subject: What Is A Meme [print this page] In modern terms, the meme is an online phenomenon. Etymologically, it is "mimeme" -- a word meaning, "imitation." The definition assuredly characterizes memes quite well. Memes satirize human behaviors, sayings and so on that are imitated and spread culturally through mimicry. Today, the word meme is synonymous with online meme. Any demotivational poster, photo trend or political commentary which moves quickly around the internet can be characterized as a meme.
Memes get very popular on the Internet since they can be passed along very quickly. Surfers share them with dozens or thousands of friends in an instant. They are such a phenomenon that advertisers attempt to create memes so they can get rampant advertising out of the effort. Its success often is contingent on the sort of meme and how much the online community enjoys it.
Crude Sarcasm
A variety of presentation that has caught fire is demotivational posters. These are basically photos with sayings on them. One example of this is sad Keanu where pictures of a depressed looking Keanu Reeves are given various funny captions. These memes can be used to make fun of celebrities or entire groups of human beings who have said something ridiculous and are now demotivational fodder. Nothing is so hallow in the world of demotivationals.
Picture Trends
Another meme type is the picture of somebody doing something specific. There is the duck face where girls puff their lips trying to look animated and turn out being mocked by the remainder of the internet community. There is another known as Tebowing, mimicking the prayer kneel of the famous quarterback, Tim Tebow. A friend takes videos of them and it is posted on the internet.
Internet Trends
Sometimes a meme is not an entertaining photo but a behavior that becomes common on the internet. This might be a way to play practical jokes on people, handle trolls in forums or just cope with boredom. One extremely well known behavioral meme is the Rickroll, tricking people into checking something out only to get to "Never Gonna Give You Up" video. One other example is posting shock photos. These are gory or unusual photographs either meant to gross out peers or to annoy others over the internet.
The very nature of online memes leaves anything open to become one. In some cases, personalities can be treated as memes. That is what happened with Batman. Sometimes a video file of something ridiculous or hilarious an individual did may become a meme. Often times, these memes will have spin-off memes. A meme can turn popular and vanish quickly and fresh memes are popping up very often.
