Anyone who uses clapping hands is not to be taken serious
Does anyone else remember when something had to go viral first before it became a meme? Seems like the causality changed and now people “create” memes. Back in my day one did not simply create a meme, it had to become one.
The Star Wars kid, numa numa, all your base, Ellen Feiss, double rainbow etc. Can’t remember my first still image meme. Maybe overly attached girlfriend, scumbag Steve, good guy greg, one of those.
Not really Richard Dawkins’ original definition of the term when he created it was on the lines of
A meme is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme.
One of the earliest internet memes was just to photoshop “All Your Base Is Belong To Us” on everything.
4chan used to be the internet meme factory where ideas were copied and mutated before they broke out to the wider internet to go viral.
that spreads by means of imitation
Spreading is in the definition. A comic can become a meme, but not until it has spread.
The origin of the words meme implied it had to spread to become a meme.
The word has definitely changed in meaning.
It doesn’t really need to spread. If you take the gene comparison, a meme that doesn’t spread is like a person who has no kids. They still have genes even if they don’t spread them.
Not a meme:
It is
