What is a meme? One would think that the answer would be simple and easy, after all majority of people think of memes as simple things. They are images that show up regularly on their social media sites and most of the time the response they elicit is laughter. Memes make people laugh and that is their purpose, so surely something with a simple purpose wouldn’t have a complicated nature? Well that’s where Limor Shifman would have to disagree with you. She offers a novel definition of memes: digital content units with common characteristics, created with an awareness of each other, and circulated, imitated, and transformed via the internet by many users. In other words a digital piece of content that spreads quickly over various media platforms and becomes a shared cultural experience. Shifman believes that while internet memes are entertaining, she makes a compelling argument that they (memes) should be taken seriously.
Besides a definition of a meme, Shifman has created “memetic dimensions”. These “dimensions” are just ways to …show more content…
The character is Joo Dee and her quote follows the original word for word except for the last half, instead of “walk into Mordor” its “pop in on the earth king” in referencing that the main characters desire to see the king. Also thrown in just for laughs is a picture of Sean from another scene in Lord of the Rings with the text “I love this show” placed under the picture of Joo Dee. The text is probably referencing the popularity of the show or making a comparison to the popularity of the Lord of the Rings and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Shifman said “Such pop-culture-oriented memes are often multiple interpretations.” (pg.50) they have a humorous tone, reference multiple TV shows or movies and are multi-layered and often you have to watch or at least know the content mentioned to “get” the
Besides a definition of a meme, Shifman has created “memetic dimensions”. These “dimensions” are just ways to …show more content…
The character is Joo Dee and her quote follows the original word for word except for the last half, instead of “walk into Mordor” its “pop in on the earth king” in referencing that the main characters desire to see the king. Also thrown in just for laughs is a picture of Sean from another scene in Lord of the Rings with the text “I love this show” placed under the picture of Joo Dee. The text is probably referencing the popularity of the show or making a comparison to the popularity of the Lord of the Rings and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Shifman said “Such pop-culture-oriented memes are often multiple interpretations.” (pg.50) they have a humorous tone, reference multiple TV shows or movies and are multi-layered and often you have to watch or at least know the content mentioned to “get” the