Something Serious About Memes

The big history of Internet memes can began in 2006 or even earlier. On the example of popular memes, we can remember "Me Gusta", "Seriously?" and more.

Birth of Memes

Via russianmemes.org

The Internet is a convenient technical tool that simplifies and speeds up the process of information exchange and dissemination in the process of social comprehension of a particular problem. In practical terms, it is the Internet that is the key link in the dissemination and "mutation" of memes.

The source and generator of Internet memes in practice is not the science of memetics, but the mass access to the Internet channel for information exchange, new media. All successful memes are created by living people in the process of communicating with their own kind - without any highly scientific formulas, and test tubes.

In the process of memorial creativity, a growing number of people are involved as full participants, including social groups that usually did not have access to the media, those who are called amateurs.

The constant growth of the Internet opportunities is gradually removing new and new barriers. The growth of the average connection speed with the provider and the commissioning of new services generates new series of Internet memes. For example, video services like YouTube have made it possible to quickly distribute video memos captured by amateur video cameras.

Memes are not the result of science, but technology

Via russianmemes.org

Memes generated by new technologies have their own special name "T-memes". The "thickness" of the uncensored channel, the availability of a technical opportunity to disseminate high-quality multimedia content (music, films) was much more important than teaching "the scientific principles of creating memes."

If earlier memes were distributed through folklore, anecdotes and tape recorders, then with the advent of new-media (mobile communication, the Internet), the generation of memes and media viruses accelerated dramatically and they became much more diverse. Just having access to new media, people did everything themselves - without any science of memetics.

Technology involves new social groups in an equal dialogue

youtube.com

The growth of modern technological capabilities has led to the fact that now it is not necessary to create something from scratch. You can, for example, find someone else's, unfairly forgotten literary work and re-write it into a new cultural context or make a simple collage picture. This became possible only thanks to new technologies (search engines, photoshop, video sharing) and really mass access to the Internet - including adolescents with their search activity and freshness of perception.

If earlier formal access to the media was required (for example - the publication of an article or book), now new technologies are gradually removing all barriers. Almost everyone has the opportunity to post a good idea or own work on numerous Internet resources and immediately get a live response from the community in an interactive mode (which, again, is especially appreciated by teenagers).

Thank's for attention! Create memes and be cool, guys!