The Hampster Dance [sic] is one of the first widely distributed Internet memes and illustrates the characteristic silliness of much of the genre.

The term Internet meme (IPA: /in-tər-ˌnet me:me/) is a neologism used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads in a faddish way from person to person via the Internet.^[1] The term is a reference to the concept of memes, but is used loosely to refer to things that are not necessarily memes in a technical sense. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Hamster Dance is an Internet humor fad originating from Hampsterdance. ... For other uses, see SIC. Sic is a Latin word, originally sicut [1] meaning thus, so, or just as that. In writing, it is placed within square brackets and usually italicized — [sic] — to indicate that an incorrect or unusual spelling, phrase, punctuation, and/or other preceding quoted material has been... A neologism (Greek νεολογισμός [neologismos], from νέος [neos] new + λόγος [logos] word, speech, discourse + suffix -ισμός [-ismos] -ism) is a word, term, or phrase which has been recently created (coined) — often to apply to new concepts, to synthesize pre-existing concepts, or to make older terminology sound more contemporary. ... For other uses, see FAD (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Meme (disambiguation). ...

Description

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. It is spread organically and voluntarily on a peer-to-peer basis rather than by trickery, compulsion, predetermined path, or completely automated means.^[2] // A hyperlink (often referred to as simply link), is a reference or navigation element in a document to another section of the same document, another document, or a specified section of another document, that automatically brings the referred information to the user when the navigation element is selected by the... E-mail, or email, is short for electronic mail and is a method of composing, sending, and receiving messages over electronic communication systems. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This is a list of notable social networking websites. ... // Instant messaging (IM) is a form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text. ... A peer-to-peer (or P2P) computer network is a network that relies on the computing power and bandwidth of the participants in the network rather than concentrating it in a relatively few servers. ...

The term may refer to the content that spreads from user to user, the idea behind the content, or the phenomenon of its spread. Internet memes have been seen as a form of art.^[3] There exist websites that collect and popularize Internet memes as well as sites devoted to the spread of specific Internet memes. 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.

Types and Uses

Self-promotion

One common form of Internet meme is created when a person, company, product, musical group, or the like, is promoted on the Internet for its pop culture value. Vanity sites, for example, are among the first recognized Internet memes.^[2] In extraordinary cases where an otherwise non-noteworthy person or incident gains great popularity this way it is often considered a Internet meme. A vanity site is a website that is run by an individual or small group (such as a family) purely for their own amusement. ...

Inadvertent celebrity

Often, a person or company becomes infamous by virtue of an embarrassing video, email, or other act. These arise, for example, in the context of dating and relationships, job applications, security cameras and other hidden videos, or collections of bizarre news stories. A famous example is the Star Wars Kid. Star Wars kid is an Internet phenomenon which started when a video clip recorded by a fourteen-year-old Quebecois male high school student was leaked online. ...

Hoaxes

Many Internet memes are urban rumors, fraud schemes, slander, or false news stories that are either planted deliberately to become an Internet meme, evolve by mistake or rumor, or that jump from an offline source to the Internet. It is common to create fake "for sale" listings on sites like Craigslist or eBay for no other reason than to amuse people.^[1] Some web services like snopes.com and the urban dictionary collect lists of such hoaxes, or offer services by which users can fact-check popular claims they find on the Internet in order to determine their source and whether or not they are true. Urban Legend is also the name of a 1998 movie. ... In English and American law, and systems based on them, libel and slander are two forms of defamation (or defamation of character), which is the tort or delict of making a false statement of fact that injures someones reputation. ... Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities, featuring free classified advertisements (with jobs, internships, housing, personals, for sale/barter/wanted, services, community, gigs, resume, and pets categories) and forums on various topics. ... This article is about the online auction center. ... The Urban Legends Reference Pages (also known as snopes. ... Urban Dictionary is an online dictionary whose definitions are written by users. ...

Advertising and marketing

Public relations, advertising, and marketing professionals have embraced Internet memes as a form of viral marketing to create marketing "buzz" for their product or service.^[4] Internet memes are seen as cost-effective, and because of their (sometimes self-conscious) faddishness, a way to create an image of cleverness or trendiness. Marketers, for example, use Internet memes to create interest in films that would otherwise not generate positive publicity among critics.^[5] Political operatives use online slogans, character assassination, revelations of scandal, and other Internet memes to shape public opinion.^{[citation needed]} Used in the context of public relations, the term would be more of an advertising buzzword than a proper Internet meme, although there is still an implication that the interest in the content is for purposes of trivia, ephemera, or frivolity rather than straightforward advertising and news. Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness, through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. ... Look up buzz in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

See also

• List of Internet phenomena
• Meme - A unit of cultural information that propagates from one mind to another as a theoretical unit of cultural evolution and diffusion.

An Internet phenomenon occurs when something becomes extremely popular, often quite suddenly, through the word-of-mouth and self-publishing made feasible by the Internet. ... For other uses, see Meme (disambiguation). ...

References

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Gary Marshall, The Internet and Memetics - academic article about Internet memes
• ultimatememedatabase - Website about Internet memes.
• Meme Vote - Website that allows users to vote on and discover Internet memes.