Meaning of meme (what is it, concept and definition)

What is Meme:

Popularly, a type of content that is spread through social networks is known as a meme, consisting of the deliberate association of elements (for example, an image and a text) in the same significant unit, resulting in the representation of an idea, concept, opinion or situation. They are often specifically called Internet memes.

Memes have gained great value as a cultural manifestation, since they not only occupy a role in digital society as a form of entertainment, but also communicate values ​​and opinion matrices. They allow, therefore, to register or capture the force-ideas that move in the collective imagination.

For example:

Although the most popular form of the meme is the image with associated text, edited videos or audio files also qualify as memes.

Origin of the word meme

The word meme was created by Richard Dawkins in 1976, long before the advent of the Internet. It is a neologism that results from the adaptation between the English word gene (which means gene) and the words memory and mimesis (imitation).

Dawkins introduced the word meme for the first time in his book The Selfish Gene , framed in theories of cultural diffusion. Originally it referred to a minimal unit of cultural information that is transmitted from subject to subject and from generation to generation, either by teaching, imitation or assimilation. Thus, memes are to culture what genes are to biology.

In their original sense, memes range from ideas to verbal expressions, gestures, theories, opinions and all kinds of values ​​and symbolic goods that compete with each other to transmit and integrate as part of the consolidated culture.

The novel, viral and influential character of Internet memes soon became a phenomenon of enormous interest to the social and communication sciences, resulting in the appropriation of the name created by Dawkins.

Origin and evolution of memes

Some put the background of the meme in the famous animated video "Dancing Baby", "Baby Cha-Cha" or "the Oogachacka Baby", which was widely disseminated through the world wide web and email in the second half of the decade 1990, to the point that he appeared in the most watched TV series of the time, Ally McBeal.

Internet memes, as we know them, appeared approximately between 2000 and 2002. Their process of evolution and viralization is closely related to the main function of the internet: sharing information, a process that has been facilitated since the development of the main social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp and others.

Along with this, the creation of memes has multiplied thanks to the appearance of pages and applications (apps) that offer services such as meme generators, as well as databases.

Role of memes

At an elementary level, memes are intended to convey a message. This can be an opinion, a concept or an idea. It is not uncommon for memes to resort to humor and / or irony.

In any case, memes are an expression of the values ​​that circulate in society and compete to become hegemonic. Its success, however, depends on the recipient sharing the same cultural references as the sender of the message.

On another level, many memes collaborate in the propaganda of masked people or products. For this reason, the mechanism of viralization of memes is often associated with viral marketing campaigns that, indirectly, position a figure or product in the market, making it a recognizable reference before or after the official launch.

Characteristics of memes

According to Limor Shifman, the memes that manage to go viral are characterized by sharing the following elements:

• Longevity: that is, the ability to signify over time; Fertility: the message is clear, which increases its incidence and possibility of replication; Fidelity when replicating: the original meaning of the meme remains in replication.

Types of internet memes

According to the format

Image memes:

This type of meme uses the association of images and text. The interrelation between all these elements generates a new meaning.

For example:

Internet Faces

They are those image memes that associate an expressive face to some sentence or reasoning. As a rule, these faces are typified.

For example:

• FuuuuPoker FaceForever AloneTroll faceOkayLOL FaceChallenge acceptedCereal guy

Example of most used icons in Internet Faces type memes.

Memes in text

They are those that only use text. Many times they are a screenshot taken from an application like Twitter.

For example:

Video memes

They are memes that use edited videos, either in the visual sequence or with the introduction of a new dub.

According to the theme

Social memes

They seek to create awareness around social problems. They can refer to political, economic, religious issues, etc.

For example:

Thoughtful memes

They are those aimed at providing self-improvement advice and inspiring phrases.

For example:

Humorous memes

They use humor as a form of entertainment. They often resort to irony. Many times they are also a vehicle for the transmission of opinions.

For example:

Memes of situation

They are those that represent a situation that manifests itself frequently in daily life, and that in some way reflects the problems that must be dealt with.

For example: