what they say: “its just a meme, bro”

what they mean: “im a victim of a viral culture thats overuse of a broad, general term like ‘meme’ as a synonym for a specific brand of abstract, shorthand humor has caused me to confuscate the concept of viral ideas with harmless, meaningless jokes. because of this, im unable to differentiate between actual harmless jokes and things like racism, pedophilia, and homophobia when theyre hidden behind a layer of abstract, shorthand humor that i consider to be a part of ‘internet culture’ as a whole. it is also because i lack critical thinking skills.”