Memes: Good or bad?

[The Middleman]

Memes tend to follow a little something I call the Meme life cycle.
Stage one: first their a new idea that's clever and funny.
Stage two: then everyone spreads them all over the internet.
Stage three: you start to see it so often it makes you nauseous.
Stage four: ????
Stage five: PROFIT!
There's no way known to man to stop this cycle since someones first thought after seeing something funny is to share it with others.

Fix'd for comic relief. And thus my point about memes is reinforced. Especially when used correctly.

 

[Pimppeter2]

I like locats.

Thats about it.

 

[thiosk]

memes are meant to be referenced, not driven into the ground through repetition

But that's what memes are, repetitions. A meme by definition is something which has come to symbolize something. So in a sense, the words I'm typing right now are memes themselves.

But that's what repetitions are, memes. A repetition by definition is something which has come to symbolize something. So in a sense, the words I'm typing right now are repetitions themselves.

This meme has potential.

I don't know, I think your definition is a bit too broad.

 

[Sion_Barzahd]

Some are funny to start with but get old pretty quick. I like memes though, they keep me amused and there is always a new one appearing.

 

[Mr. Gency]

I don't mind memes. It's hard to piss me off with a meme.
There has been a period of time where I stuck mostly to places on the internet where memes don't belong, so if someone said a meme I would likely laugh.
I like to assume a meme is dead so I don't annoy anyone.

 

[Belaam]

The technical definition of a meme is "Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods and terms such as race, culture, and ethnicity." Now, as most of us know, many memes start and end at 4chan, such as An Hero, LOLcats(I think), and all that Snakes on a Plane stuff.

I disagree with your definition of meme. Well, actually, your definition isn't bad, but your examples are. Memes are big ideas. Religion, politics, concepts. LOLcats, Rickrolling, etc. are extremely limited individual in-jokes/ideas. Look at your definition, and then your examples. Snakes on a Plane is not a thought, idea, theory, practice, habit, much less an invented, far reaching idea like race, culture or ethnicity.

Are memes good or bad? Depends on the meme, what is done with it, and who is witnessing the result.

If you're specifically looking at so-called "internet memes" and simply referencing them as the larger concept of memes, then I'd say the answer is that they act as a form of community building whereas those in the know enjoy the shared experience of knowing what the hell it is that can then become an annoyance when the internet meme becomes so pervasive that it loses its ability to mark a subgroup - if everyone on the planet gets it, it isn't so amazing that you do.

 

[Mr. Gency]

Memes tend to follow a little something I call the Meme life cycle.
Stage one: first their a new idea that's clever and funny.
Stage two: then everyone spreads them all over the internet.
Stage three: you start to see it so often it makes you nauseous.
Stage four: It dies but by this time 5 more have taken it's place.
There's no way known to man to stop this cycle since someones first thought after seeing something funny is to share it with others.

That sounds so familiar. I think I saw that somewhere.
?

 

[Aura Guardian]

Well, I don't find any of them funny.

 

[SquirrelPants]

The technical definition of a meme is "Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods and terms such as race, culture, and ethnicity." Now, as most of us know, many memes start and end at 4chan, such as An Hero, LOLcats(I think), and all that Snakes on a Plane stuff.

I disagree with your definition of meme. Well, actually, your definition isn't bad, but your examples are. Memes are big ideas. Religion, politics, concepts. LOLcats, Rickrolling, etc. are extremely limited individual in-jokes/ideas. Look at your definition, and then your examples. Snakes on a Plane is not a thought, idea, theory, practice, habit, much less an invented, far reaching idea like race, culture or ethnicity.

Are memes good or bad? Depends on the meme, what is done with it, and who is witnessing the result.

If you're specifically looking at so-called "internet memes" and simply referencing them as the larger concept of memes, then I'd say the answer is that they act as a form of community building whereas those in the know enjoy the shared experience of knowing what the hell it is that can then become an annoyance when the internet meme becomes so pervasive that it loses its ability to mark a subgroup - if everyone on the planet gets it, it isn't so amazing that you do.

I am talking about internet memes specifically. Not many people seem to know that meme was actually a real thing before the internet started using them. I was just pointing that out. By the examples, I'd think it's pretty obvious that I am only talking about internet memes, since memes in general are a pretty good thing. They spread culture and whatnot.

 

[Beardon65]

The classics are the best i.e. Shoop da Woop, Demotivational posters etc.

Annoying crap like lolcats and stuff like that are bad...

 

[Xanadeas]

Some of them are kinda funny and one of them has even stuck with me. I often say "Ffffffuuuu" whenever I'm a little pissed off. So I can't really say they're all bad. Just... a little pointless.

 

[GodofDisaster]

I find some of them funny at first but as time goes on, they become old and stale and I don?t want anything to do with these types of memes. This is difficult when you see people constantly bring them up all the time. Example the cake is a lie or any Chuck Norris facts. However some of these memes can be funny when used at the right moment.

 

[dalek sec]

I pretty much can't stand any of them, it's just so annoying after all this time.

 

[DazZ.]

Bad thing.
They don't require any thought and stop any original jokes being told instead.

Plus they get told way too often for them to remain funny.

 

[Amondren]

Meems can be funny i can liek 'em but i dont liek mudkips >_>

 

[BlindMessiah94]

A few days ago, I was bored and decided to visit 4chan, check out /tg/ and /wg/, y'know, that kind of thing.

Actually I am thankful I don't know that kind of thing.

OT: memes = profit?

 

[Necrofudge]

Well considering that the "An Hero" meme came as a mockery of the suicide of a little boy and the poor grammar habits of his 7th grader friends when they made a Myspace honoring him, yeah, memes are bad.

I enjoy the FBF ones though... but thats something vaguely different

 

[Americow]

I really don't think there are any memes that don't suc

 

[Aerodynamic]

Some are okay, but honestly, I don't reference them or add to them.

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

I think the maximum amount of time a meme can live is two months, and that's a stretch. During that time, most of them are quite entertaining.