Devoting oneself to one’s art, impoverishing oneself in the pursuit of Truth, or welcoming martyrdom for one’s cause do not, it seems, represent behaviours which are obviously beneficial to the individual of for the spread of that individual’s genes. So, given that this kind of behaviour clearly exists, and is widespread, what is reaping the benefit? Dawkins’ somewhat surprising answer was the ideas themselves. Ideas are clearly in competition with each other so perhaps there’s a selection process going on, analogous to natural selection, through which some ideas prove successful and spread whilst others die out. He concluded that there was such a selection process and, to emphasise the parallel to natural selection, he coined the term “meme” which come from an ancient Greek root, “mimeme”, meaning imitated thing.
I wouldn’t say that viral videos are memes, they are viral videos. But their content can become a meme, which could be a quote from it or some kind of content shown in a different context.
E.g. the Area51 Naruto runner is a meme, but the report where he appears is not.
What’s in a Meme?
That was the original use, but what is it in the modern Internet context?
So, would you agree that viral videos are memes? I wouldn’t.
Yes, it’s literally in the definition. Even ideas are memes.
A meme is to culture what a gene is to biology.
So, you completely accept that definition of a meme?
What are you talking about, my dude?
The definition of the term “meme” was given by Richard Dawkins in 1972. That’s what the word means.
What’s your point?
I wouldn’t say that viral videos are memes, they are viral videos. But their content can become a meme, which could be a quote from it or some kind of content shown in a different context.
E.g. the Area51 Naruto runner is a meme, but the report where he appears is not.