Pretoria - The growing culture of memes and dance challenges on social media sees local content creators rising in popularity and taking social media by storm.
With over 50 million views for #mzansimemes on TikTok, we can all agree that South Africans enjoy their dose of comedy and laughter.
While there is no outright definition of a meme, it’s safe to say that memes have become a new way of cultural expression that come in the form of an image or video portraying a particular concept that is then spread through the internet.
21-year-old Karabo Tshabalala from Pretoria has over 720 000 followers on Tik Tok after getting attention for his funny videos.
He said he put out content for a global audience and this had boosted his confidence and self-esteem knowing he contributes to making someone’s day.
“When I started out it was just all fun and games until one viral video changed everything for me. I now consider myself an influencer, with a significant number of followers and I have learned to take content creation seriously,” he explained.
In the past TikTok has mainly been associated with dancing trends, however, the platform is now home to a variety of viral content.
Tshabalala advised other creators to find a niche and stick to it by keeping followers entertained and said he believed consistency in posting was important if they wanted to succeed in any social media space.
TikTok Content Operations Manager in Africa Boniswa Sidwaba said considering the multitude of serious issues that South Africans faced on a daily basis, locals have always found a way to look on the bright side of life.
“The platform’s innovative tools and special effects enable users to create powerful storytelling scenes based on a specific topic or relatable hashtags. A few good local examples include challenges like the #africancheck, #Dameschallenge, #Amapianoislife - these challenges birthed incredibly funny videos,” she said.
Tshabalala said memes served as a good tool of expression of opinions and how they feel at a certain time, a communication outlet where you can share anything.
Another local favourite is Facebook’s Aus Joyce Velemina where Lebogang Ledwaba does sketches as a fictional character drawing inspiration from actress Joyce Skefu who is a seasoned veteran back in the 90’s and used to imitate her.
Ledwaba who was born and lives in Mamelodi has over 20 000 followers and is a character full of comical sass, often using relevant topics for satire.
Pretoria News