Memes 101: An Introduction
By Anneliese Eber
There’s so much to discuss when it comes to memes, but before we get into all that, we’ve got to develop some standard definitions and delineate what, exactly, memes are, right?
To meme, or not to meme, that is the question
What do you think about when you think about memes? A funny picture with some big impact text on it? What about a TikTok sound you’ve heard remixed in hundreds of different ways? Or maybe you think of an obscure saying you’ve heard many times but in slightly different ways? When we think about memes, we often think of the classic picture with impact font memes, but today, memes encompass much more than that.
So what is a meme then?
In a modern era, memes are largely known as any trend, joke, or funny piece of content that spreads across the internet, largely undeterred by geopolitical borders. They are usually in the form of a short video or a picture. But this does not mean that these are the only meme formats today.
To understand what memes are in a broader context, outside of the internet, it’s useful to go back to the original definition of a meme and look at how it’s evolved through the ages.
A Brief Timeline of Meme Definitions
Memes have been around a lot longer than you probably even realize. The term meme was first coined in Richard Dawkins’s 1976 book The Selfish Gene. In his book, Dawkins used the term “meme” to describe small units of culture that spread from person to person and were replicable by either copying or imitation. Dawkins further described memes as ideas, behaviours, or styles that spread from one person to another. In many ways, this still describes memes we see today nearly 50 years later.
While there is no single definition of a meme today, several general ideas have been put forth in the last several decades. A meme could be very broadly described as a unit of culture. Slightly more specifically, it could be described as culturally transmitted information or an idea that spreads from person to person. No matter how a meme is defined, there are key features that remain important to the definition of a meme. Memes are things that are replicable, spreadable, and easily transmitted from person to person, culture to culture, and across the globe. They are also typically created with the awareness that there are multiple iterations of the same meme and will continue to be modified and remixed.
So what are memes today then? Memes can be many different things. Memes are still pictures with impact text on them but memes can also be many other things. They might be a viral TikTok sound you’ve heard hundreds of times. They can be viral slogans, jingles, fashion trends, ideas, religions, and ways of being. Memes might also be quotes, texts, or words saved in a visual format like a screenshot. Really, anything can be turned into a meme.
In many ways, the definition of a modern meme is elusive and ever-changing. As new technologies and new ways to adapt and remix media and other content evolve, the definition of memes will continue to change. Even looking at Urban Dictionary there are a myriad of definitions for memes in a modern era.
Key Meme Components
Memes can also take many formats. While the picture with white impact text might be what first comes to mind when you think of memes, they are far from the only format of memes in the year of our Lord 2022.
Another integral part of memes is their virality. To become as viral, most memes are removed from the original context. While loss of context is often necessary to make memes the viral sensations they are today. Memes like Woman Yelling at a Cat have gone viral and are used in many different contexts; however, its original context has been lost and the internet has given it new contexts. Sites like Know Your Meme can help to identify where the meme originated but it’s difficult without further research to find out the context of a meme.
So You Know What Memes Are Now, Can You Understand Them All? Asking For A Friend.
While there are certainly lots of memes that will appeal to a diverse group of people, there are also memes that are intended to be niche and are not meant to be understood by everyone.
“The girls that get it, get it; the girls who don’t, don’t.”
Many memes only apply to niche groups of people. They create in-groups and out-groups of people who understand the meme and people who don’t. Whether the niche interest is a small or large part of an individual’s identity, memes can bring people together. They bring people who get the joke, or get the content, together and can validate an individual’s experience.
Memes As Community Tools for Better and For Worse
Memes have become a ubiquitous and powerful tool for communicating within and between groups of people. From local communities to the entire global population, memes are a powerful way to communicate. Memes can act as a catalyst for building and maintaining communities. Memes can help to bring people together, raise awareness for important social issues, and uphold cultural movements. Building on that, memes can even make talking about difficult or important topics easier. They can also serve as a coping mechanism and act as a stress reliever during trying times or used to understand and visually depict difficult-to-understand topics.
But with great power comes great responsibility.
Memes have the power to bring people together and create social change in the world. However, memes also have the power to perpetuate and spread harmful and problematic rhetoric including misinformation.
Conclusion: Memes Are Here To Stay
All this to say, memes probably aren’t going anywhere, they have become a part of the everyday lives for many people. Memes find their way to all corners of the internet and have infiltrated so much of our online existence. Understanding and recognizing what memes are can help to increase digital literacy and understand how memes spread information.
For a list of sources, please view our references list.
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