Rage comic
Rage comic is an Internet meme for a comic centering on a titular rage guy, created from a character, or rage face, which expresses rage or some other simple emotion. Over time, contributors have created numerous stock faces which show readily identifiable emotions. They have been characterized by Ars Technica as an "accepted and standardized form of online communication."[1]
Rage comics' popularity has been attributed to their use as vehicles for humorizing shared experiences.[2] The range of expression and standardized, easily identifiable faces has allowed uses such as teaching English as a foreign language.[3]
The meme originated in 2007[1] on the Internet forum site 4chan and later gained prominence on the social news website reddit.[4] It experienced an upsurge in popularity in 2009.[5] As of January 2011, the rage comic tag "fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu-"[citation needed] ranked among the top 20 most subscribed on reddit.[6] April 1 is celebrated as Rage Comic Day.
In 2010 the pop-culture retail chain Hot Topic began selling shirts with rage faces.[7] In protest of this co-option, 4chan participants re-branded rage guy as race guy and attempted to tie Hot Topic to the promotion of racism. The chain pulled the shirts soon afterward.[8]
In May 2011, 4chan users staged a prank related to the "forever alone" face, using fake profiles on the online dating site OkCupid to trick men into showing up for nonexistent dates. While the blog Betabeat identified three men who had fallen victim to the prank, the results fell short of the involuntary flash mob of so-called "forever alones" the pranksters had hoped to create.[9][10]
Despite its origins on 4chan, 4chan users associate the use of rage comics and rage faces with rival site reddit, and users posting such images are frequently ridiculed and told to 'go back to reddit'. Rage Comic is now an iPhone app and has gained even more popularity since.
See Also
References
- ^ a b Connor, Tom (11 March 2012). "Fffuuuuuuuu: The Internet anthropologist's field guide to "rage faces"". Ars Technica. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
- ^ Hoevel, Ann (11 October 2011). "The Know Your Meme team gets all scientific on teh intarwebs". GeekOut. CNN. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
- ^ Wolford, Josh (2 November 2011). "Teaching The English Language With Rage (Comics)". WebProNews. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
- ^ "Rage Comics". Know Your Meme. Cheezburger Network. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
- ^ McGann, Colin (7 March 2011). "Geekin' It: Rage Guy Faces". State Press Magazine. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
- ^ http://redditlist.com/
- ^ Quigley, Robert (18 November 2010). "Hot Topic Pulls FFFUUUUUUU T-Shirts Following Devious 4chan Ploy (Update)". Geekosystem.
- ^ Caldwell, Christina (27 May 2011). "Big Business: Comic books and fantasy emerge as the pop culture epicenter of the internet age". College Times.
- ^ Carbone, Nick (May 14, 2011). "Unlucky Date: Online Dating Prank Fails to Form 'Involuntary Flashmob'". Time NewsFeed. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
- ^ Gray, Rosie (May 14, 2011). "4Chan 'Forever Alone' OkCupid Prank Didn't Go Exactly As Planned". The Village Voice Blogs. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
External links
Photos
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The original Rage Guy
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A Chinese Rage comic maker interface, users just need to select the face and move it to appropriate position in order to finish making the comic.
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"Forever Alone" face in Rage comic.
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