Claire McArthurSandy is not a person. You know that right? Oh you do? Then why have you been referring to Sandy as if this tropical storm was an actual person!? It’s a hurricane! I get that we all think we’re funny making all these witty jokes about Sandy making us wet and her moving her body like a cyclone. But why are we working so hard on all these memes and other internet generated pictures with casual pop references in each one?! My Facebook homefeed was littered with things making references to the OC, Spongebob Squarepants and Grease.
The following are my favourites… Yes, therefore they will be your favourites too
I of course blame social media, first and foremost for this over personification of Hurricane Sandy. As soon as a meme got posted, there were likes and shares and retweets and reposts and every other way of showing your 710 friends on Facebook that you are making mirth of the hurricane as well. But actually, I’m sure they’ll think you’re so clever for finding this manufactured meme on the internet, or maybe they’ll think you’ve decided to quit school and pursue a career in meme making. But do you, sweetheart, follow your dreams.
While twitter was also used as an informant to those around the world (as Sandy snuck up the East Coast, seven of the top ten hashtags were all Sandy related) about Hurricane Sandy related news, many parody accounts were also set up. Hey FIMS students, how mad are you that you didn’t think of that? My favourite one you can see here. It referenced enough early 2000s hip hop and all the tweets being in capitals really helps drive home the force of Sandy.
So now that Sandy has finally slowed down and there’s a little less precipitation and a bit slower winds, we should all take a moment to reflect on our behaviour. Did you talk about Sandy like the storm was an actual living being? Did you share a meme about Sandy Cohen as the eye as the storm? Did you retweet a Twitter update? Babe, Stop.
