Meme

=Meme= This is a term coined by [|Richard Dawkins] in [|The Selfish Gene]. 'Meme' is a fusion of two words, 'gene' and 'mimesis'. Here the term 'gene' refers to a phenomenon that can replicate itself and be passed on to others; it can also adapt in order to survive in new contexts. The term 'mimesis' is Greek and refers to the notion of imitation. Dawkins referred to a meme as being a conatagious idea that is passed on amongst groups of people - and gave examples of fashion, catch phrases, new ideas and so on. Memes spread fast across the Internet - particularly enabled by the digital environment which facilitates copying and also altering texts.

Here's an example of a purely textual meme:


 * Facebook meme**

Rules:
 * Take the closest book from you
 * Open to the page number 56
 * Look at the 5th sentence
 * Write down this sentence as your status
 * Comment on your status and copy these instruction in a comment
 * Don’t look for the book you prefer or the coolest but the closest book

Examples of multimodal memes include: media type="youtube" key="qC_hF31z130" height="344" width="425"
 * Lolcats - http://icanhascheezburger.com/
 * Song Chart - http://flickr.com/photos/boyshapedbox/sets/72157603957925616/>
 * Song - "[|I Am A Gummy Bear]."

A blog post definition can be found here: One problem with the term meme is that the Dawkins-derived metaphor doesn't assert the primacy of creativity; it suggests a natural process of self-propagation without human agency. I think that some may argue that the term meme should apply simply to things that arise spontaneously. There are many online memes that are very self consciously propagated - especially on YouTube.
 * [|Variations on a meme]