Modern-Day Memes

What is this “meme” thing you speak of?

According to About.com:

“Memes” are cultural symbols and social ideas that spread virally. In the same way that a flu bug travels from person to person, memes travel through social media and email.  Memes are often things of minor consequence: jokes, urban legends, human and animal oddities. But in some cases, memes are art and music curiousities, and even philosophical ideas worth repeating. Modern memes commonly take the form of photos and videos/animations/songs.”
This is a decent enough pop culture definition. Memes are also phrases or even words that hold inherent meaning because of a cultural backstory that gives it context. For example: “going postal” or “winning!” or “Obey” .  And it used to be that they spread through other forms of media like TV and magazines…or through street art and T-shirts.

I love the internet for the way it has accelerated our ability to get creative with meme creation and spreading.
Here is a link to the about.com site aforementioned with a list of the top internet memes of the last 15 years. I can’t tell you how old this makes me feel.

http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/weirdwebculture/tp/The-Best-Internet-Memes.htm

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