“Like Johnny in 2017, it is time for us to put our careers on pause for an indefinite period.” A few words published online this Wednesday to announce the end of a legendary Internet account, Decentralized memes, after five years of lol and benevolent trolls on the regions. More than 10,000 memes posted later, the account says one last “fuck Paris” and then leaves.
Explaining the end of a successful account is not easy. Should you be brief or be as precise and talkative as possible? Gabriel Kaikati – the founder of the account – asked himself these questions before publishing his last message and came to one and the same conclusion: no justification will suit all of his fans, so we might as well keep it short. “We’re not going to spend ages on the why and how, it’s like with grandpa’s litter of kittens, it’s better to end it quickly against the barn door,” the account will just note. But at 20 minutes, even if we love these kinds of comparisons, we couldn’t stop there.
On the phone, a rather enthusiastic Gabriel answers us, he seems relieved. We laugh, we criticize society, we remake the world. All that’s missing is a Picon beer and the decor takes us back to the PMU in our village. Let’s stay serious, we’re still here to talk about the potential death of an account.
Laugh at everything and especially at Parisians
As with any funeral, perhaps we need to remember who the person was, or rather the account born in June 2018 after the meeting between the Grenoble resident Gabriel and the Burgundian Harald – who has since left the adventure. “At the time, there was a Facebook page that existed, “Intramural memes for young Ile-de-France residents”. We thought it was a shame that there was no rural side, in any case decentralized,” explains Gabriel. The arrival of the anti-Parisian and pro-rural account coincides with the golden age of Neurchis and other memes, the sauce takes off very quickly and the account continues its success. Even today, he is followed by 433,000 people on Instagram and 247,000 on X (ex Twitter).
Aged 23 when the account was created, the founder is now 28. Like any meme, his daily life evolves and becomes that of an average adult. He has to work, pay his rent. To keep up with a daily publication, he and his new sidekick, André, collaborate with other content creators, but very ephemerally because they are always volunteers. “There is no one who stays that long on the Internet and of the teams of memes that participated I have two or three different ones, even four. Generally the most regular ones stay for a year.” The audience – made up of 90% 18-35 year olds – is also growing. “The 25-35 share took a share from the 18-25. People age with the count.”
Get back to a normal life
However, the expectations remain the same: to laugh while discovering a good joke about your village. Except that after five years, Gabriel feels tired, surely a little linked to the isolation that the Internet brings. “I think I’m starting to miss being late for work or work colleagues,” he laughs before admitting to having submitted CVs that morning. In reality, Gabriel has been drunk for months, but a trigger will make him react, the potential signing of a book for Christmas 2024 and the commitment that had to be made over a year. “I didn’t have the motivation.”
Then, in the list of things that annoy Gabriel, there are also the repeated accusations of being politicized. “When we look at the publications since 2018, there were things that were a lot more political before. We were much more raw.” Now, there is only one meme in 200 that is truly politicized, says Gabriel. “It’s not our trademark. There are political memes for that.”
“We prefer our well-being to our online reputation”
Added to this is the lack of creativity. “I’ve been making the same jokes about the Bretons who are drunk, the inbred Northerners, for five years. It’s not that easy to find a joke a day and respond to people’s critical taste.” Especially since, on the Internet, we get bored quickly. “Will Smith’s slap at the Oscars, 48 hours later, we were fed up with the content on it. It has become more and more excessive consumption.” Sometimes, Gabriel even receives remarks about certain humorous developments in the account. “I was asked why I no longer joke about Jean Lassalle, well he is accused of putting his hands on the buttocks of his parliamentary assistants.” Besides the pressure of a good, well-felt joke, there are also statistics and changing algorithms.
Because for five years, Decentralized Memes has evolved with the platforms. Initially, the account received sponsorships. Around fifteen in all, each bringing in around 3,000 euros. But on Instagram, the arrival of “Reels” in 2020 changes the situation. Some memes – like the Yugnat999 account – will adapt to these new formats. Gabriel doesn’t want it. “Personally, I hate videos.” Advertisers are more keen to turn to more embodied accounts. “We are not anonymous, but our head is of no interest to people.”
Despite this, Gabriel often remains attacked personally, for example over his potential rapprochement with the mayor of Grenoble, Éric Piolle. “It pisses me off because people are never happy and I don’t want to take on the ingratitude of certain subscribers. I admit that I didn’t sign up for that.” And to insist: “We prefer our well-being to our online reputation”.
For the moment, Gabriel does not imagine resurrecting the account one day, but leaves a tiny hope. “For the moment, we are not doing anything about the account. There was an idea to transform the page into a general account more focused on rurality and decentralization. Returning is a possibility, but for now, it’s really a break.”