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Definition of a meme

Last posted Nov 13, 2023 at 12:12PM EST. Added Nov 06, 2023 at 10:20AM EST
8 posts from 8 users

Hi everyone!
I would define meme as a digital joke.
And then if were to break the meme down into a joke analogy, I would say that the text of the meme is the joke, and that the template is the delivery of the joke.
What do you guys think, any better definitions?

Nothing about a 'meme' is inherently meant to convey humor. Memes are socially replicated phenomena that have the recognition of being distinct and common enough to become identifiable as their own thing.

Tying memes to jokes is a frequent misconception of what they are. Dare I say, it's really just the uncultured normie way of defining it as it doesn't engage with anything outside of the lazy superficial stereotype people allude to when making broad statements about internet culture.

Meme: noun
1. DNA of the soul

But seriously, there is no need to try to narrow the definition of a term that has been well defined for decades.

Last edited Nov 07, 2023 at 07:40AM EST

Every idea you ever had is either a meme passed on to you or has been influenced by a meme passed on to you.

Religion, ideologies, emotions, subcultures, ideas of what is and isnt "normal" all memes, all passed a long.

We are all controlled by something greater

Memes, the dna of the soul

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People don't like it when you bring up that memes are the idea/concepts, not the images themselves. Which is why you see people seething and defending their uploads of generic anime/furry character #13421 who got a containment gallery. No, that fucking "Bowsette" picture isn't a meme, it's leeching off the already established Rule63 verbatim (rebranded as the Super Crown but I guess it's a new "meme" now because you added a head accessory!) and deserves to only be a footnote at best.

Then you have the people who think popular character/game/show/thing = meme. Which is why we've got the brainrotting articles like The Coffin of Andy and Layley, Helltaker, any fucking vTuber page, etc. etc.

A "meme" is a unit of cultural information, like how a "gene" is a unit of genetic information.

Many things documented on KYM aren't "truly" memes, but things like subcultures and events can still be memetic in nature, or bring forth more "minor" memes.

Skeletor-sm

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