Coletivo is a blend of many things, but has a look that takes care not to accentuate vexatious situations or reinforce oppression.
You may not know this, but you most likely had a good laugh with one memes which was created or extended by @saquinhodelixcount on Instagram with 1.8 million followers.
The profile is managed by six people, Alan Pereira, Davi Moraes, Júlio Emílio, Luis Porto, Rodrigo Almeida and Sofia de Carvalho. They combine publications of memes seen on the Internet with their own productions.
The name may seem unusual, but it refers to a waste collection campaign on the beaches of recife, the hometown of five of the six members. The diminutive and pink color of the icon remind us that, despite so much nonsense, the humor of the Brazilian has a unique value.
News memes are the ones that generate the most engagement among page followers, as well as posts that encourage some interaction. But anyone who thinks that there is an instruction manual for understanding Brazilian tastes is wrong. Sometimes, the humor of Internet users is so refined that even the profile owners don’t quite understand why a specific meme resonates so much.
The creators define the page as a blend of many things. But they do not leave out a look concerned not to accentuate humiliating situations or to reinforce oppression.
The profile has a constant dialogue with the community of followers, which they call “saquiners“, made up mainly of women and people LGBTQIAP+. If the page makes a mistake and the staff reports it, the team acknowledges and possibly deletes the publications.
“It is essential to be aware of the laughter we are creating, what we are laughing about and who we are laughing with,” says Rodrigo Almeida, one of the founders and administrators of the page.
Byte spoke to the content creator to learn more about what drives one of the most popular pop culture pages on the internet.
Where does the name garbage bag come from?
Rodrigo: There is a campaign in Recife, the hometown of five of the six members, on beach cleaning that uses the jingle “let’s keep the beach clean, throw the trash in the bag.” Everyone there grew up listening to this commercial, especially in the summer, and it ended up serving as an inspiration, it was Júlio who proposed it.
But I think the great thing about the name was rescuing this half-baked humor from the internet and giving it the proper humorous and artistic value it deserves. Initially, the image on the page was of Smudge holding a trash bag.
Next, Davi chose the pink trash bag that has since become our icon. Together, the six partners created Saquinho’s identity and tone of voice.
Despite being a garbage bag, it is pink and its name is in the diminutive form. So that could read as disgusting, but it’s also cute, in a way. There is a swing.
What are the inspirations for the profile? Would it be other profiles posting memes?
Rodrigo: I think Saquinho is a mix of things from many places. Obviously we follow other pages, we have some pages that are close to our hearts, but many times it’s more a matter of personal consumption just not repeating content that has already been published. Sometimes it happens repeatedly, usually because we haven’t taken it sooner and ended up drinking from similar sources.
We’ve also been keeping an eye on other pages for changes, not necessarily in content, but sometimes in format, such as the carousel posting issue, which we noticed was a shared trend at one point.
Do you create some of the memes you post on the page? If yes, what is the process?
Rodrigo: We usually mix curated memes seen and circulated on the Internet with originals produced by ourselves. Many people believe that Saquinho de Lixo is run by one person, which I especially believe would be impossible. I think everyone has a specific process in terms of individual creation.
For example, Sofia and Davi are primarily responsible for what we call “capinhas”. They are images accompanied by different phrases, with a very suggestive visual identity, which we have associated a lot with the page and used a lot to open a carousel-style post.
It’s interesting when we find our original memes circulating on other pages. Sometimes we find them months or years later. The “memeverse” is a large ecosystem that feeds itself. We always need references and we are also referenced.
Recently, we have also invested in specific moments of collective creation, during our weekly meeting. We open a file and throw ideas, reframe, make suggestions until we get somewhere. It’s a little messy, but it usually works.
Has a post ever generated a negative reaction from whoever created the meme or who appears in it?
Rodrigo: It happens from time to time, but I think we’ve matured a lot in that sense. Today we always try to tag the creators, but we are aware that this is not always possible, because sometimes it is very difficult to find the original source of a meme. But if someone indicates authorship, we mark it immediately.
We are also more careful with people who appear in the videos, especially if they are children or people in a position of social vulnerability. From the beginning we have been concerned not to accentuate humiliating situations or to reinforce oppression.
It’s essential on a page like ours to be aware of the laughter we’re creating, what we’re laughing about, who we’re laughing with.
If you had to define which type of meme is the most popular among page followers, what would it be?
Rodrigo: It’s a bit difficult to say, there is no magic formula for the success of memes, but the themes of the moment certainly generate a lot of engagement. In this case, memes capture a bit of people’s individual and collective feelings and this reverberates.
Memes that encourage some interaction also tend to engage well, because it’s like a meme under construction that follows in the comments. The Saquiners participate in this accumulation of jokes, many times delivering jokes more hilarious than the caption itself or the original image.
In terms of format, I believe that today carousel posts, mixing static memes and videos, pump more than a single image. But that can change. Carousels on humor pages have become popular not so long ago and are now a standard. And of course, there’s always the possibility that a nonsensical meme will resonate strongly and to this day we’re looking for the rationale for it.
Was there a meme that stuck with the public for reasons other than a joke? If yes, which ones?
Rodrigo: From time to time, there’s a surge that overwhelms this notion of a one-time joke. It could be a meme style, a theme, an event. These waves are getting shorter and shorter and saturated faster and faster.
Anyway, I would highlight a few: the first would be the mouse image associated with Saquinho, which is something that never went away, we are tagged in all kinds of related content even today. There are the nostalgics who always ask for the mouse memes. And there was the case of the Dorime meme, which also has to do with a mouse, but went viral and generated trillions of re-reads, people dressed up for Carnival. It’s something that’s no longer a meme, a joke, it becomes something of a phenomenon.
We’ve also had some serious posts on big topics, like the oil spill on the beaches of the Northeast, the importance of young people getting voter registration, the election itself. Positions that have always been well received by our audience and that are consistent with our political stance.
Does constantly messing around with memes make discovering new memes boring?
Rodrigo: A lot of what is posted about Saquinho amuses me, but I also post a lot of stuff that I know is funny to other people and not necessarily me. I cannot consider myself an absolute ruler. I think everyone takes this daily walk through pages of humor and usually has their laughs.
There are many things we don’t publish for various reasons, including platform guidelines. A kind of garbage bag ban, which I especially laughed at. There are some videos that really grab me, that I become obsessed with, watching a thousand times, usually they are everyday videos where something funny/unexpected happens or some profiles that bring something new, witty.
But actually I think there’s a saturation in my look, it often happens that someone shows me something super funny and you think it’s just “meh”. I think the act of exchanging memes between friends as a gesture of affection also appeals to me a lot, I think it’s a very nice attitude, where someone sends you something funny that you like or that will make you happy. Because in the end, the guarantee of laughter is still in the movement of laughing with friends.
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
