a b Shifman, Limor (2014). Memes in Digital Culture. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 9781461947332. OCLC 860711989. Archived from the original on 22 June 2022 . Retrieved 20 June 2022. A meme is a cultural phenomenon that is spread through social media or other platforms. A person creates an image or video with a humorous or relatable message, which is then shared with others. Often, many iterations of the same meme will be created, extending its popularity. How is a meme structured? McNamara, Adam (2011). "Can we measure memes?". Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience. 3: 1. doi: 10.3389/fnevo.2011.00001. PMC 3118481. PMID 21720531. The term meme is a shortening (modeled on gene) of mimeme, which comes from Ancient Greek mīmēma ( μίμημα; pronounced [míːmɛːma]), meaning 'imitated thing', itself from mimeisthai ( μιμεῖσθαι, 'to imitate'), from mimos ( μῖμος, 'mime'). [17] [18] [19] Millikan, Ruth Garrett (2004). Varieties of Meaning: The 2002 Jean Nicod Lectures. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 9780262134446.

The concept of memes traces its roots to biologist Richard Dawkins’s 1976 book, The Selfish Gene. 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.”See also: Diffusion of innovations Imitating the famous cover of the Beatles album Abbey Road (1969), on which the band members cross the road in front of the Abbey Road Studios in a row, has become popular with fans and London visitors. The four actresses of the Japanese Manga/ media franchise Milky Holmes reenact the Beatles cover in 2010, extending the original Beatles meme by their film costumes. In 2011, four cosplayers imitate the above meme during the Manga convention Paris Manga 2012 at a zebra crossing in Paris, thus further separating the meme from the root situation of 1969 tied to the Abbey Road zebra crossing. Robertson, Lloyd Hawkeye (2007). "Reflections on the use of spirituality to privilege religion in scientific discourse: Incorporating considerations of self". Journal of Religion and Health. 46 (3): 449–461. doi: 10.1007/s10943-006-9105-y. S2CID 39449795. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021 . Retrieved 1 July 2019. Hull, David L. (2001). "Taking memetics seriously: Memetics will be what we make it". In Aunger, Robert (ed.). Darwinizing Culture: The Status of Memetics as a Science (1sted.). Oxford University Press. pp.43–67. ISBN 9780192632449. Nahon, Karine; Hemsley, Jeff (2013). Going viral. Cambridge, England: Polity Press. ISBN 9780745671284. OCLC 849213692. Archived from the original on 17 March 2023 . Retrieved 23 January 2023. you want can be used if you first install it on your device and then type in the font name on Imgflip.

The project has gotten so high-level that an actual Broadway production feels nothing short of inevitable (you know, once those are a thing again). The meme got nods from Playbill and Disney Theatrical Productions on social media in November, and in December, it was announced that Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical would be streamed as a concert to benefit the Actor’s Fund. Arguably the most creative thing to come from TikTok this year, Ratatouille the Musical brought people around the world together to produce something magical we could all enjoy. After all, isn't that what memes are for? The length of a meme varies. Because they can take the form of images, symbols, text, videos, or GIFs, they can be as short as a single image or phrase and as long as a multi-minute video with an elaborate narrative. Some memes have short-lived bursts of popularity on social media, while others endure for years.Kull, Kalevi (2000). "Copy versus translate, meme versus sign: development of biological textuality". European Journal for Semiotic Studies. 12 (1): 101–120. Kelly, Kevin (1994). Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the Economic World. Boston: Addison-Wesley. p. 360. ISBN 9780201483406. Proponents theorize that memes are a viral phenomenon that may evolve by natural selection in a manner analogous to that of biological evolution. [8] Memes do this through the processes of variation, mutation, competition, and inheritance, each of which influences a meme's reproductive success. Memes spread through the behavior that they generate in their hosts. Memes that propagate less prolifically may become extinct, while others may survive, spread, and (for better or for worse) mutate. Memes that replicate most effectively enjoy more success, and some may replicate effectively even when they prove to be detrimental to the welfare of their hosts. [9]