What is a meme?

According to Knobel and Lankshear ( 2007 ), the word meme is employed by Internet users mainly to describe the rapid uptake and spread of a “particular idea presented as a written text, image, language 'move,' or some other unit of cultural 'stuff''” (p. 202).

How do memes affect society?

First, memes may best be understood as cultural information that passes along from person to person, yet gradually scales into a shared social phenomenon. 1 Although they spread on a micro basis, memes' impact is on the macro: They shape the mindsets, forms of behavior, and actions of social groups ( Knobel & Lankshear, 2007 ).

Are memes a pain?

Memes are a pain. Or so at least a glance into the world of academic literature would suggest. Ever since Richard Dawkins coined the term in 1976 to describe gene-like infectious units of culture that spread from person to person, memes have been the subject of constant academic debate, derision, and even outright dismissal.

How did Dawkins define a meme?

Dawkins defined a meme as a cultural unit that spreads from person to person, much as genes spread through reproduction. The term meme itself comes from the Greek word mimema, which means “that which is imitated.” Dawkins’s book shows that examples of memes go back centuries.