What Does It All Meme?

You cannot kill an idea! Or can you?

- Sahil Dawka

Technology being increasingly ever present, it’s no over-statement to say everyone is on the internet these days, in some form or another. Okay, maybe not literally everyone considering most reports peg global internet penetration at about 50 percent. Still, we doubt any of those other 50 percent will be Digit readers, so for all practical purposes yes, everyone is online these days… but we digress. The reason we’re bringing up the internet is to delve into the second most popular form of entertainment on the internet, and this month’s theme - The ‘Meme’. When Richard Dawkins coined the term in his book, The Selfish Gene, he didn’t imagine that it would take up a life of its own. The meme has since evolved, and perhaps even slimmed down, considering where it stands today. Viral as they are today, will memes ever die?

THERE’S A MEME FOR THAT FOOL

If you haven’t heard of the Meme, hold on, that’s what this article is here for. On the other hand, if you’re a 9gag regular and can identify every meme by name, you may think you know it all but we’re here to tell you that you don’t - that’s also what this article is here for. Clever eh? The old “All roads lead to Rome” meme. Or is it the ‘Destiny’ meme, the illusion of choice? We’ll get to that. First, a formal definition:

MEME

noun 1. an element of a culture or system of behaviour passed from one individual to another by imitation or other non-genetic means.

2. an image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by Internet users, often with slight variations.