From my perspective, a meme is anything produced and posted on the internet which becomes popular and is recreated or modified by other people on the internet. Media such as single picture memes like "Lazy College Senior" or "Socially Awkward Penguin" are in the same category as video memes such as "The Harlem Shake" or the "Nigel Thornberry Remixes." Although they are different types of media, they became instantly popular and were recreated and modified. In fact, the Nigel Thornberry remixes have changed to Screaming Goat remixes. They're the same concept, but with different interrupters.
I believed this as the definition of a meme even before I read Dawkin's explanation, which compared memes to genes. His explanation is that, like genes, memes are replicators of information, but are also subject to modifications. I believe this comparison is plausible, and I agree with his logic. Although, I do believe that memes are subject to bigger modifiers than genes. Memes can be modified almost instantly, such as with the transformation from Motivational Posters to Demotivational Posters. It has the same concept, but a completely different idea being expressed. Genes, on the other hand, modify and change gradually throughout generations.
A meme is a definitive part of out culture, and uses many different types of media to create something that our culture finds pleasing or funny. It brings together media from video games, television, film, etc to create something interesting. The "FUS RO DAH" meme is an example of video games and film being put together and converging. Each different meme has a different personality, and each spinoff of those memes in turn have THEIR own personality. In a sense, we are expressing ourselves through memes, which is exactly what art does. We express ourselves through our art. Memes just take it a step further and express each personality to the internet, which is then presented to the world.
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