Parents and you will Sites of Websites Memes: The partnership Ranging from Cohesiveness, Uniqueness, and you can Quiddity Concreteness

This study employs a giant-size quantitative data to reveal architectural activities of internet memes, targeting dos pushes you to join her or him with her: the new quiddities of each meme family relations plus the common features of brand new larger memetic sphere. Playing with posts and circle investigation away from 1013 meme period (in addition to video clips, photo, and you may text message), i explore memes’ common quiddity designs and general has actually, while the ways that it relate solely to one another. All of our conclusions demonstrate that (a) high cohesiveness off meme household are on the an elevated uniqueness of the common features; and you may (b) the latest concreteness out-of meme quiddities are in the cohesiveness and you may individuality. We talk about the ramifications ones results into comprehension of internet memes and participatory society.

Web sites memes, items of digital posts you to bequeath inside the web in numerous iterations, provides has just stimulated scholarly focus dating a Equestrian around the multiple industries (Bennett & Segerberg, 2012 ; Milner, 2012 ; Shifman, 2013 ). Many training need a beneficial qualitative method to exploring the social meaning of memes, on pursuing the post i implement high-measure decimal studies to help you show some regulations and you can regularities underpinning so it ostensibly disorderly fields. Memes is actually part of the latest painful “net diet plan” of numerous Internet surfers, casually popping up during the visits so you can platforms like Youtube, Myspace, and Reddit. Yet the memetic active is from are shallow. Needed disparate profiles worldwide to perform inside performance, carrying out and circulating blogs from inside the numerous distinctions with each other divergent networks, while maintaining the attraction and you can prominent features.

Family members and Systems of Websites Memes: The connection Ranging from Cohesiveness, Uniqueness, and you can Quiddity Concreteness

This paper is aimed at shedding white about Websites memes are nevertheless tied together with her even with their vibrant and you will playful contexts off articulation. In first part we put the backdrop in regards to our trip by reflecting the strain within popular features of personal meme period, meme group, in addition to entire memetic community. We determine sites memes as categories of digital textual devices authored and given by of several members, which are likely together by two pushes: (a) a shared quiddity that is particular to every household members, constituting its singular essence; and you will (b) so much more standard characteristics out-of means, posts, and posture one to mark towards exhibitions of your own “meme culture.” Strengthening on this subject conceptual change, i present in the second area the newest aims guiding this research: to provide a summary and you can study of prevalent quiddities and you may common features of internet memes and also to investigation this new connectivity between him or her. In particular, we should evaluate the connection between your cohesiveness away from meme families (we.e., brand new the total amount to which days are similar to one another), brand new uniqueness of your generic characteristics underpinning her or him, and the concreteness of the quiddities joining him or her. To address such goals, we operating blogs studies towards an extensive sample out-of meme era, following additional analytical and you may community study. On the concluding section, i explore how the research, in line with the theoretical difference between quiddities and you may general properties, falls out white on the dualities from “networked selves” constituting modern-day digital countries.

Meme Household and Joining Quiddities

The phrase meme are created because of the Richard Dawkins about Self-centered Gene ( 1976 ) to explain small devices of culture one give off person to people by the copying or replica. Considering that it first conceptualization, memes tends to be conceptual information, texts otherwise means. Memetic diffusion is founded on a mixture of repetition and version: Because power to replicate memes in various contexts is fundamental to their profits, re-creation should be versatile sufficient to adapt to altering products. That it county out-of flux leads to a tendency to establish memes merely retrospectively, once they enjoys propagated. For this reason, including, the first five notes out-of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony was basically recognized as a meme merely after they moved to a lot of parts of the newest world and you may was provided inside several cultural items comprising advertising, kid’s coding, and you may video (Blackmore, 1999 ).