The term Internet meme (pronounced /ˈmiːm/, rhyming with "cream"^[1]) is used to describe a concept that spreads swiftly via the Internet.^[2] 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,^[3] 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 swiftly, 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 popular science bestseller, The Selfish Gene.^[4]

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.^[5]

Types and uses

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 they are a (sometimes self-conscious) fad, they are therefore used as 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 2006 film Snakes on a Plane generated much publicity from this method.^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[4]

See also

• Forum spam
• List of Internet phenomena
• ROFLCon, a convention of the people central to the memes and their fans
• Streisand effect
• Encyclopedia Dramatica, a NSFW site that catalogs memes and other internet related topics
• Know Your Meme, a site explaining the origins and use of different memes

References

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.
• Interactive timeline of Internet memes
• Internet Meme Database, an Internet Meme Database to explore your memes.

An Internet meme is something famous on the internet such as an image, a video, or even a person. Internet memes are usually created when someone published something and that thing was spread widely over the Internet. Famous internet phenomenons are lolcats, Chuck Norris Facts, Advice Dog, Angry German Kid, Tay Zonday's "Chocolate Rain", and Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" a.k.a "Rickroll".