Cats being grumpy, ducks giving advice and bears confessing things? Only on the Internet.
 |
| Grumpy Cat |
What's a meme you ask? How do you even say it? I would be willing to bet 100 cupcakes that everyone and anyone who uses some type of social media - or even the Internet for that matter - has encountered a meme, whether they were aware of it or not.
Memes are part of a participatory culture. A meme, pronounced "meem" (not "me, me"...trust me, if you say this you will probably be mercilessly ridiculed by peers), is an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture. More specifically, according to Patrick Davison in "The Language of Internet Memes", an internet meme is a piece of culture - typically a joke - which gains influence through online transmission.
Sound familiar now? Basically things become memes through cultural acceptance. When ideas, fads or crazes begin trending and sky-rocket in popularity they essentially become memes. Take for instance :-) . We all know this to be the universal symbol for a smile or smiley face. Or take the expression LOL - a response synonymous with laughing. Anther example is the Harlem Shake, a dance craze that went viral with the help of YouTube last year. And let's not forget about planking. All of these are considered memes.
These online artifacts are simple to find and have easy to learn rules. Davison argues that the "speed of transmission" of a meme is increased in an incredible way on the Internet, which I find to be extremely true. Memes spread from person to person quickly, but the speed in which they multiply on the internet is outrageous! They reproduce at the speed of light because they are easily replicated and easy to create.
Some of the most popular style of memes are pictures accompanied by text. Anybody can access and create popular memes using online generators like Make a Meme or Quick Meme. There are (quite literally) too many to count, so I'll just list a few popular ones: Grumpy Cat, Confession Bear, Actual Advice Mallard, Success Kid, Socially Awkward Penguin, Good Guy Greg, the Most Interesting Man in the World and of course, Overly Attached Girlfriend.
Overly Attached Girlfriend derives from a YouTube video that went viral, created by a girl named Laina from our very own Denton, Tx! She was even named one of the top "15 People Made Famous by the Internet in 2012."
One very significant fact about the universe of memes is the ability to remain anonymous. Anonymity is a huge characteristic surrounding the Internet and due to the simplicity of creating and replicating memes, remaining anonymous is easy, if not inevitable. Not having attributions makes a network more likely to be generative because it enables of type of freedom for users. So by the logic we have discussed, staying anonymous becomes an idea that is spread from user to user, thus making it a meme itself. Therefore, non-attribution is essentially a meme that is making the creation of other memes more likely.
Pretty Inception-like, huh?
What are your thoughts on memes? Which one is your personal favorite?
Sound familiar now? Basically things become memes through cultural acceptance. When ideas, fads or crazes begin trending and sky-rocket in popularity they essentially become memes. Take for instance :-) . We all know this to be the universal symbol for a smile or smiley face. Or take the expression LOL - a response synonymous with laughing. Anther example is the Harlem Shake, a dance craze that went viral with the help of YouTube last year. And let's not forget about planking. All of these are considered memes.
 |
| Confession Bear |
Some of the most popular style of memes are pictures accompanied by text. Anybody can access and create popular memes using online generators like Make a Meme or Quick Meme. There are (quite literally) too many to count, so I'll just list a few popular ones: Grumpy Cat, Confession Bear, Actual Advice Mallard, Success Kid, Socially Awkward Penguin, Good Guy Greg, the Most Interesting Man in the World and of course, Overly Attached Girlfriend.
 |
| Overly Attached Girlfriend |
Overly Attached Girlfriend derives from a YouTube video that went viral, created by a girl named Laina from our very own Denton, Tx! She was even named one of the top "15 People Made Famous by the Internet in 2012."
One very significant fact about the universe of memes is the ability to remain anonymous. Anonymity is a huge characteristic surrounding the Internet and due to the simplicity of creating and replicating memes, remaining anonymous is easy, if not inevitable. Not having attributions makes a network more likely to be generative because it enables of type of freedom for users. So by the logic we have discussed, staying anonymous becomes an idea that is spread from user to user, thus making it a meme itself. Therefore, non-attribution is essentially a meme that is making the creation of other memes more likely.
Pretty Inception-like, huh?
What are your thoughts on memes? Which one is your personal favorite?
I really enjoyed this blog on memes. I was specifically drawn to the internet making anonymity so easy with the creation of memes. I couldn't help but wonder just how anonymous you remain. Using overly attached girlfriend seems the perfect example, because I have seen her multiple times around the bar scene of Denton, surrounded by people begging for a picture with her (or maybe her persona). This girl is no longer just a normal college student out for a drink with friends, but is now an "internet celebrity". Is she truly anonymous anymore? I also found myself wondering just how much attention these memes get outside of normal everyday internet users. Does she get calls from people wanting to interview her for a story? Does she get notified personally when she makes the list of "top 15 people made famous by the internet in 2012"? I believe in the grand scheme of things she remains anonymous to the group of people who don't know or understand where her meme status originated, but to those who are "in on the joke" she has lost this sense of anonymity.
ReplyDeleteI've never been a huge fan of memes. I never saw any point in them except for combining a funny comment or phrase with a picture. I was surprised to find out just how popular memes actually are. I have seen the one of the extremely attached girlfriend from Denton but I had no idea that she could get so famous just off of a meme. I agree with Jessica about the idea of users really being anonymous but like any social media platform the moment you put a you're face on the web it is no longer anonymous and the possibilities of a internet celebrity can be reached. Even though I was not a huge fan of memes I have been seeing them much more on the web especially with web sites like Reddit where a majority of the content are memes. I am interested however if people will ever be able to make a profit through memes since it has been used as a form of advertisement. If anyone knows the if memes have been profitable I would be interested to know.
ReplyDelete