I think it’s 5. for the most part. What could be done is forcing a mandatory tag like [TextOnly] or maybe the platform the screenshot is from [Reddit], [Twitter] etc. That way the people that don’t like those types of posts can just filter them out

The explosion of this type of garbage is a big part of what killed Reddit imo. Or at least when the decline became noticeable.

We stopped seeing memes and the front page was just twitter screenshot after twitter screenshot and then the video garbage came along and it just spiralled.

I personally think it’s worth limiting this kind of thing to avoid the same fate. Though at the moment I don’t see it as a problem because lemmy users don’t seem to be going overboard with this stuff. There’s some restraint and judgment in place at the moment but who knows how long that’ll last.

We have !microblogmemes@lemmy.world specifically for that kind of thing.

I’m not bothered too much by it, but since we have a dedicated space for that sort of thing, it makes sense to post them there rather than here.

There is a reasonable discussion to have about politics. (Not because they aren’t memes, but because it really annoys some people.)

For everything else, yes, people are overthinking it. How many people consistently come around here? Do we need to subdivide?

Blanket banning social media screenshots would remove many posts which i would consider “valid” memes, so think that would be too much

#2 is highly subjective so that’s difficult to moderate

#3 i have seen headline posts that i would say qualify as memes so same goes for that as for social media screenshota

#4 same here, the alternative would be links, and i don’t want to have to open xitter to see a funny tweet

Are screenshots of other platforms like Reddit, X, Bluesky ‘off topic’? Or, do they count as memes?

I’m not a fan of them but they’re not something I would report as off-topic. But given the chance to voice an opinion on them, I’d say they’re more appropriate for the “people Twitter”-style social-media inception communities.

2. Does a meme require an attempt at humor?

I would say yes. I don’t subscribe here to be preached at. But there’d be some potentially awkward judgement calls for the purposes of enforcing that.

3. What about news? (What if a headline is funny?)

There’s !nottheonion@lemmy.world and similar for those and news/politics permeates everything. It’s nice to have a place away from that.

4. Is an image required? Should a picture of text (not from another platform) be removed?

That’s a tough one. I’ve seen pictures of book text being presented, but that often (but not always) bumps up against #2 (attempt at humor)

1. Yes. A meme is a meme.
2. No. Not all memes need to be funny or this would be !funny_memes
3. news might be a meme I guess. Certainly some headlines and articles have become memes themselves.
4. Non-text image… not really required, but it helps I guess.
5. yes, absolutely.

I guess it depends what the community purpose is: should it be a breeding ground for potential new memes where some might hit and others miss? Or are only variations on well-established memes to be allowed?

(My 2¢: the light-touch moderation method is the correct one. You’re doing fine, no change needed)

IMO, memes are internet folklore and should not be tightly regulated. Memes have a story to tell or a message to convey.

I don’t necessarily agree with screenshots of twitter posts being memes but many others do.

Allow memes in all their forms, whether there is 100% consensus or not. I believe tight regulation is what drove people away from other sites, such as Digg and later Reddit.

Well that’s my 2 cents. Thank you for reading.

Dan :)

IMO, its #5 (overthinking it). I just want to see funny shit, puff some air from my nose, hit the upvote button, and keep scrolling.

There needs to be humour, and ideally there’s something visual beyond text.

Categorisation is a good thing - it means you can find what you want and avoid what you don’t.

I couldn’t care less. But I still define a meme in my head as being an imagine that presents an idea, with text that presents a situation that you are relating to that idea. As in a meme with bad luck Brian or, chaos wolf, you see and read the words, but the image gives you context, or a “world” in which those words were intended to be read.

I come here to see memes, not screenshot. If I wanted to see screenshot i go to the screenshot community

I don’t think screenshots really fit the criteria for qualifying as a “meme”—humorous or not.

I understand why screenshots feel meme-adjacent. They can be funny and shareable; however, I think memes (as we’ve come to be most used to the term today) are chiefly expressed through image panels containing text that succinctly convey humour. Screenshots rarely fit this criteria because while sometimes funny, they often lack the visual aspect that makes “memes”… memes.

Think about the distinction between ‘xkcd’s’ and 4chan screenshots for example. We often come across the phrase “insert xkcd about ‘x’ topic here” but we can’t do the same for 4chan or Xitter screenshots. This is what i think meme communities should represent the most: image panels that succinctly convey humour and can be (and often are) deployed at a moment’s notice to satisfy a humourous intent.

Additionally we already have communities like !greentext@sh.itjust.works, !microblogmemes@lemmy.world and !whitepeopletwitter@sh.itjust.works for forum and image board posts and !funny@sh.itjust.works for more generally funny posts. Putting those same kinds of screenshot posts here feels like clutter to me.

So yes, i think we need a rule banning screenshot posts because they don’t fit the vibe of typical memes (although i get this is subjective) and there are already numerous communities for those kinds of posts.

I’d say #5, with a caveat that maybe we add a rule giving temp bans to users who complain and whinge and gatekeep memes.

I don’t think directly political or news posts should be allowed, but I don’t see an issue with allowing them (* the rest of the examples). Like someone else (@Firey@lemmy.dbzer0.com) said, make people have to tag that stuff so the complainers can filter out what they don’t want to see.

I do it all the time for shit I get sick of, and forcing tags means people can filter out their annoyances.