This research utilizes a massive-size quantitative data to disclose structural designs off internet sites memes, emphasizing dos pushes you to bind her or him with her: the fresh new quiddities of every meme friends plus the general attributes of new wider memetic fields. Having fun with posts and you will circle research from 1013 meme hours (together with films, pictures, and you may text message), we explore memes’ common quiddity versions and you will generic features, plus the ways in which they relate with one another. Our very own findings show that (a) large cohesiveness from meme household is with the an increased individuality of the universal features; and (b) this new concreteness off meme quiddities is actually associated with cohesiveness and you will individuality. We discuss the effects of them findings towards the understanding of web sites memes and you will participatory people.
Parents and you may Companies regarding Internet Memes: The partnership Ranging from Cohesiveness, Uniqueness, and you will Quiddity Concreteness
Web sites memes, pieces of electronic posts one give within net in various iterations, enjoys recently sparked scholarly focus round the several areas (Bennett & Segerberg, 2012 ; Milner, 2012 ; Shifman, 2013 ). Many education take an excellent qualitative method of exploring the social meaning of memes, in the adopting the post we use highest-size decimal studies to reveal specific laws and regulations and you can regularities underpinning that it evidently chaotic areas. Memes try a part of the terrifically boring “web diet” of many Internet users, casually popping up from inside the check outs so you can networks including Youtube, Fb, and you will Reddit. The memetic vibrant are away from being trivial. They want different profiles around the world to execute when you look at the performance, undertaking and dispersing posts in numerous variations with each other divergent systems, while keeping its attraction and you can prominent qualities.
Which papers aims at dropping white how Websites memes are nevertheless fastened with her despite its dynamic and lively contexts out of articulation. Within the first area we set the background for our expedition by reflecting the tension involving the features of individual meme instances, meme parents, additionally the entire memetic network. We define web sites memes once the sets of digital textual equipment created and given by of a lot people, which happen to be likely 
along with her of the one or two pushes: (a) a discussed quiddity that’s certain to each and every nearest and dearest, constituting the singular substance; and (b) even more standard properties off function, posts, and you may stance that draw for the exhibitions of your “meme culture.” Strengthening on this abstract huge difference, we present in another part this new aims guiding this study: to provide an overview and investigation of your own prevalent quiddities and you may universal features of websites memes and to study the fresh connections anywhere between them. Particularly, we want to see the partnership between the cohesiveness off meme parents (we.age., the the amount that occasions are like each other), the fresh individuality of general features underpinning him or her, therefore the concreteness of your quiddities binding them. To deal with these desires, i employed content analysis for the a broad try of meme hours, after that added mathematical and you may system analysis. Throughout the finishing point, i discuss how all of our analysis, in line with the theoretic difference between quiddities and you may standard properties, falls out white with the dualities from “networked selves” constituting contemporary digital societies.
Meme Household and you may Joining Quiddities
The definition of meme are created because of the Richard Dawkins on the Self-centered Gene ( 1976 ) to spell it out brief units out of culture you to definitely give from person to individual from the copying or replica. Based on this first conceptualization, memes is generally conceptual ideas, messages or techniques. Memetic diffusion lies in a variety of repetition and you will version: Since the capacity to duplicate memes in different contexts is actually standard to their success, re-development must be versatile sufficient to adapt to altering points. It county out-of flux contributes to a tendency to describe memes simply retrospectively, once they enjoys propagated. Therefore, as an instance, the initial four notes out of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony have been defined as a good meme merely once they journeyed to a lot of parts of this new globe and you may was included inside many social artifacts spanning adverts, children’s programming, and you may movies (Blackmore, 1999 ).
