Most people don’t like tacos as much as they say they do. Yet, there are taco graphic tees, and they’ve even become a topic of conversation. The taco craze is admittedly dying down, but it is symptomatic of a larger societal push: extreme relatability on the internet.

    Memes are a cultural phenomenon most people are aware of but is defined as “an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation,” by Google.

    Most people assume memes are images or some text that is spread quickly with some variations but is still recognizable.

    There are many memes that don’t rely on being relatable to be shared, especially the more surreal and ironic memes, such as the “meme man” or “deep fried memes” that make surreal images grainy and distorted in color.

    But many of the more widespread and enjoyed memes are extremely relatable.     Just saying or replying the word “same” to something human or non-human was a meme. Older and long-outdated internet memes, even Rage Comics, were still based in being relatable. “Forever alone” was meant to appeal to pretty much anyone who had been lonely before but with a focus on single people.

    In more current “relatable memes” saying “mood” when something describes how we feel, even if it seems to be surreal or unrelated.

    But even talking about how much you love tacos, pizza or chicken nuggets is a relatable meme. Sure, these are foods that taste good, but they are always talked about.     When they are mentioned, most people love to talk about how much they love “x” food.

    This isn’t necessarily a problem, and seeing your moods in weird pictures on the internet can be very funny. There is an underlying need for people to feel like they fit in and like what they do is similar to others.     In turn, we try to make everything relatable and similar. We act shocked and dismayed when someone doesn’t feel like they love tacos or chicken nuggets. Memes are essentially one big in-joke, but when the joke becomes about how relatable something is, we move away from the humor and towards being more similar.

    So keep memeing, keep being relatable, but keep in mind that what makes us different is important, and we don’t all have to love tacos.