Years ago it was the dancing baby, now it’s the Harlem Shake. These silly & sometimes shocking internet video clips are called meme’s and they’re just as entertaining and random as their live siblings, flashmobs.
A meme is a phenomenon spreading via the internet and can take on various forms – images (for example the Grumpy Cat and Lol cats photos), video, hashtags, websites or a simple work or phrase.
The word memes was originally coined by evolusionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene. The word originated from the Greek word “mimema” (which means “something imitated”). Dawkins described memes as a form of cultural propaganda, a means for people to communicate social memories and cultural ideas to each other. Memes spread organically and just like evolutionary biology, they include mutations and duplications. They spread fast and very rapidly change into different, new versions. People see the original, imitate and change it, and then distribute the new version on the internet.
Telling examples include the dancing baby, dating from 1996, and possibly also one of the first well-known memes. Recently the internet was invaded by the notorious Harlem Shake, a meme that even featuring during a Varsity Cup match.
Came across any interesting memes? Let us know!
[SOURCE: www.howtogeek.com & www.about.com]
Tags: meme