A ‘meme’ is a virally-transmitted cultural symbol or social idea. But what is it about memes leads to the level of virality? Why are we so attracted to making and sharing (and sharing and sharing and sharing) memes?
Suggested Readings
- What Defines a Meme?
- World Made Meme (interview)
- A Unified Theory of Meme Death
- We Need to Talk About Digital Blackface in Reaction GIFs
- Tweetdecking is Taking Over Twitter
- Surreal Memes Are the Last Escape the Internet Has
Suggested Tasks
- Make a meme and share it on Twitter
- Create a new meme template
- Analyze a meme, focusing on how it uses visual rhetoric
- Track a meme’s popularity over time, and analyze its circulation through different communities