Memes as Tools for Influence, AI of the week, Progress as Therapy

Remember that time when I found 1,680 page document full of research about memes and memetics and made a 3 min video?

This is part 2 of... 🤷

Thing 1 - Memes as Tools for Influence: Turning Ideas into Action
Thing 2 - AI of the week
Thing 3 - Progress as Therapy

Thing 1 - Memes as Tools for Influence: Turning Ideas into Action

In memetic theory, memes are ideas or behaviors that spread from person to person. What makes them special is their ability to carry a message and stick in people’s minds.
(I know this is a "thanks boomer" level of explanation, and I'm ok with it, not everyone reading this is a gen z native 😜)

What Makes Memes Influential?

Emotional Connection

Memes succeed by evoking strong emotions like laughter, pride, or outrage. Emotional engagement makes people remember and share them.

Actionable Step
Create memes that target specific emotions. Humor works well for entertainment, but if you're promoting a cause, focus on emotions like empathy or urgency.

Look at popular memes in your niche. What emotions do they tap into? Use similar tones in your own messaging.

Relatability

Memes thrive when they reflect shared experiences or frustrations. People share memes that feel personal.

Actionable Step
Research your audience’s common pain points or aspirations. Create memes that mirror those experiences.

Example: If you’re a productivity coach, a meme about procrastination could hit home and spread your brand.

Cultural Fit

Memes that align with trends or larger cultural movements spread faster. They tap into ideas people are already discussing.

Actionable Step
Tie your memes to current events or cultural narratives. Monitor platforms like X or TikTok for emerging trends.

Tip: Use tools like Google Trends or social listening platforms to spot what’s trending in your niche.

Simplicity

The best memes communicate their message in an instant. Complexity reduces shareability.

Actionable Step
Use short phrases, clear visuals, or well-known templates. If the meme takes more than a second to understand, simplify it further.

Test It. Share your meme with a small group. If they “get it” on the spot, you’re on the right track.

Adapt to New Contexts

Memes need to evolve to stay relevant. Remixing and adapting memes keeps them fresh while spreading your message further.

Actionable Step
Encourage your audience to remix your meme. Provide a blank version or an editable template.

Run a contest for the best remix of your meme. Reward creativity with visibility or prizes.

Thing 2 - AI of the week

• Mistral AI introduced the next generation of le Chat (it's ok, they are French)

• Mistral AI had a busy week. They also released Pixtral Large, a new state of the art vision model (MathVista, DocVQA, VQAv2)
• Figure AI shared an update of what their humanoid robots are doing at BMW

• GitHub (aka Microsoft) unveiled a new agentic (get used to seeing this word in for the next little while) future for Copilot Workspace.
  Workspace deploys five agents to get you all the way to the pull request: Brainstorm. Spec. Plan. Implement. Build/Repair
• OpenAI's GPT-4o got an update

The model’s creative writing ability has leveled up–more natural, engaging, and tailored writing to improve relevance & readability.

It’s also better at working with uploaded files, providing deeper insights & more thorough responses.

• Herostuff app - Use AI to scan, price, and list your stuff in seconds
• NVIDIA's Edify 3D is an advanced generative AI model designed to generate high-quality 3D assets from text or image prompts in a snap. Example with Shutterstock service.
• Runway launched a new feature "Expand Video". You can transform videos into new aspect ratios by generating new areas around the input video.

Thing 3 - Progress as Therapy

Making steady progress in your personal and professional life is the therapy. A calm mind simply means that you know you are living up to your potential.

- Orange Book

And vice versa, knowing that you're living up to your potential sounds calming 🙂

So what's the first step you need to make towards steady progress?

Cheers, Zvonimir