trying to make a point. I accidentally overlooked that. Whoopsies!

Everyone has opinion. The one thing to do in expressing opinion, though, is being able to back it up with action or your record. I can only speak for myself, but when I returned to imgflip, I decided to go with humor. I also understand that pathos goes along with that, but I use it sparingly. If I post, if will be funny more often than not. Look at my record. I'm well known here not because of getting to page one all of the time. Actually, that took almost a year if steady posting, and it didn't occur until I deleted my old account, took a month off, and reevaluated what I wanted to do here. Check a couple pages of my latest or hot memes. Doesn't matter. If you go back to before Christmas, you'll see what few political posts I made emphasized humor. I hold everyone accountable to that when they complain. When someone criticizes the lack of humor or not making page one, I scrutinize their posts. One reason why my critiques are generally respected because I'm honest. Ask yourself, can you keep up the standards for humor you've set in your original message? I've already looked.

TBH, I've changed a lot of my political and religious beliefs in the last few years rather radically. Honestly, I have had some growing up to do in recent years. I mention that because I honestly do believe I could keep those standards up because it is from the heart and as backed by science as possible. I have re-read many of my old memes and some are rather "complainy" in nature. We all must forgive our natural flaws. Trying to achieve 100% "rightness" in views and opinions is impossible. I've already stated that I wasn't trying to attack Raydog, but make a point. That's why you have to give somebody the benefit of the doubt when making statements. This is the internet, it's easy to say something, but unintentionally say or do something inflammatory. I'll stand as a man that I do not like the meme in question and I'll stick to my guns because I believe it's a symptom of a MUCH bigger political, economical, cultural, and philosophical problem. Point was to address this, not to harm any individual specifically.

I can appreciate that. I strive to entertain the largest audience possible. There are political places on the web that I visit, am known, and respected. I learned not to bring those beliefs here unless I can make a meme funny enough to win over a large majority of users. One reason why I don't do political here anymore. Too many people feel butt hurt. Takes the fun away from the site.

I guess it's a good thing you're not the final authority on what's funny then isn't it? Just because YOU don't think it's funny doesn't mean it isn't...you're just one opinion out of hundreds.

Wow Raydog?! Don't you have bigger fish to fry? I wasn't mocking you. I just stated your meme was pretty mindless if you look at it. If you read my post above you'd understand my argument. I give you credit for your popularity, but I think you need to understand constructive criticism. I'm not angered by you personally, I just don't agree with what is considered "art" today. I have my rights to my opinion and you have yours. And as you said, I am just one opinion out of hundreds, I really hope you don't think I think my opinion is more valuable or credible than others. I don't want to start a war of ideologies here... There's plenty of that in the real world. BTW, I didn't even downvote your meme. I used it as an example of my arguments above. Can't we just be friends?

I'm not mad, just pointing out that just because you don't think something is funny and you think it doesn't belong on the front page, doesn't mean you're right...the community decides as a whole what goes up there.

Final statement, Raydog: You're right, the community decides what goes up there. You are very popular, and you have a big target on you. People are going to discuss you. I assume you know this already, though. I did not mean to discredit your work if that's something you think was my plan. I simply want to say this: that meme in discussion sucks; sorry if it seems I am not being straightforward enough. I did not care to share that with you because my opinion is pretty irrelevant. I can assume, being that you have enough intelligence to be a top tier memer you can understand that what I see is a crumbling, dying culture, and all I can really do about that is to call a spade a spade. The situation around that particular meme highlights this. That meme is unfunny and unoriginal. Plain and simple. Good for you for making the front page with it. Honestly, I applaud you for it. Good job, Raydog. (Seriously). To be clear, I never said I was right. I've been wrong enough enough times to learn humility. Maybe I'm completely wrong, but I don't believe so. Psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson states that the "ability to speak your truth is the ball work against hell."

Personally, I see the whole situation surrounding that meme in question as a sign of "hell," sort of speak. Please read my arguments if you haven't and deduce yourself if you think we are living in a society in a time that someone can (at least attempt to) call a spade a spade. I know I may become unpopular opinion puffin, but I'm just trying. Sorry, just trying to follow Trump's plans of attack. I wish you luck and continued success.

Humor is always relative. I learned that years ago, when I was asked to join the Comedy Bulletin board on Prodigy. I learned that not everyone gets every joke, gag, or satire. I deal with it in what I post and what I read. If I find a post funny, I upvote, if I don't get it, I pass over it and not demand an explanation. If it's an upvote whoring, I'll call them to task. I base my critique on their work. Some get pissed by my critiques, but they are the posters that post crap. One recent lost I critiqued was on the front page. The critique I left was very thorough. Other members asked me to critique their work. I found four good memers that way, including the original poster.

SORRY - *taking from the rich and giving to the poor.