humor in power in social media
We cannot repeat it enough, laughter is health. Luckily on the internet you can find plenty of entertainment, funny videos and memes. Some sites have even made it a specialty. This is the case of 9gag, Inc. a community site for sharing photos and content combining humor, buzz and memes. Available as a mobile application, the site with millions of global users is gaining more and more notoriety but is the subject of some criticism for its too democratized and supposedly egalitarian mode of operation.
Contents
What is 9GAG?
History of a site with millions of unique visitors per month
Founded in 2008 by two Hong Kong students, Chris and Ray Chan, its name originates from the fact that when it was launched there were 9 humorous posts per page. It is only after that that the continuous unwinding is established in order to confer more comfort to the user. The site is a profit-making site, remunerated by sponsorships and advertisements of all kinds. The vast majority of it is in English, despite the fact that people who subscribe to it or view the site come from several countries around the world. It becomes the reference site for jokes and humorous videos.
Popularity
The site is aware of the importance of social networks today to develop its notoriety and increase the audience. It is therefore present on several social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. Its success comes from the many funny contents and the large number of animated gifs and memes it offers and of which he is sometimes the author. He is currently posting on the various social networks:
- 57.4 million subscribers on Instagram (the most used social network by millennials who share content every day)
- 16.8 million followers on Twitter
- 42 million subscribers on their Facebook page
- 2.2 million subscribers on TikTok
- 150 million monthly active users, mostly millennials.
A site that raises debates
9gag is criticized for the fact that people can share or upload images and videos without it being their work. And once the media is deposited on the site, it is automatically stamped with the logo of the site which is then guilty of content theft since it is not the real author so that the image will be shared and will advertise it for free. As a lucrative site (with a premium version), it must generate a lot of traffic to earn more money with hashtags and bet on important networks, and this to the detriment of morality or political correctness. Malgrey tout, one of its founders Ray Chan said he wanted to make an impact more than maximizing their income.
9GAG finds its audience even in France
As said before, 9gag fans are found all over the world and the number of monthly users keeps increasing. And France is one of them, since it is true that you do not need to have a doctorate in the English language to understand an image, even if there is an English text on it. Memes have become universal communication tools, understandable by all and through which we can easily show sarcasm, irony, satire, caricature or just humor. 9gag makes it possible to publish on the famous social network Facebook and other social tools, because this will increase engagement and ensure presence on social media, increase their audience and gain notoriety.
9gag VS Tik Tok
It is difficult to establish a real comparison between the two platforms. Indeed, TikTok is a social network that allows its users to share videos of all kinds, ranging from imitations, sketches and caricatures to tutorials through dance videos,. Which is totally different from 9gag which is mostly about humor. This is the site Reddit which is closest to the structure and mode of operation of 9gag, even if the former is perceived as “superior” to 9gag because it is the comments of the editors that will engage the community and have more impact than the content, unlike 9gag. Several editors post their opinions or remarks that are quite interesting, there or 9gager will make an unnecessary comment filled with emojis. Reddit also sees the number of its daily users greatly exceed that of 9gag.
