Memetics
Meme theories.
There’s never a dull moment on the internet, and that’s got a lot to do with the fact that the content shared online is constantly changing – thanks in part to the creativity of users who remix, parody or caption popular images or videos, to create memes.
Punchy and humorous, memes are the perfect fodder for an internet culture shaped by viral sharing and creative participation.
They may seem basic, but from a linguistic point of view, they’re surprisingly sophisticated. Meme creators use “multimodal grammar” (in other words, images and captions) to express and share ideas and opinions. By tagging their friends in memes shared on social networks, people add their own personal meanings to the content.
The science of memes
Despite their popularity, it’s not widely known that the meme has its origins in the world of academia. The term “meme” is rooted in evolutionary biology, and was coined by Richard Dawkins in his famous 1976 book, The Selfish Gene.
According to Dawkins, a meme is “a unit of cultural