Memes

get ready to lose if you selected less on @perl

Legit question: does a meme require a graphic to be considered a meme?  Can a meme be text/only?

Example:

I am once again asking for your support by clicking the image below, and hitting like. 
— Bernie


Is that a meme? ￼

Whatever your decentralized, borderless, neutral, censorship-resistant open blockchain question is, the answer is YES… to Crypto!

'Meme' is a portmanteau coined by Richard Dawkins in "The Selfish Gene" in 1976. The original definition is just an idea that spreads by imitation. Text would count.

But there's a new definition of the word from the last two decades. 'Meme' now also refers to a reusable image that is paired with a themed text message.

In both definitions, context matters. If you're writing a scholarly article, you can probably get away with the original definition without complaint.

If you are having a conversation with a stranger on the Internet, the more modern definition probably applies.

I literally remember when and where I was when I learned the word "meme". At my desk, 1996, on usenet and understanding it to be the "idea that spreads by imitation". Someone used it on a usenet post about things that proliferated quickly on alt.tv.simpsons