Adam Harris was initially amused when his wedding pictures went viral. But then the meme turned dark. He writes about his experience for BBC Trending.



Weddings are a whirlwind.
Here it is, this day that you plan for over a year and just like that - it's gone. All you have are hazy memories of short moments and pictures. If you have a great photographer like my wife Tisa and I did, you can relive those moments over and over again.
Our wedding day was no different from many others. We agreed not to see each other until the ceremony. The only communication we had with each other were notes and gifts that the wedding party helped exchange for us. The day was building to the reveal. When my bride Tisa walked down the aisle, I tried and failed to hold back the tears. She was radiant. I was so happy to be marrying her.
In November, our photographer sent us the photos while we were on the honeymoon. We shared a few of them with our family and friends, laughing at some parts of the wedding that we missed or were too wrapped up in to remember.
There was a series of images in particular that stood out to us. They told the story of when we first saw each other that day, how she captivated the entire crowd as she came through the doors and began to walk down the stairs. The pictures showed me beginning to cry, fighting back the tears, and ultimately wiping them away. We loved this photoset and ultimately I posted it to my Tumblr.
Within a month I noticed an unusual surge in notes on the Tumblr post. It quickly reached 7,000 notes in the span of two days. We didn't think much of it. After all, it was just Tumblr.
Then our friends began to send us pictures of ourselves. They were the same pictures I shared on Tumblr, but now some had quotes and watermarks. Some had been shared and filtered so many times the genuine colour was non-existent. Of the photos that I posted, 3 or 4 were seen most frequently. The ones of our favourite moment.
Some of the captions on the photos were inspirational - people holding us up as an example of what real love looked like. Others played it off for laughs, comparing my tears to that of a college student forced to eat bad cafeteria food.
Tisa and I had become a viral meme.
Imagining that our meme fame would blow over in short time we brushed it off. As the months went along though, the images continued to be posted. Friends of ours continued to share them with us. The next thing we knew, it was the end of May and our photos had been circulating the internet for six months.
To date, we have seen several iterations of the meme. The good, the bad, the ugly. We're strong people, and we know that words are just words. However, we abide by the general rule: "Don't read the comments". As much as we tried to stay away from the memes they kept coming back around - then trolls got hold of them.
Suddenly the comments weren't jokes about Thanksgiving dinner, they were words that played off of racist stereotypes about black men.
One tweet in particular implied that my tears weren't about love for my wife, but because I'd have to give up a promiscuous lifestyle.
I didn't find it funny.
As if my wife wasn't enough to elicit that reaction. By including her photo in the set, they not only took a dig at my character but they devalue my wife, the brilliant, beautiful woman I will spend my life with. For the sake of a few retweets and favourites, they tried to distort the strength of our love.
People love memes. They can make you laugh, think deeply, and sometime they can utterly disgust you. However, its easy to forget that some of those pictures are of real people in real moments.
That's what makes being a meme so strange. Memes take your moments and distort them. In doing so, they distort you.
People know your moment but they don't know you. The real you.
So here I am: Adam. 23 years old. Twenty-four in a couple of weeks. I'm married. She's awesome. How I Met Your Mother is still my favourite show. Tisa and I bonded over it. I love to laugh. I'm a writer. I'm a basketball coach. I love politics and social media - the good and bad. I cry sometimes. Everybody does.
I am an internet meme.
But that's far from the most interesting thing about me.
Blog by Adam Harris


Source:
www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-33030815

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mormoni:
. . .

How far do you intend to go in life doing this kind of thing?

Hmmm

ControlX:

How far do you intend to go in life doing this kind of thing?

as far as u intend to go

Oh, shut up, whinger. You put it on Tumblr.

Things happen fast on the internet.

LOL......NO COMMENT

Lol. Internet sensation

.

So this guy is 24 and he is married . And a 26yr old guy was complaining yesterday that his mum said he was too young for marriage

It's the internet, a very very public place therefore anything goes

At 23? This people sabi rush life oo, so by 30 u don born finish and by 40 u don die...

mormoni:
as far as u intend to go

[img]http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQVQjXZYoBgLdlslPqO_2LLpKnKH_A_sXCDiLSmBKEtTWZdFw9Kfg[/img]


[img]http://m0.her.ie/YToyOntzOjQ6ImRhdGEiO3M6MTc2OiJhOjM6e3M6MzoidXJsIjtzOjExNDoiaHR0cDovL21lZGlhLWhlci5tYXhpbXVtbWVkaWEuaWUuczMuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS93cC1jb250ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMvMjAxNS8wNS8yNzE4MzIzNC9hZGFtLWhhcnJpcy10d2l0dGVyLW1lbWUucG5nIjtzOjU6IndpZHRoIjtpOjY0NztzOjY6ImhlaWdodCI7aTozNDA7fSI7czo0OiJoYXNoIjtzOjQwOiI2NjYzNWVjN2ZmOTA0OGQ1M2E3NWI3NWZhZDIwMDhkMGY0OWI0YWJkIjt9/adam-harris-twitter-meme.png[/img]

Beard Gang goals

Smartsyn:
At 23? This people sabi rush life oo, so by 30 u don born finish and by 40 u don die...

he who finds a wife finds a good thing.

He should av known better. Tumblr no get joy at all!

lol...funny and sympathetic story

Mister, u have to calm down its a normal thing
just laugh it off


That's why I like Don Jazzy..only am go dey write memes for im pictures.

angelTI:
So this guy is 24 and he is married . And a 26yr old guy was complaining yesterday that his mum said he was too young for marriage

Its a societal thing I guess or maybe economic. Things work over there and by 18 you're expected/kicked to move out/out of your parents home. By 23, you should be finished with your education because there are no strikes and the eduicational system works. They have student loans, car loans, house loans and these things apply to every citizen and not just the elite.

I hope the other guy is not still living with his parents at 26. It quite possible sha

Moana:
he who finds a wife finds a good thing.

never seen a man tear up in such moment before.seems from the outlook like its more out of pain and the probable uncertainties of the future.any 23 year old man willfully getting into such monumental responsibility has to feel sorrow.this is bravery.

troy20:

never seen a man tear up in such moment before.seems from the outlook like its more out of pain and the probable uncertainties of the future.any 23 year old man willfully getting into such monumental responsibility has to feel sorrow.this is bravery.

not every man is pessimistic and full of trust issues...he gave the reason why he got so emotional. If you never found a woman that can make you put all doubt, it doesnt mean every other man is experiencing life the way you experience it. Its not every man that sees the glass half empty, some see the part that's half full

ellahzy:
lol...funny and sympathetic story

Mister, u have to calm down its a normal thing
just laugh it off


That's why I like Don Jazzy..only am go dey write memes for im pictures.

I think sometimes in our bid to catch fun on the internet we fail to realise that these people are real humans like us who do have feeling and seek a chance to not be misunderstood. Memes are fun. And I make a couple of them too. But for something as sensitive as special moment of a cherished wedding, I think its playfulness carried too far.

Moana:
not every man is pessimistic and full of trust issues...he gave the reason why he got so emotional. If you never found a woman that can make you put all doubt, it doesnt mean every other man is experiencing life the way you experience it. Its not every man that sees the glass half empty, some see the part that's half full

easy thats very unfair you know.how about you mull over the memes and comments instead.you are not a man.

ControlX:


I think sometimes in our bid to catch fun on the internet we fail to realise that these people are real humans like us who do have feeling and seek a chance to not be misunderstood. Memes are fun. And I make a couple of them too. But for something as sensitive as special moment of a cherished wedding, I think its playfulness carried too far.

exactly, He should just forget about it because he has also laughed at someone at a particular point in time. (his story won't stop Ppl from creating d memes)

ellahzy:



exactly, He should just forget about it because he has also laughed at someone at a particular point in time. (his story won't stop Ppl from creating d memes)

Put yourself in his shoes and don't be rash. Would you "just"forget about it because you have "laughed" someone at a particular point in time? I'm talking about the mimicking and mockery of a cherished moment. Yes the memes are not gonna change and worse memes may come up. Nothing is gonna change. But i think its pretty unfair to pass it up as "just". Think about someone making a mocking meme of you with photos of the burial of a loved one [I pray it never happens] because you innocently shared it on SM. Would feel "just" the same way. A child can play with its mother's breast but not with its father's testicles.

Cc RoyalRoy Lalasticlala

[quote author=angelTI post=34541476]So this guy is 24 and he is married . And a 26yr old guy was complaining yesterday that his mum said he was too young for marriage

Lolzzz that funny though!!

Its a societal thing I guess or maybe economic. Things work over there and by 18 you're expected/kicked to move out/out of your parents home. By 23, you should be finished with your education because there are no strikes and the educational system works. They have student loans, car loans, house loans and these things apply to every citizen and not just the elite.

I hope the other guy is not still living with his parents at 26. It quite possible sha. You have said it all but the thing is it all bored down to up bringing and opportunity because life tend to offer that every secound of the day

People can be mean sha

angelTI:
So this guy is 24 and he is married . And a 26yr old guy was complaining yesterday that his mum said he was too young for marriage

mayb d mum felt he was emotionally not mature enuf for marriage