Watching memes helps relieve stress, scientists have now confirmed this by studying how funny pictures reduce pandemic anxiety. What kind of jokes affect us most positively and at the expense of what?

In 2021, the American Psychological Association studied how viewing memes helps to cope with stress: scientists traced the connection between watching jokes about COVID-19 and the ability to overcome fear about the coronavirus. Scientists explained the positive impact of memes by obtaining positive emotions in conjunction with the ease of processing information. Simply put, funny pictures with cats act like a kind of “joy pill” that is quickly absorbed by the brain.

The experiment involved 799 volunteers aged 18 to 88, among whom were 54.7% women, 44.4% men. 0.9% of participants did not indicate gender or identified themselves as non-binary persons.

The global collective experience of co-experiencing the pandemic has become unique in today's society. Perhaps, for the history of mankind as a whole, neither the famous medieval plague nor the Spanish flu epidemic were so large-scale. In addition, they did not have such massive information support as the coronavirus.

In this situation, memes have become the easiest way to reflect on what is happening: a flurry of jokes about the coronavirus was probably a form of collective emotional protection from the stress caused by the emergence of a new deadly disease. Such a reaction is quite logical, because overcoming stress is associated not only with the elimination of the stressor itself, but also with the perceived degree of readiness to face it. Humor also helps to devalue the problem somewhat and reduce the fear of it.

Here are some funny memes that we collected on 9gag.

1.Law degree

2.Sad story

3.Expert

9GAG is a Hong Kong-based online platform and social media website that allows users to upload and share "user-generated content" or other content from external social media sites. The internet meme collection platform was launched on July 1, 2008, and its popularity has grown on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The site was created in 2009–2010 by a group of five Hong Kong residents: University of Hong Kong student Ray Chan, his brother Chris Chan, Derek Chan, Marco Fung and Brian Yu with the intention of creating an alternative online email platform where users could Easily share humorous photos or videos. In a 2012 interview, its CEO Ray Chan declined to explain the origin of the name "9GAG".

Building the company with a "just for fun" mentality, the co-founders of 9GAG started using 9GAG as a resume. 500 Startups accelerator program constructor. During the summer program, the 9GAG team worked on other startup ideas including StartupQuote and Songboard. Following the 500 Startups accelerator program, 9GAG participated in the Y Combinator incubator and its user base increased to 70 million unique visitors worldwide per month. The 9GAG co-founding team has discontinued all other projects and turned its focus exclusively to 9GAG. 500 Startups received shares for helping and mentoring.

In July 2012, 9GAG raised additional $2.8 million in funding from Silicon Valley venture capital, including Greycroft Partners. In August 2012, 9GAG received another US$2.8 million in funding from Silicon Valley venture capitalists including True Ventures and Greycroft Partners as well as individual investors such as Christopher Sacca, Kevin Rose and Naval Ravikant. This funding has helped grow the 9GAG engineering team in both Hong Kong and Silicon Valley. 9GAG is headquartered in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong, with offices in Mountain View, California.

9GAG users and administrators may also re-post content (usually without the consent of the respective authors) from other websites (e.g. 4chan, Newgrounds, Reddit, SomethingAwful, FunnyJunk, YTMND, Instagram, etc.), replacing the original site's watermark with own. In 2011, 9GAG and 4chan disputed the authorship of internet memes published on both sites, with each company claiming the memes originated from their own site. As 9GAG co-founder Ray Chan stated, "9GAG doesn't create memes or rage comics, but helps spread them." In a 2015 article by Slate, writer Amanda Hess described 9GAG's reposting of Instagram content as part of an "online joke-stealing ecosystem".

4.Dad and the dog

5.As* hair

6.Career advice

No matter how, when and who, but for sure 9gag is a positive vibe with memes that increase our optimism.

The effect depends on the type of memes. The lowest level of stress from the coronavirus was found in those participants in the experiment who watched jokes directly about COVID-19. Such a result was not obvious in advance - scientists assumed that memes on abstract topics could act more strongly by switching attention. It is also worth noting that while the memes with animals and children were considered more cute and evoked more positive emotions, their anti-stress effect was less.

The authors of the study did not measure the duration of the therapeutic effect of memes, so you should not take them as a universal tool in the fight against anxiety. Also, do not forget that memes can be no less dangerous than bad news - for example, if they are spread by conspiracy theorists, basing jokes on pseudoscientific information.

The negative impact of an overabundance of information on the psyche is a well-known fact. And while reading news, especially related to the coronavirus, can be useful (you need to be aware of what is happening), due to how alarming such content can be, the WHO recommended consuming such information in a dosed manner.

Even at the beginning of the pandemic, a study was published in which the authors argued that widespread coverage of the topic of COVID-19 can increase the negative consequences of the epidemic in society. The scientists' conclusions were partly based on the history of coverage of past disasters. For example, in the three years after September 11, 2001, there was a spike in cardiovascular disease in people who actively followed the information about the attack and began to worry about their safety. Those who monitored information about the Ebola outbreak for several hours a day faced similar consequences.

7.Happiness

8.2281

9.U mad bro?

10.The SImpsons

11.Awesome

12.WW3

13.Username

14.Trash talk

15.Dropkick

16.Russia now

17.Another tip

18.Work from home

19.Funny memes

20.Bordering country

21.My family

22.My dog

23.Washing the dishes

24.When you get home

25.Help Putin

26.Leave my family

27.Stop it

28.Fear you

29.Immune system

30.What people want

31.Flight back

32.TV show

33.Sounds legit

34.Wishing to rain

35.WW3

36.Second day

37.And here we

38.Working mirror

39.IDK why

40.Design the cover

41.Fatherly love

42.Average Russians

43.Here it comes

44.Ourkraine

45.American dream

46.Each year

47.Starting WW3

48.No one

49.Unsaved work

50.Invade everyone

Those who study in the United States are well aware that at this time of the year, university students, like most other Americans, are subject to "March Madness". This is the name of the final tournament of the national basketball championship among the teams of the First Division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It runs from mid-March to early April.

After the Super Bowl, the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament or "March Madness" or "The Big Dance" is the most anticipated sporting event of the year. Of course, other sports (baseball) and leagues (NBA) can argue with this opinion, but it is shared by many, and in this article I argue this position.

"March Madness" is the tournament's most famous nickname, which refers to the huge number of games that were played over two weeks, a bunch of upsets and the sincere emotions of the players for whom this tournament is the best chance to prove themselves and continue their careers, and for others, this is the last chance to play their favorite game before the start of “adulthood”.

During the “March Madness” period, the Internet connection speed even drops, because so many fans watch matches online. According to the latest available data, in 2018, in-game ad revenue exceeded $1.32 billion. Last year, 97 million fans followed the tournament.

1.Work on March Madness Day

2.Bracket’s busted

3.There’s a chance

We offer answers to the questions that are most often asked by those wishing to understand this purely American sporting event. If you go to study in the United States next year, then in March you may be rooting for your university team.

Americans are incredibly loyal to their colleges and universities. It doesn't matter whether a person just entered the university or graduated 30 years ago, he is, without any doubt, an avid fan of his university team, considers it the best and the only one that deserves the championship title.

These are exciting competitions. Compared to the professional championship, there are fewer playoff matches in the student championship, the struggle is sharper, and the final tournament is much faster. Even if their favorite teams don't make it to the finals, Americans still watch every game. Why? It's simple: unlike professional athletes, students do not play for money, but defend the honor of their educational institutions and just love basketball.

In total, more than 300 university teams play in the NCAA Division I. On Qualifying Sunday - this year it falls on March 17 - a special commission announces 68 teams that will enter the so-called men's bracket. Eight of them will play preliminary games, and the four winners will advance to the main tournament, which includes 64 teams. Another commission announces 64 teams of the women's draw.

4.Live dangerously

5.Finish above you

6.This is madness?

In both the men's and women's tournaments, 32 teams advance to the final tournament as the winners of their respective conference championships. (Conferences are groupings of universities, usually organized geographically.) The selection committee names the rest of the teams based on the number of victories and how strong their rivals were. Tournament brackets are divided into four regions.

The commission "seeds" the best teams in each region under the first numbers, the next four - under the second, and so on. In the first round, the first seeded team plays the 16th seeded team, while the second seed plays the 15th seed. In other words, the strongest play the outsiders first. Teams from the middle of the grid are approximately equal in strength.

The second major reason for the huge popularity of March Madness is that no one knows for sure who will be the champion.

This spring, the men's teams of Duke University and the University of North Carolina are considered the strongest. They often claim the championship title, and they all have a glorious history. The teams of the University of Virginia and the University of Gongaz are not far behind. Stirring up interest in March Madness is the possible appearance of Cinderellas, those who have not previously achieved major success, but defeat teams that were considered invincible.

7.Gloat about it

8.Better bracket

9.Gambling

Last year, Loyola University Chicago's men's team, seeded 11th in their region, made it to the final four. The University of Virginia team, number 1 in its region, lost in the first round to the 16th club, the University of Maryland from Baltimore (this happened for the first time in the history of the tournament). This year, the 12th seeded University of Oregon can beat the established favorites and become, as ambitious newcomers are called, “the destroyer of tournament grids”. Although the victory was predicted primarily for the number 1, Duke University, this team almost lost in the second round to the University of Central Florida, seeded 9th. In other words, everything is possible in this tournament.

As for the women's teams, the top four are the University of Louisville Cardinals, the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the Baylor University Lady Bears and the Mississippi State University Bulldogs. Popular teams that have not been successful before are the Hoosiers from Indiana University and another Lady Bears from the University of Missouri.

Many will be surprised to learn that the Madness has not always been the premier college basketball tournament. In the middle of the last century, the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) was much more prestigious than the NCAA tournament. For those who are more or less familiar with college basketball, yes, this is the same NIT that now has a reputation as a repechage tournament. In the 1950s, the NCAA basketball tournament began to gain prestige after the NCAA began requiring conference champions to play in their own tournament.

“Americans are incredibly loyal to their colleges and universities. It doesn't matter whether a person just entered the university or graduated 30 years ago, he is, without any doubt, an avid fan of his university team, considers it the best and the only one that deserves the championship title.

10.March Madness

11.Never made one

12.But when I do

13. 5 speed

14.Only competing

15.When it it

16.What’s all the brackets

17.Not what we thought

18.You get it

19.A toast

20.Going exactly as planned

21.Watch out for me

22.You have one

23.Baylor students

24.Sum your life

25.So it begins

26.Welcome

27.No idea

28.The longer you watch March Madness

29.I call it march

30.Is here baby

31.Memes are coming

32.School playing

33.Canceled

34.At work

35.Shocker

36.Picking a bracket

37.College basket

38.Busted

39.Cancel it

40.So bored

41.What’s wrong

42.The only one

43.Not even mad

44.Just let me check

45.March Madness

46.I have no idea

47.The best moment

48.There I was

49.Filled out

50.All right

Leaders in the US Congress reached an agreement on Sunday on the $ 900 billion aid package that will help the economy, but also citizens, in the context of the worsening pandemic, the vote will most likely be given on Monday.

The economic stimulus package will be the second largest in US history, after the $ 2.3 trillion in March.

"Finally, we have the agreement between the parties that the country needs," said Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McCOnnell after months of heated negotiations.

Republican and Democratic leaders said the aid package should have enough support to be voted on in both chambers of the US Congress.

President Donald Trump is drafting the law and will enact it, White House spokesman Ben Williamson said.

The program will make direct payments of $ 600 to certain categories of people, and unemployment benefits will be increased by $ 300 per week.

It also includes billions of dollars for small businesses, food aid, vaccine distribution and health. In addition, it extends a moratorium on foreclosures in real estate and offers 25 billion in rent subsidies.

The internet explodes with memes, that's why Bemorepanda collected all them for you.

1.Stimulus Check after 9 months

2.Class pizza parties

3.Congress announced stimulus check

4.Looking like a 5 dollar

5.Quarters on the ground

6.The check stimulus

7.Next stimulus check

8.Stimulus check

9.PS5 and family's Christmas gifts

10.Half of your rent

11.Next stimulus check

12.Members of Congress

13.Double amount

14.Congress having stimulus check

15.About stimulus check

16.First date idea

17.Second stimulus check

18.Checking stimulus

19.100th time and seeing this

20.Swipe up

21.Looking at bank account

22.My face

23.Second stimulus check

24.Hear about the second stimulus

25.Second stimulus check

26.Waiting for it

27.Eating money

28.Put it up together

29.Stimulus check

30.Free stimulus