Internet meme

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The term Internet meme is a phrase used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet, much like an esoteric inside joke.^[1] The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although this concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information.

Contents 1 Description 2 Types and uses 2.1 Self-promotion 2.2 Inadvertent celebrity 2.3 Urban rumors and hoaxes 2.4 Advertising and marketing 2.5 Image editing 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External links

[edit] Description

At its most basic, an Internet meme is simply the propagation of a digital file or hyperlink from one person to others using methods available through the Internet (for example, email, blogs, social networking sites, instant messaging, etc). The content often consists of a saying or joke, a rumor, an altered or original image, a complete website, a video clip or animation, or an offbeat news story, among many other possibilities. In simple terms, an Internet meme is an inside joke, that a large number of Internet users are in on. An Internet meme may stay the same or may evolve over time, by chance or through commentary, imitations, and parody versions, or even by collecting news accounts about itself. Internet memes have a tendency to evolve and spread extremely quickly, sometimes going in and out of popularity in just days. They are spread organically, voluntarily, and peer to peer, rather than by compulsion, predetermined path, or completely automated means.^[2]

The term may refer to the content that spreads from user to user, the idea behind the content, or the phenomenon of its spread. Internet memes have been seen as a form of art.^[3] There exist websites that collect and popularize Internet memes as well as sites devoted to the spread of specific Internet memes. The term is generally not applied to content or web services that are seen as legitimate, useful, and non-faddish, or that spread through organized publishing and distribution channels. Thus, serious news stories, videogames, web services, songs by established musical groups, or the like are usually not called Internet memes.

[edit] Types and uses

[edit] Self-promotion

One common form of Internet meme is created when a person, company, product, musical group, or the like is promoted on the Internet for its pop culture value. Vanity sites, for example, are among the first recognized Internet memes.^[2]

[edit] Inadvertent celebrity

Often, a person or company becomes infamous (or indeed famous) by virtue of an embarrassing video, e-mail, or other act.

[edit] Urban rumors and hoaxes

Many Internet memes are urban legends, fraud schemes, slander or false news stories that are either planted deliberately to become an Internet meme, evolve by mistake or rumor, or that jump from an offline source to the Internet. A relatively common example is the 2012 doomsday prediction. It is also common to create fake "for sale" listings on sites such as Craigslist or eBay for no other reason than to amuse people.^[1] Other web sites collect lists of such hoaxes or offer services by which users can fact-check popular claims they find on the Internet in order to determine their source and whether or not they are true.

[edit] Advertising and marketing

Public relations, advertising, and marketing professionals have embraced Internet memes as a form of viral marketing to create marketing "buzz" for their product or service. Internet memes are seen as cost-effective, and because of their (sometimes self-conscious) faddishness, a way to create an image of cleverness or trendiness. Marketers, for example, use Internet memes to create interest in films that would otherwise not generate positive publicity among critics. The film Snakes on a Plane generated much publicity from this method.^[4] Political operatives use Internet memes to shape opinion. Used in the context of public relations, the term would be more of an advertising buzzword than a proper Internet meme, although there is still an implication that the interest in the content is for purposes of trivia, ephemera, or frivolity rather than straightforward advertising and news.^[5]

[edit] Image editing

This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (February 2010)

Perhaps the most popular Internet memes are made by editing images (pictures, drawings, portraits, etc.) because of the ease that editing an image implies; these kind of Internet memes acquire a broad significance rapidly because they can be shared easily over the Internet. These images usually depict a same original image edited or modified in several ways. For example, some accessories may be added, colors or dimensions changed or the background/foreground replaced. Also, an existing image may be turned into a parody of a motivational poster using various websites, which gives a picture a background, title and brief description without needing to open up image editing software; such posters are most often called "de-motivational posters"^[6]. Another trend is to create a totally new image or version of the original concept, often placing things out of context in a humorous manner. An image with a natural or edited picture of a cat with a humorous caption are also common; these images are commonly referred to as lolcats and are commonly used as a joke or for a sarcastic remark. Many of these images originate from sites such as heavily-frequented Internet forums.

[edit] See also

• Forum spam
• Know Your Meme A website dedicated to archiving memes, gathering statistics to establish notability and illustrating many variations of memes.
• List of Internet phenomena
• ROFLCon, a convention of the people central to the memes and their fans
• Streisand effect

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Gerson, Jen. "Meme's the word." Toronto Star Tuesday, August 22, 2006. LIFE, page C01.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Internet memes

• Gary Marshall, The Internet and Memetics - academic article about Internet and memes
• WhatPort80 - a spin-off of Encyclopedia Dramatica, dedicated to documenting memes in a SFW fashion.