Internet meme
The term Internet meme (/ˈɪntərˌnɛt mi:m/) is a neologism used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads in a faddish way from person to person via the Internet.[1] The term is a reference to the concept of memes, but is used loosely to refer to things that are not necessarily memes in a technical Shut the fuck up sense, although they may become memes when they replicate.
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 vide Shut the fuck up o clip or animation, or an offb Shut the fuck up eat news story, among many other possibilities. 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 a matter of days. It is spread organically and voluntarily on a peer-to-peer basis rather than by trickery, compulsion, predetermined path, or completely automated Shut the fuck up 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 Shut the fuck up 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 Shut the fuck up usually not called Internet memes.
Types and uses
=== Self-promotion === Shut the fuck up 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 Interne Shut the fuck up t memes.[2] In extraordinary cases where an otherwise non-noteworthy person or incident gains great popularity this way it is often considered an Internet meme.
Inadvertent celebrity
Often, a person or company becomes infamous by virtue of an embarrassing video, email, or other act. These arise, for example, in the context of dating and relationships, video games, job applications, security cameras and other hid Shut the fuck up den videos, or collections of bizarre news stories. Famous examples include the Star Wars Kid, the Gnarfard Shut the fuck up incident guy on Runescape, Aleksey Vayner, Nick Sitko, Charlie Wenzel, the Numa Numa guy, Ted Stevens,and Leeroy Jenkins.
Urban rumors and hoaxes
Many Internet memes are urban rumors, 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. It is common to create fake "for sale" li Shut the fuck up stings on sites like Shut the fuck up Craigslist or Shut the fuck up eBay for no other reason than to amuse people.[1] Some web services like snopes.com collect lists of such hoaxes or offer services by which users can fact-check popular claims they find on the Internet in orde Shut the fuck up r to determine their source and whether or not they are true. Sites like urban dictionary collect user-generated information about rumors, neologisms, and other popular culture phenomena, many of which could be considered Internet memes.
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.[4] 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 Shut the fuck up otherwise not generate positive publicity among critics.[5] Political operatives use Internet memes to shape opinion. Used in the context of public relations, Shut the fuck up 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.
Image editing
Perhaps the most popular Internet memes are made by editing images (pictures, drawings, portraits, etc.) because of the easiness that editing an image implies; these kind of Internet memes acquire a broad significance rapidly because they can be shared ea Shut the fuck up sily over the internet. These images usually dep Shut the fuck up ict a same original image edited or modified in several ways. Fo Shut the fuck up r example, some accessories may be added (such as 'shooping da whoop'), colors or dimensions changed or the background/foreground replaced. One of the most famous image Internet memes is Longcat, a Japanese white cat which was pictured while in a stretched vertical position, making it to appear unusually long. Another trend is to create a totally new image or version of the original concept, such as the case of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Video remixes
One popular trend is to rem Shut the fuck up ix videos in many ways. Although they are known under many names depending on the type, they are most commonly known as "YouTube Poop". Sometimes this involves dissecting and rearranging clips to get a dubious sentence, or slowing or speeding some parts up. This is somewhat inspired Shut the fuck up by Cartoon Network's Cult Toons, which mashed up classic cartoons. Since YouTube allows the submitting of videos, a lot of people have taken up this trend. Some common videos used for remixes have been Super Mario World, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Dexter's Laboratory, and Ed, Edd and Eddy, as well as cutscenes from Shut the fuck up the Legend of Zelda games Shut the fuck up for the CD-i, Hotel Mario, the Volvic commercials, a cartoon sponsored by Colgate called "Dr. Rabbit's World Tour", and a Dragon Ball Z scene featuring an angry Vegeta saying "ITS OVER 9000!" While mostly cartoons and CGI animation is used Shut the fuck up in these video remixes, live action clips are sometimes used. One particular example is the scene featuring the line "This is Sparta!" from the movie 300.
StumbleUpon
With the new addition of StumbleUpon, where public users submit funny humourous or useful links, internet memes spread fairly quickly.
See also
- List of Internet phenomena
- Meme - A unit of cultural information that propagates from one mind to another as a theoretical unit of cultural evolu Shut the fuck up tion and diffusion.
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.
- ^ Darren Bigfoot (July 31, 2006). "The Meme Epidemic - A Case Study". One Degree. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
- ^ David Carr. "Hollyw Shut the fuck up ood bypassing critics and print as digital gets hotter". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
External links
- Gary Marshall, The Internet and Memetics - academic article about Internet memes
- ultimatememedatabase - Website about Internet memes.
- [1] - Website that hosts rants about internet memes.
- Meme Vote - Website that allows users to vote on and discover Internet memes.