Sartoshi - The Mind Behind the Memes
Memer Research Subject #2
What are we doing here?
I am intimately interested in memes and how they impact our lives. Everything from nation-state propaganda to silly jokes on Twitter are memes in my mind, and I want to talk to the creators of those memes and get some insight into how/why/what they are doing. With NFTs we can now capture the financial value generated by memes and although people still make memes for fun I firmly believe that this will create an entirely new asset class for the digital age. My goal is to meet, learn and evaluate memers I come across on Twitter. Maybe it’ll spark an idea for someone or it could simply just be entertaining to read. In any case, I think the journey for memes has just begun and I want a good seat for the ride.
Note on why I chose this memer
I don’t believe in maximalism (reformed bitcoin maxi) but if I had to be one it would be a “mfer maxi”, no doubt. But seriously, the last year for Sartoshi has been a memer’s wet dream. They tell the story much better than I ever could HERE but I can give you the “breezy bullets”.
joined the NFT space in April 2021
befriended would be OGs
began shitposting and making memes under sartoshi moniker
the memes hit and people requested to buy said memes
Dropped/sold out 10k pfp (mfers) collection on 11/30/21
WHO TF IS THIS MFER?
Here are the quick facts.
Name: n/a
Online Moniker: Sartoshi
Twitter profile: https://twitter.com/sartoshi_nft
IRL Profession: Artist? Comedian? F*cks our mothers? Who knows.
Main creation: Mfers
Crypto Status: Motherfucker
(Mostly Speculative) Bio: For obvious reasons, there is not much information out there on our beloved Sartoshi but from what I can gather they are a classically trained artist turned NFT degen by way of Jpeg summer ‘21. I also feel safe speculating that they are a big sports fan, with an emphasis on the NFL. My source for this is the naming conventions for the mfer “knit” trait. All 12 of them are named after U.S. cities with NFL franchises and the colors used are those of their respective NFL teams. The other speculation would be that Sartoshi is a male in his mid-thirties, my source here is the frequent use of the “my parents in their 30s” meme template and just how they type in DMs. While I’m relatively young, I have spent quite a bit of time online on social media (aim) and gaming (runscape) and have a good sense of distinguishing how men and women type/talk.
The Meets and Potatoes (Questions)
Do you remember your first encounter with memes, when did you discover this was entertainment on the internet?
hmm...i think in some ways my first encounter was the far side comics by gary larson*...the single-panel cartoons that conveyed so much in very few or no words... and in the internet era i feel like it was as soon as an image could be sent via email...humor always seems to be an early part of cultural language
email?? I can’t tell if that comment is a psyop or if you’re a boomer. sorry that was more of a statement than a follow-up question.
haha i usually tell people im either 14 or 87...& my pops was a far side fan
Do you currently enjoy memes outside of crypto Twitter? i.e. normie memes
i do...some great crying jordan memes and many others
Do you exchange memes with people IRL? If so, how many people?
yes...probably with about 5 people...mostly via text i think
Did making memes *click* instantly or did you have to do some studying?
it clicked to an extent, but creating very good ones that really hit and are really funny is a skill that i think takes some time to really nail down...and i think some people just simply aren’t that funny...and thats fine...if u open twitter on april fools day u will see that 90% really aren't that funny when they try...and like i say, thats fine...people have a variety of natural talents etc and being funny/witty in this particular context doesn't have to be there for everyone...that's part of what makes a great meme or great tweet that is hilarious really stand out
do you think i or the average person would find you funny irl?
sometimes
Have you ever made normie memes (unrelated to crypto/NFTs/markets)?
some but i think 99% of mine now are crypto related...or at least twitter related
Is making relevant/good memes important to you or are we just witnessing your stream of consciousness?
i guess it's more like i just love seeing the connection that arises between us when a meme or funny tweet really hits...yesterday (5/9/22) during that insane downward market i tweeted about a genie offering a wish and me wishing i got more crypto at 2017 prices and it was like *stars* "no wait"...and i was laughing but didn't know if it would really hit....then i sent it and it had like 20 retweets in 30 seconds and i was like ok we got a big one here...and it's not in an ego way but in a way like ah yeah we all feel this...we all kinda feel this pain but can laugh a bit about it...and so maybe it isn't as bad as just sitting alone thinking about it.... so memes are important in that sense...and yeah at the same time they are often just my stream of consciousness where i am trying to put into a funny image/tweet what i am feeling about something in crypto/nfts/etc...especially something current everyone is thinking about
Do you have a current favorite meme, what is it? What about a current favorite memer?
hmmm...the one with the woman yelling from her car at robert downey jr about some horrible thing (like the markets are crashing), and he's concerned and clarifies and then is relieved (bc it's just (the) stock market and not dickbutts or whatever) is pretty great... but part of what makes memes great too is that the templates evolve as well...sometimes the very best ones are based off of an image or video that literally just occurred that day...if you can nail one of those it's great (like the ja morant dunk the other night)... one of the great and perhaps underrated meme accounts is @Pollo2x... every day there are these super simple but genius photos for gm or gn with a pepe type character maybe just sitting in the sunshine or something...but they really hit ... it's a great series...
You have what I would call a lot of styles, hand-drawn cartoons/one-liners/captions/template usage - are all of these memes, or is there criteria for a meme?
hmm...i feel like my sense is that memes in this context usually have some sort of image or video... the one liners and great tweets are meme-like but i prefer to just call them bangers
What do you think are the elements that make a strong and/or successful meme?
be funny as fuck and hit the timing right and the simplicity right. if it's off slightly it doesn't work.... if it's too much text it doesn't work...if you say the funny part first and it trails off, it doesn't work... at the same time, you sometimes gotta just try a few things and see how they hit....but i do really try to curate my ideas and memes and only the ones that pass a high bar get the "send" button hit by me
Do you keep the ideas that don’t get tweeted?
not really...i have some tweets that never made it out of the drafts but eventually those just get deleted...if they didn't make the cut when written they probably wont ever get out there
Generally speaking, do you think memes matter or are they just for fun?
sort of both. i think of them mostly as funny or biting and hammering home a feeling or sometimes a point...and if the point is a big enough one, the meme can become important. but if you broaden the definition of meme in the way 6529 does (seize the memes of production), i think he would say they are among the most important things in society quite literally...as they are the messages of religion, government, and perhaps most importantly, culture overall. i hit some of those broader points when i am inspired, but my main goal is just to send memes out that are funny as fuck and really hit people ... oh and i like to poke fun without really hitting anyone too harshly or unfairly or to create unnecessary conflict...it's more about commenting on the realities and absurdities.
Be it a good or bad thing, I have this reputation for asking tough questions. that said - given everything that has happened with anon founders in the NFT world, what would you say to any of your followers or collectors that may be worried about holding another bag of someone else’s shit?
wait til they find out im larva labs and yuga labs and joe biden
Breezy’s Analysis on Sartoshi’s Answers to Breezy’s Questions
First off, my sincerest thank you to Sartoshi for taking the time to answer my questions and for their patience while I get over a cold to publish this piece. Okay, let’s dive in.
The Far Side comment not only hit home for me (my dad also is a Larson fan and turned me on to his work) but Satoshi’s sense of humor clearly draws from what you see in The Far Side. Pretty cool. (Highly suggest checking out Larson’s work) Another thing that stood out to me was Sartoshi’s emphasis on using memes to “connect” with their followers. As far as I can tell Sartoshi is human which means they definitely enjoy the hits of dopamine like the rest of us but looking back on Sartoshi’s memes/tweets there really isn’t any “influencing” going on. With over 100k followers they could easily advertise for self-gain or at least psyop us into going down some rabbit hole for funzies but instead, it’s centered on turning current events into jokes we can all enjoy. Much wholesome. Finally, Sartoshi was pretty adamant (as much as one could be via dm) about some people just simply not being funny. This gave me a new perspective on what they retweet/favorite. Clearly, Sartoshi isn’t concerned with being “Mr. Nice Guy” (average at best strain tbh) and fully embodies the motherfucker ethos they popularized. Put another way - if Sartoshi blessed it on Twitter, it’s because it was actually *good*…so congrats anon your mom was right, you *are* kinda funny.
Side note: it appears that you can tell which meme is Sartoshi’s current favorite by how often they use the template. “No duh”, yeah I know but its cool to get that confirmation.
Here are my concluding thoughts - Although we still aren’t any closer to identifying the masked motherfucker (not that this is a goal of mine), I personally learned quite a bit about Sartoshi from this exercise and hope you did too. Someone once asked me what I saw as the “risks” to this project, to which I replied “Sartoshi gets doxxed as Hitler’s nephew, or some shit” I want to add Zagabond’s name to that list, hence the last question. But all kidding aside, Sartoshi’s replies exude realness which is what I expected.
My grand prediction is that Sartoshi vanishes at some point, mirroring that of Satoshi. It’s not that I wish for this to happen, I just like memes and think that would be the cherry on top of all of this. If you’re a bitcoiner then you know Satoshi didn’t leave until bitcoin was at a steady-state, which I think makes it safe to assume that *IF* Sartoshi chooses this route it won’t happen for a while. *cue pepe hopium meme*
If you aren’t already please give Sartoshi a follow HERE or check out some of their work by following any of the links below.
Foundation (also great memes)
Mfers (yes another plug)
If you enjoyed this hit that subscribe button and I’ll see you next time!
Do you make memes or know someone who does and think they deserve to be featured? Let me know on Twitter! @breezy_996
