What is the Difference Between a Joke and a Meme?

RedRockRun

sneaky sneaky
Jul 23, 2009
618
0
0
Because as far as I know, the only difference is that memes are on the internet. Yes, I've read the Wikipedia article on memes, and it only furthers my belief that academics like Dawkins are only good for splitting hairs that usually have already been split.
 

Silentpony_v1legacy

Alleged Feather-Rustler
Jun 5, 2013
6,760
0
0
Repetition? Jokes told over and over cease to be funny, thus losing the 'joke' part. But memes aren't really funny to begin with, so they can be repeated to the end of time and never loose what little value it had.

Also I've seen memes on shirts and jackets in real life, and its terrible.
 

DefunctTheory

Not So Defunct Now
Mar 30, 2010
6,438
0
0
The original concept for the 'meme' was that it was the cultural equivalent of the gene. A tiddy bit of information that was repeated, remembered, and passed on from person to person, either because it was useful, or amusing, or what not.

In 'internet' speak, it's basically that, only focused more on the amusing. A meme is basically a joke that repeated so many times, and so widely, that any given person is likely to recognize it immediately on sight.
 

DoPo

"You're not cleared for that."
Jan 30, 2012
8,665
0
0
Depends on your definition of either of these - the difference could range from very big to non-existent.

RedRockRun said:
Because as far as I know, the only difference is that memes are on the internet.
I'm guessing your definition of a meme is "a joke on the internet". If that's the case then it'd be pretty straight forward to say that there is no difference between the two terms.

For a more "academic" answer - memes aren't only on the internet. The "Internet meme" kind of meme[footnote]which is also not only on the Internet. Yet has gained exposure there.[/footnote], though is more akin to an inside joke in that it's usually more apparent to people already in on it, whereas a joke is more "open" to the general public.
 

Asita

Answer Hazy, Ask Again Later
Legacy
Jun 15, 2011
3,198
1,038
118
Country
USA
Gender
Male
Meme:





Joke:





In the context of humor, the difference is that the joke is usually self-contained. A meme, by contrast, is often a singular reference playing the role of a punchline over and over and over again in different and usually absurd contexts from which it doesn't naturally follow. The humor in large part stems from catching the reference and the popularity of it rather than the intrinsic humor value of the joke. The images in the meme spoiler, for instance, are more likely to confuse those unfamiliar with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure than amuse them. Similarly, half the game is pretty much just referencing the joke itself. For illustrative purposes:

 

Dizchu

...brutal
Sep 23, 2014
1,277
0
0
A meme is like a running gag. It uses familiarity, iterating on pre-existing material and playing around with its connotations. It's a community thing rather than the work of one comedian. It's a lot more social than a joke, which has a structure and a "comedian/audience" dynamic.
 

Asuka Soryu

New member
Jun 11, 2010
2,437
0
0
Jokes are funny.
.
.
.

Memes are like Pogs/Furby's/every other fad, but sped up and immediately replaced for the next fad.
 

SKBPinkie

New member
Oct 6, 2013
552
0
0
Jokes can be funny.

Memes have been repeated to the point where they've lost any semblance of humor or wit.

And honestly, the most idiotic memes are those goddamn bear confession and unpopular opinion puffins. Man, the sacks of shit who use those are the goddamn worst.
 

ephesus64

New member
Sep 16, 2010
14
0
0
My understanding of "meme" from when I first heard of it in the late 90s is that it's something like an idea that becomes complex enough to be sorta alive, as though it had an identity and an existence larger than any individual person thinking about it. If that's still true, then every individual "meme" of Dio or Milhouse or whatever is really just a kind of joke, but the idea of a meme is something larger, it's actually a meme.

A certain way of looking at the world, mostly unspoken rules about how certain reaction images are supposed to be used, general all-purpose nihilism, those seem to be part of the actual meme: a distinct internet culture which originated in the sphincter of the internet years ago. I think when many people in chans and forums use the word "meme", they are often using the word for the universal idea to describe a specific example of how a meme manifests itself.

I'd post an amusing example, but I'd probably get it wrong. Anon can get fussy about that sort of thing.
 

Saelune

Trump put kids in cages!
Legacy
Mar 8, 2011
8,411
16
23
Asita said:
Meme:





Joke:





In the context of humor, the difference is that the joke is usually self-contained. A meme, by contrast, is often a singular reference playing the role of a punchline over and over and over again in different and usually absurd contexts from which it doesn't naturally follow. The humor in large part stems from catching the reference and the popularity of it rather than the intrinsic humor value of the joke. The images in the meme spoiler, for instance, are more likely to confuse those unfamiliar with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure than amuse them. Similarly, half the game is pretty much just referencing the joke itself. For illustrative purposes:

I certainly support this explanation. Though I think it might be worth it to add that it might be a Square/Rectangle situation. That perhaps all memes are jokes, but not all jokes are memes.
 

TheRundownRabbit

Wicked Prolapse
Aug 27, 2009
3,826
0
0
A joke is actually funny? Seriously though, a joke is a joke. A meme though, is like an inside joke with no context to make it funny, spread by idiots.
 

Kolby Jack

Come at me scrublord, I'm ripped
Apr 29, 2011
2,519
0
0
Memes are more akin to inside jokes. If you're in on the joke it's hilarious, and if you're wanting to be in on the joke, you pretend its hilarious to fit in, or you twist it a little to make your mark. If you don't care, you don't care. If you reject memes as stupid wastes of graymatter and the people who use them to be mouth-breathing fuckwits, you're trying too hard to be edgy and unique; take a chill pill and get on with your life.
 

FalloutJack

Bah weep grah nah neep ninny bom
Nov 20, 2008
15,489
0
0
Probably the simplest way to put it would be that all memes are jokes, but not all jokes are memes. The meme is a humor sub-category of jokes.
 

Fat Hippo

Prepare to be Gnomed
Legacy
May 29, 2009
1,991
57
33
Gender
Gnomekin
Pfft, all of these people ragging on memes like they're too good for them and have never laughed at one. The dankness of this thread is sorely lacking.
 

Glongpre

New member
Jun 11, 2013
1,233
0
0
I just want to add that memes on internet forums can add a lot of emotion to the discussion. No one can say that they haven't laughed out loud reading a discussion and seeing someone posting a very appropriate reaction meme.

I think internet discussions would be much poorer without them.

TheRundownRabbit said:
A joke is actually funny? Seriously though, a joke is a joke. A meme though, is like an inside joke with no context to make it funny, spread by idiots.
 
Jan 27, 2011
3,740
0
0
Jokes are humorous little ideas that everyone understands and can find either funny, or cringeworthy.

Memes are similar to jokes in that they are ideas, and that peopel can either find funny of cringeworthy. The difference lies in that everyone does NOT understand them equally. Memes are basically "in-jokes" that only a few people understand the meaning of, but then they spread outside of the original group, and suddenly a lot of other people find it funny, but for different reasons than the people who birthed it.

Example of a joke: "Some teachers started doing pot at the local deli. I guess you would say where were really CLASSING up the JOINT!" (Everyone gets the pun of a teacher CLASSing up a place, and a JOINT can refer to both a place, or a rolld of pot)

Example of a meme: *picture of a frog on a unicycle going "Oh shit waddup!"* (Nobody I know can tell me where this came from or what the meaning of this picture is, but DAMN is it kinda silly and funny).
 

hermes

New member
Mar 2, 2009
3,865
0
0
AccursedTheory said:
The original concept for the 'meme' was that it was the cultural equivalent of the gene. A tiddy bit of information that was repeated, remembered, and passed on from person to person, either because it was useful, or amusing, or what not.

In 'internet' speak, it's basically that, only focused more on the amusing. A meme is basically a joke that repeated so many times, and so widely, that any given person is likely to recognize it immediately on sight.
That is a good explanation. A meme is a piece of information that gets carried out by a culture through history, even when their literal meaning is lost. For example, idioms are sentences that only make sense in some particular culture, but there is no such a thing as idioms class; people absorb them by repetition and by being part of the culture, even when they don't have a connection to their original meaning (for example "burn the midnight oil" is still used, even though almost no one uses oil or candles to light a room). Another example would be the save icon on computer interfaces representing a 3?-inches disc. The newer generations are more likely to know the meme than the practice that originated it.

Now take that to the Internet, and you get it magnified. Memes on the Internet tend to be more humorous or frivolous in nature, are repeated ad nauseam, and have a useful life spam of about a week. Since everything is more ephemeral on the Internet, the most they can get is a relevance measured in months, and since they are delivered on a global scale, you can be sure 90% of the people will miss the cultural reference...
 

BeeGeenie

New member
May 30, 2012
726
0
0
Memes are any cultural artifact that are shared by a community.

Jokes are humorous cultural artifacts that are shared by a community.


All jokes are memes, but not all memes are jokes.
 

bartholen_v1legacy

A dyslexic man walks into a bra.
Jan 24, 2009
3,056
0
0
As an internet meme college dropout and failed PHD of bullshit and jokes, after ruminating on this for a moment I came up with this additional condition. Let me know what you think:

When talking about jokes, the setup is often based on some form of template or specific subject matter (X Y and Z walk into N or "What's the difference between X and Y", jokes about professions, race, gender etc.), and the punchline is always different. You know the setup, or at least its outline, but not the punchline.

When talking about memes, the setup is different every time, but the punchline is always the same (Arrow in the knee, the above example of "it was me, Dio", picture-based memes like Philosoraptor and Conspiracy Keanu). You know the punchline, but not the setup The funniness, like in all humor, comes from the subversion of the reader's expectations and how well the punchline fits into the setup. A meme is only as funny as long as it can be applied to new contexts without feeling overused.