Internet meme: Difference between revisions
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-->The term '''Internet meme''' ({{pron-en| |
-->The term '''Internet meme''' ({{pron-en|ˈmeem}}) is used to describe a concept that spreads quickly via the [[Internet]].<ref name="usatoday">{{cite news | url=http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-07-28-ebay-weirdness_x.htm|publisher=USA Today|author=Karen Schubert|date=July, 2003|title=Bazaar goes bizarre|accessdate=2007-07-05}}</ref> The term is a reference to the concept of [[meme]]s, although this concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information. |
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== Description == |
== Description == |
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Revision as of 18:59, 12 May 2010
The term Internet meme (Template:Pron-en) is used to describe a concept that spreads quickly via the Internet.[1] The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although this concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information.
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. The term "Meme" was coined by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 pop-science bestseller, The Selfish Gene.[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]
Types and uses
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]
Inadvertent celebrity
Often, a person or company becomes infamous (or indeed famous) by virtue of an embarrassing video, e-mail, or other act.
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.
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]
See also
- List of internet memes
- Encyclopedia Dramatica, an online encyclopedia based upon MediaWiki focused on Internet culture, including memes
- Forum spam
- Grass Mud Horse, a mystic creature based on the animal Alpaca.
- List of Internet phenomena
- ROFLCon, a convention of the people central to the memes and their fans
- Streisand effect
- Know Your Meme, a site explaining the origins and use of different memes
References
- ^ a b Karen Schubert (July, 2003). "Bazaar goes bizarre". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Karl Hodge (August 10, 2000). "It's all in the memes". the Guardian. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
- ^ Xeni Jardin. "Digital Art: It's All About L.A." Wired Magazine. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
- ^ David Carr. "Hollywood bypassing critics and print as digital gets hotter". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
- ^ http://memes.org/internet-memes
Further reading
- Gerson, Jen. "Meme's the word." Toronto Star Tuesday, August 22, 2006. LIFE, page C01.
External links
- 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.