memetics_exam_answer

by S.Kalashnikova The term **Internet meme** is a neologism used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet. At its most basic, an Internet meme is simply the propagation of a digital file or hyperlink from one person to others using methods available through the Internet (for example, email, blogs, social networking sites, instant messaging, etc.). The content often consists of a saying or joke, a rumor, an altered or original image, a complete website, a video clip or animation, or an offbeat news story, among many other possibilities. An Internet meme may stay the same or may evolve over time, by chance or through commentary, imitations, and parody versions, or even by collecting news accounts about itself. Internet memes have a tendency to evolve and spread extremely quickly, sometimes going in and out of popularity in a matter of days. They are spread organically, voluntarily, peer to peer, rather than by compulsion, predetermined path, or completely automated means. The term is generally not applied to content or web services that are seen as legitimate, useful, and non-faddish, or that spread through organized publishing and distribution channels. Thus, serious news stories, videogames, web services, songs by established musical groups, or the like are usually not called Internet memes.
 * Internet meme **
 * //Description//**

Types
//Dancing hamsters// You might not think dancing hamsters and the 'flu have much in common, other than the ability to irritate. But they do - thanks to a theory which suggests ideas and information may replicate themselves in the same way viruses spread. They are copied from one person to the next, planting fundamental beliefs and values that gain more authority with each new host. Memes are the very building blocks of culture. Not every meme is a big idea, but any meme with the right stuff can go global once it hits the internet. For anyone who has not seen the Hampster Dance (sic), its appeal is difficult to explain. A page of crudely animated hamsters singing the same few notes over and over (and over and over) would not get past the planning stage at most dot.coms. But for Thomas Lotze, a student at Harvard University, it was a mammoth web hit. He found the hamsters on a page that included porn banners and copied them over to his own smut-free site in February of 1999. Within two weeks it had attracted 13,000 hits, spawning a phenomena that lead to hundreds of imitators, an unofficial single by UK group the Cuban Boys and, that most American indicator of success, threats of legal action for breach of copyright. The hampsters' creator, Deirdre LaCarte, runs a company promoting the rodent ravers (they now live at [|www.hampsterdance2.com]). Also don’t forget about SCREENCLEANER
 * **//Self-promotion//**
 * **//Inadvertent celebrity//**
 * **//Urban rumors and hoaxes//**
 * **//Advertising and marketing//**
 * **//Image editing//**
 * **//Video remixes//**
 * **//References to pop culture//**
 * Example**