In computing and social media, we hear a lot about 'memes'. But what are they about and why should you care?

A meme (pronounced “meem”) is an idea, mode of behavior or style that passes from person to person within a culture. The earliest form of an online meme is one you are probably familiar with: chain letters sent via email.

Great memes make you feel good or make you think about an important subject. Steve Jobs’ Stanford commencement address is certainly a prevalent meme right now. But today’s memes are more likely to be funny images or videos that quickly spread via email and the Internet. A good example of a popular meme is LOLcats. LOLcats, a composite of LOL (for Laugh Out Loud) and cats, are pictures of cats doing funny things, labeled with badly spelled captions. This cat-lovers’ hobby grew worldwide into a viral phenomenon so popular that it has been written about by Time and Entertainment Weekly magazines.

Images of people dancing in unusual situations have become an especially popular meme. Nearly 70 million people have watched this video of wedding guests walking up a church aisle. If you haven't seen it, you should. It's definitely a feel-good experience!

http://bit.ly/pcX4El

Memes and Social Networking

Social networking sites serve to promote opinion, thoughts and ideas from individuals. Users use Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and YouTube to spread content. Your internet meme can be a simple image and caption or short video. So long as it grows in popularity as an idea, or the idea remains as it spreads, you've created a 'meme'.

Who Coined the Term ‘Meme’?

The term ‘meme’ was first used by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Game (1976) to describe the phenomena of evolutionary ideas spread within a culture. The word itself comes from the ancient Greek word 'mimeme' which means 'something imitated'. Shortened to and modeled on the word 'gene', a meme literally is a 'unit of culture' replicated from brain to brain by the transmission of ideas.

The Science of ‘Memetics’

The idea has gone from being a theoretical field to an applied study in marketing, psychology, linguistics, computer science and architecture. In marketing, people talk about an idea going 'viral', meaning to be transmitted from person to person. A meme's success is judged upon its ability to be retained by the host and spread to other recipients.

Memes in Advertising and Marketing

Reaching millions, the internet has become crucial to advertisers and marketeers who use internet memes in the form of 'viral marketing' to create a buzz for their products and services. Seen as clever and trendy, these are effective and low cost ways of reaching consumers.

More About Memes

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