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Week 7 [7.12-13.12] What Are Memes Really?

 Each day we stumble upon many funny images on the internet. Sometimes you see it on your feed, being unrelated to other topics that you are scrolling through, and other times you visit pages that are dedicated to assemble a lot of them, only to make you laugh and share it with your friends. We are so used to memes that we don’t really think of what they are and what is the idea behind spreading them around the internet. Please watch the presentation and answer below questions.



Questions:

  1. Did you know the former definition of memes? Do you agree with it?

  2. How much time do you usually spend going through meme sites? Have you created any meme by yourself?

  3. Do you agree with the definition of memes given at the end of presentation?

Comments

Karol Michalak said…
1. Did you know the former definition of memes? Do you agree with it?
Yes, I heard about at some time ago and in my opinion it makes sense to call this medium source as meme.

2. How much time do you usually spend going through meme sites? Have you created any meme by yourself?
Ohh it's to much time everyday, I don't een count it as I do it while doing other stuff. I've created some memes but mostly for my friends or family to show a speciic situation.

3. Do you agree with the definition of memes given at the end of presentation?
Maybe some of them yes, as I really like to share funny or controversial memes to some friends or family members. But there is some part of memes that are worth nothing and should die by natural internet death and not be posted ever again.
I've found this TED talk to be rather chaotic and generally ill-thought out. The speaker contradicted himself, first by providing the original definition of the term 'meme' and claiming that it's something that cannot be argued with, then coming up with a claim that the term means something else to everyone, only to in the end pivot into an incorrect definition which is synonymous with any verbal or nonverbal message or attempt at communication made by a human. The analysis he provided was shallow, overly reductive, and centered around defining the term around vaguely connected examples of it instead of providing any sort of actually usable framework for deciding what is a meme or what that term denotes. He even confuses the medium for the message by claiming that memes can represent language, when in reality it's the other way around - language is one of the mechanisms through which memes spread. The formal definition of a meme is an idea which aims to proliferate itself in society, and not all examples provided by the speaker qualify, since many are what he considers "personal memes" which don't spread in the population and fail to fit the analogy to genes which the term was originally meant to convey. Arguably, direct messaging such as seen in politics doesn't qualify as memetic unless the message begins to spread on its own without the direct involvement of its originator, which presents nuance completely missed by the speaker.

I don't go to meme sites at all. I've never found the appeal.
I have to agree, this TedTalk wasn’t really well prepared, in my honest opinion. Reading from a prepared piece of paper, and being that stressed (which I think is the case because of the way he’s speaking, I know that too well from my own presentations) isn’t adding to performing well. But anyway; I knew the definition because I wrote an essay on the subject last year, for one of my classes. I’ve been writing about the memes as the modern way of quicker and more coherent communication method of people around the internet. And I think the former definition is quite right; a meme is a form that speaks to many people at once in a similar manner. It can be understood well, even if the people are from really distant countries or cultures. It’s a universal language of sorts.

I don’t particularly search for memes, I don’t really browse 9Gag or pages like that, but I sure browse Facebook and Instagram, and I’ve left a like under a lot of pages uploading memes. I think they’re a good distraction, and sometimes they prove that other people have the same problems or do similar things. It makes me feel less alienated, as I’m a big introvert and a shy person. And of course I did some memes of my own; mainly about some things we were going through with friends at schools, and we shared those memes among the students.

I think he was trying to say something similar to what I’ve wrote before; memes are a universal language. They can be understood by people, whose first language isn’t the one in the memes, and they’re mostly operating with simple (sometimes deformed, but mostly on purpose) English words and phrases that can be understood by mostly anyone, and with the help of visuals they are the perfect way to quickly communicate. In our times, we’re so overloaded with media, that those quick thoughts that are sent to us through the memes are just working perfectly.
@Karol Michalak
Haha, I also go through so many that I don't even count them anymore!
I think that there is a lot of really weird/not funny/useless memes, but they usually die pretty quick, so that's a good thing I guess.
@Tadeusz Pawlonka
I think that you are right that it wasn't the best-prepared presentation, but the topic itself was an interesting matter to me. I spend a lot of time going through memes, so I thought that it might be a nice topic for an English presentation. Thank you for your opinion!
@Katarzyna Stefanowska
That's really interesting that you've written an essay about this topic! I wonder what other subjects you could choose in those classes because it's a really unusual subject, and I think that your teacher must have been an awesome person to let you choose that.

I think that your definition makes a lot of sense, and I agree with it. This kind of communication is so popular, that even big companies are trying to use it in their advertisements (which usually ends in a cringey way, haha). I find it really amusing to watch.
Saloni Nayi said…
I do agree with your sentence and I think memes are meant to be laugh and kind off gossips think. How to make serious conversation in funny phrase that we can see in memes ,how to make funny and stupid things more funny that we can see in memes. On social media so many pages related to meme, they just expressing real thing in reel way. I do agree with bad language they used but still I would say it's all about to make laugh. Although they don't make difference between celebrities, politics and common people. They just stay update choose a conversation and make memes. Also sometimes they have intelligent and thoughtful questions which is good, will aware with world.

I don't brows memes but on social media I see it sometimes ,They're a nice diversion, I guess, and sometimes they show that other individuals have the same issues or do similar things.We youngsters are influenced by those things I am sure most of the people from class do follow memes page. Sometimes I see some kind of memes in my group and everybody start to debate on it, and trust me the debate it self make you laugh and suddenly it turns to fight.So this is the moral for I said before we got so influenced by memes.

Perhaps some of them do, because when I see something funny or meaningful to share, I do share with my friends and siblings,otherwise it is worthless.

Maciej Antonik said…
1. In my opinion, memes have always been about humor and make them funny. However, some memes sometimes have some - let's call it - educational value. They have the power to make people realize all sorts of worthwhile things. Also, this medium is not only humorous, but also informative, and it can have a good influence on other people.

2. Not much. Rather, I just accidentally stumble upon some or my friends send it to me. I do situational memes sometimes, but rarely. I used to be a lot more interested in memes and spent more time on them, but now they just get a little bored of me. Or I grew up or something.

3. I kind of understand this definition. It seems to me a bit of a reference to what I wrote about making people aware of different things. Memes are a medium in which people can express their thoughts, most often in a humorous way, and thus influence others. However, the root cause of this is a desire to convey certain information, emotional states, or other things.
s16427 said…
I think I've never heard an formal meme definition, but I guess if I had to came up with one, it would be pretty similar to this one. However as jokes, there are multiple kinds of them and therefore might be multiple definitions for multiple people. I guess that most generic definitons is "funny image with funny text".

Number of hours I spend on watching memes isn't really something I'm proud of. Usually when I'm bored I take a look on memes, and I usually get stuck for an hour. There's so many of them it's hard to see them all. There are generally funny memes, there are IT memes, movie/tv series memes... Seeing them all ends up being pretty hard work. About creating, I've made some memes, usually connected to IT inside humour. I guess they were pretty funny, but hey, thats only my opinion.
Viktor Ryś said…
1.
I think I agree with it, it is quite similar to trends, and inside communities like Reddit, memes are ideas of trends.

2.
I mainly browse news aggregators, where there is an occasional meme, so I don't look for them actively, but they are everywhere and it's hard to avoid them when browsing sites.

3.
Yes, I agree that's they are a form of visual expression through humour.
1. Did you know the former definition of memes? Do you agree with it?
No, I was not particularly interested in the formal definition of this word. I didn't really grasp the essence of his presentation, but I think in general anything can be called a meme, meaning any picture or media that means something.

2. How much time do you usually spend going through meme sites? Have you created any meme by yourself?
In fact, I spend a lot of time looking for or viewing memes. I think the memes are very handy because you can send this to your friend instead of talking to him.
No, I've never created a meme before.

3. Do you agree with the definition of memes given at the end of presentation?
Yes, I agree, I think a meme is sometimes the best source to show your feelings not only humor
@Saloni Nayi

Thanks for the input! Yes, I agree that memes are almost everywhere right now, but I would say, that's not a bad thing. I'm really amused by how many different people have similar problems or thoughts, and how it can connect everyone.
@s16427
The same goes for me! When I start, it's really difficult to stop >< especially that each minute people post a lot of new pictures, and it's just impossible to go through everything. I'm trying to manage my time better, but sometimes it's hard to notice how much time it was away from your life.
@Zhypargul Maraeva
I agree that memes are very handy. For me, it's the best way to brighten the mood of my friends when they are feeling bad. I just have to choose something funny from the topic they like, and it works in almost 100% of cases!
Grzegorz Rostek said…
1.Did you know the former definition of memes? Do you agree with it?
It's the first time I've heard it, and I can mostly agree with it. As it was said in the definition, memes replicate contagiously, and I can't think of better example than my favourite meme of this year, the Coffin Dancers. Just by looking at many different Coffin Dancers memes you can see how contagious it is.

2.How much time do you usually spend going through meme sites? Have you created any meme by yourself?
It's hard to say, but whatever the number is, it's definitely too high. Looking at memes is my go to activity when I'm procrastinating, and I like to procrastinate. I don't remember any meme I've created, but I know that I've made a few memes.

3.Do you agree with the definition of memes given at the end of presentation?
I can agree with the definition, it takes into account a lot of meme types, even the ones withouth any meaning, and it classifies them somewhat accurate.
Jan Bryński said…
1. Did you know the former definition of memes? Do you agree with it?

To be honest, I was quite amazed that there is a defintion of a meme as old as the one mentioned in the TED Talk. Modern, typical understanding of a meme does no differ much from the one presented by the author of "The Selfish Gene" apart from the fact, today's memes spread mainly with the help of the internet. So yes, I do agree with this definition.

2. How much time do you usually spend going through meme sites? Have you created any meme by yourself?

I used to spend a lot of time going through memes on various sites, but a while ago I stopped to do that. Issues touched my the meme creators are countless - vast majority of them are relevant and worth talking about, but some of them may influence their audience negatively. Futhermore I realized that endlessly scrolling through memes, not only contributes to my procrastination, but also negatively impacts my attention span. Don't get me wrong, I like memes and I still do enjoy them, but in a more balanced manner. What I did was to choose a healthier relationship with them. At least in my opinion.


3. Do you agree with the definition of memes given at the end of presentation?

I think that the definition given by the presentation author is a bit ambiguous. To me his definition sounds more like a definition of art in general. However, I have nothing against perceiving memes as a form of art - I believe that, actually there is no explicit boundary between these two things. Hence, if what the author of the presentation meant, was that memes are art, I do agree with him.
1. Did you know the former definition of memes? Do you agree with it?
I don't know the former definition of memes. I don't have an opinion.

2. How much time do you usually spend going through meme sites? Have you created any meme by yourself?
I don’t spend too much time going through meme sites. If I watch memes, it’s memes from my friends. I created some memes in my life about funny sentences, which my friend said.

3. Do you agree with the definition of memes given at the end of presentation?
Yes, I agree
1. Did you know the former definition of memes? Do you agree with it?

I actually did not know the former definition of meme. I may agree that it is some kind idea, concept or thought that is simply shared in various groups. Moreover, I believe it is greatly used to share your opinion, however only to the person that shares the same opinion as you do. For example, f that person has different political views, he or she might be offended.

2. How much time do you usually spend going through meme sites? Have you created any meme by yourself?

Maybe half an hour weekly, I have never admired memes as there are so many of them that you waste countless hours scrolling thought them and because of that you spend your time very inefficiently. I think memes are so popular that everyone has created at least one meme in their life. Like I said, I am not a huge fan of memes, but I created a couple of them. Most of them were created during the lectures to show something funny that makes a boring lecture quite hilarious.

3. Do you agree with the definition of memes given at the end of presentation?
I actually agree with this definition, because memes are some kind of ideas that can share your point of view. Whether they are made for five people in your project group at 4 am, so the group can laugh for few minutes or when they share your political view. In my opinion the memes are almost always made with the concept of sharing some idea and to make people laugh. Moreover, every meme has to find a second person that feels the same as person that made or shared the meme. There has to be a connection between people that just have the same opinion on some particular subject. In this particular Ted talk, the speaker said it perfectly. They are made to express whether their author wants to express.
Roman Burlaka said…
Well, it's not former, as I understand, just we mean something more specific when speaking about "memes", but the core is the same. And it's a strange idea to agree or disagree with an original definition, don't you think so?
Depends on my free time. Free not only from work or study but also personal life, computer or board games, etc. But yeah, I like to scroll through some memes and sometimes do some for personal chats, but hardly ever.
As all brave definitions of anything using "I know how it should be" style, it has a lack of definition this cool word "worth" which breaks all the point here. You should always be careful about such stuff cause there always will be one arrogant guy who will ask you something like that and ruin the potential positive impression of your presentation. Or not.
1. Yes, I am familiar with this definition, and quite often I come across it on the Internet. Yes, I agree with this definition.
2. Oh yes, I often do something in this spirit myself. I have a public, and I often make stickers for groups, so that it would be more fun to communicate with friends.
3. Yes, quite an interesting and funny definition, and in general I really liked the video.
Roman Dubovyi said…
1. Until that moment I didn't know that there is a definiton. In my opinion - everything can be a meme if you force it enough. I personally enjoy memes when they are kind of abstract. And it is not so easy now to give definition to abstractions xD.

2. When I was a kid I used (gag to browse memes. But soon this community became flooded with chinese and indian youg people, which do not really respect the aspect of originality. They started to copy every freaking hot meme to get upvotes and soon feed of 9gag started look like one big repost. Nowadays I am subscribed to some Telegram channels that feature memes and news. They are moderated and there no reposts, so everything looks new and sometimes even funny.

3. Not quite.
The definition that a meme is an idea is somewhat too broad, however, I can agree with it. I'm under the impression that first when I heard about memes they mostly showcased emotions. There was a Rage Guy that captured emotions and I thought that was the main idea of a meme, to be a picture that tells more than words. Although now it becomes a popular subject, I believe that there was even a diploma about memes in PJA.

It depends, now, in quarantine I don't look through memes too much because I used to scroll through while in public transport. At home, I prefer other entertainments. I have made some memes however they were related to a specific event that only me and my friend can relate.

The definition that he gave at the end is also way too broad, however, it is mostly ok. I wouldn't say that memes are a way but a medium, but other than that it was ok. To those that say it was chaotic, yeah, it was, although it is a kid ted talk, cut him some slack ;) he did put a potato at the end so he should have some points for that!
Did you know the former definition of memes? Do you agree with it?

I only had an idea of what memes are but not the former definition of memes because maybe as humans we have a tendency to search definitions of words we don't have a meaning for or the ones we don't understand. Yes, the definition seems correct.

How much time do you usually spend going through meme sites? Have you created any meme by yourself?

I don't recall myself creating a meme but I might have forgotten. The time I spend going through meme sites might not be too much in my opinion because I don't even know any meme only website but I mostly watch it through social media unintentionally.

Do you agree with the definition of memes given at the end of the presentation?

The guys gave a more wild definition and more correct than the former definition and it reflects more the idea I had of a meme. Even though I think we can find an even more accurate definition to meme later.
I did not know the former definition of a meme, but I can hardly see any reason to either agree or disagree with it. It was a proposed definition which was overthrown by another that emerged. Maybe if I was a linguistic expert I could've said more, but to me, this was just a definition that simple described a particular word, which later on was enriched with another definition. This is a complex and constant process in language evolution, thus I believe it's only natural to observe those kind of behaviours from time to time. Personally, I do not have anything against adopting the new definitions and meanings, especially if no real controversy escalates around them.

I used to spend a lot of time on 9gag. Now I am more of a reddit guy where I usually read stuff that's interesting rather than purely funny. I have done couple of memes myself - mostly relating to the IT field or our school :) In addition to that, I frequently exchange memes with my friends and we sometimes tweak them in order to create something even more funny, usually in a hermetic way.

I like the definiton proposed by Marcus. While it's good to be able to have distinctive ways to more accurately describe certain subsets of a particular group (e.g., memes + gifs + comics + videos instead of just, generically, memes), it's not the end of the world to generalise them and call them the same. I particularily like the twist he did at the very end - both when he called memes "the ideas worth spreading" to refer to the subtitle of TED talks and when he inserted a "sorry for the long X, here's a potato" - a classic meme that turned into a tradition.
Did you know the former definition of memes? Do you agree with it?

Most likely, but I would say that memes are more sort of expression of each persons feelings and kind of situational or inside joke. Memes changed with time, first memes were all about emotions and situations were those emotions come.

How much time do you usually spend going through meme sites? Have you created any meme by yourself?

I don't look for memes and other stuff like this, I have other entertainments. Memes usually pop-up when I'm screolling social media or my freinds are sending me some. I made some mems, everybody did, but mostly there were about things that only my friend would laugh about.

Do you agree with the definition of memes given at the end of presentation?

The definiton at the end of presentation was too general but I can agree that that memes are sort od ideas to show your own point of view. It makes you laugh, so it's good to talk abour what makes people laug, especialy in those hard times. :)
1. Did you know the former definition of memes? Do you agree with it?

I didn't know the definition of memes. I was just browsing them. But I agree with the general definition. Memes are everything we want to present, and then it depends on people how they will perceive it.

2. How much time do you usually spend going through meme sites? Have you created any meme by yourself?

I spend little time on these sites. Usually I get a lot of funny memes from my friends. I think memes are a good idea. They can often lift the mood. And as the author said, you often know that you are not alone in any given line of thought. I once created a meme. But it was a fairly private meme about a friend. It was only used in a private group but it caught on positively.

3. Do you agree with the definition of memes given at the end of presentation?

I agree with the definition of memes given at the end of the video. I think memes have their own language that can be used to describe anything you want. Only often the interpretation depends on the person. However, if you come across a group of people reasoning similarly. Memes can make you laugh and at the same time explain something.
1. Did you know the former definition of memes? Do you agree with it?
Before watching presented video I didn't know a former definition of memes. On the other hand I am still not clearly sure if I understand definition of it correctly. In my opinion these days memes are way more than just a picture which is funny. Nowadays they show emotions without text. There are a lot of inside jokes and it somehow become an important element of our daily activities. I can agree with the author. Moreover I think it is no longer only for unofficial "language" between people. These days even politicians share memes on theirs twitters.

2. How much time do you usually spend going through meme sites? Have you created any meme by yourself?
According to the second question I have never created any meme by myself to the bigger audience, however I have created some memes for my friends with their faces or personal inside jokes. Answering to te first question, I don't spend time going through memes site. I haven't visited meme sites for a long time. In my opinion there are a lot of memes threw internet on Facebook or other social medias. I really like memes especially that ones which are understand between numerous number of people.

3. Do you agree with the definition of memes given at the end of presentation?
The definition presented at the end of presentation were very complex. I can partly agree with it. In my opinion it can be really accurate, because they were created to makes people laugh and become a serious part of communication.

Did you know the former definition of memes? Do you agree with it?

Yes i have watched some videos about etymology of memes before. Yes, i wuld say that i egree.

How much time do you usually spend going through meme sites? Have you created any meme by yourself?

I used to spend some time daily watching memes. Nowadays i watch memes hardly ever but a express a lot of things on comunicators such as messenger via gifs and memes.

Do you agree with the definition of memes given at the end of presentation?

Yes, totaly i agree with the summary of the whole presentation and his definition of the memes. Its so true.

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