What Is A Meme?
According to Wikipedia, a meme is defined as “a theoretical unit of cultural information, the building block of cultural evolution or diffusion that propagates from one mind to another analogously to the way in which a gene propagates from one organism to another as a unit of genetic information and of biological evolution.”
In the context of blogging, a meme is most commonly a list of questions that has a viral impact, meaning one blogger posts the list, answers the questions, and other bloggers pick up on the list by posting and answering the questions on their own blogs, and so on. As the list spreads, the questions not only replicate but mutate as some bloggers may choose to alter the questions. (Thus the root of the term in genetics.) A meme is different from blog quizzes in that there is no ”result” at the end, simply a list of questions and answers that reveal information about the blogger. Another type of meme, rather than a list, is a photographic meme. For example, posting a picture of the inside of your pantry or desk drawer or glovebox, etc.
A meme is a handy tool on a day lacking blogging inspiration, and they’re also fun, but not all bloggers find meme’s appealing. A common practice in meme posting is to “tag” other bloggers by linking them at the end of the meme, requesting them to post the meme on their own blogs. This has a good and bad impact. As one tagged blogger put it, “Being tagged bugs the crap out of me, but I know it brings traffic to my site.” (Meme etiquette tip: Allow fellow bloggers to choose to follow up on your meme rather than putting them on the spot with a tag.)
Looking for a meme to blog about? You can find an inexhaustible supply of meme’s for every day of the week, music meme’s, photo meme’s, writing meme’s, even longlost meme’s at The Daily Meme. Or, create your own original meme and see how far it goes!
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