Forced Meme

Definition

A forced meme can be commonly defined as something that a person or group attempts to force into internet culture. The interesting catch is that, for the most part, they are not true memes.
what is a “true meme” and how is such a thing decided?

“A forced meme” can apply to anything that is forcibly pressed into internet culture, and that thing does not necessarily have to become popular to be a forced meme. The act of attempting to force something as a meme makes it a forced meme,

Describe the act of forcing a meme

and that thing does not have to be widespread. However, forced memes are almost always referred to in a negative manner, whether it be anger, apathy or plain disappointment.
This attitude can change though. There are several examples of forced memes that have made it into accepted mainstream culture, keeping their reputation as “a forced meme” but being accepted as a natural offspring of internet culture.

in which case, it is a meme. This is why “Milhouse is not a Meme” is a meme.

Another explanation is that a forced meme is the anti-meme; something that is not funny and that has not spread into mainstream culture.

This sentence implies that something needs to be funny to become a meme. That is not the case. It must simply generate interest enough to share it.

While this does not bring light on important “forced memes” such as Millhouse and F* Yeah Seaking, it is based on the idea that forced memes are failed memes.
That is not always the case.

In this definition, Millhouse and F* Yeah Seaking would simply be considered true memes, as they are commonly seen over the internet in their particular context.

Notable Examples

The most notable example of a forced meme is Millhouse. The common controversy is that, while Millhouse himself is not a meme, the phrase “Millhouse is not a Meme” is a meme. In this case, out of the forced meme that is Millhouse, a new and thoroughly widespread meme was formed simply out of denial of the status of Millhouse as a meme.
Milhouse is not a meme because he is just a character from a massively popular TV show. But the phrase “Millhouse is not a meme” is a catchphrase, image macro, and idea that has made a strong impact on Internet Culture.

While “Millhouse is not a meme” is still thoroughly based in the controversy over the forced meme, posts regarding Millhouse has become popularized because of this controversy (usually just to stir the pot again.)

Perhaps the most successful forced meme is F* Yeah Seaking.
To call it the most successful you should have data to substantiate your claim

Seaking originated on /b/ as a forced meme; it was posted with the intention of becoming mainstream and, for better or worse, it succeeded.

This is vague speculation and offers no detail as to the process of how Seaking became popular, or exactly how it was forced.

Now, F* Yeah Seaking is popular not only on /b/ but many other websites, commonly seen interacting with other memes. People still note the fact that it is a forced meme, but that particular history has faded through use of the meme.

Common examples of forced memes can be found as “gets” on 4chan. There will be a time when a person posts a picture, followed by “(#) get and this is a meme.” If the get is a fail, people are happy that they won’t have to deal with the implications of the get had it been gotten. If they do get, all hell breaks loose.

How does this happen?

Because of their nature, forced memes can be created by anyone with half a brain (and it’s usually limited to that.)
couldn’t the same be said of many non-forced memes?

However, almost by definition, it will result in the idea and argument getting shot down faster than it took to post, fading into obscurity.

Forced memes are almost always produced by one (or both!) of two types of posters: Idiots and Trolls.
There are many other people who try to force memes.

A Troll might attempt to force a meme to create panic and pandemonium; lulz in the troller’s world. Because of the anger and controversy surrounding forced memes, flame wars are usually only a step behind the force itself. In a troller’s world, this is jackpot, and quite an easy way to achieve the all-precious lulz.

An Idiot would attempt to force a meme simply due to a lack of cultural understanding. They either do not understand what a meme really is, or they do not understand the implications of manipulating culture on their own. They might see a cool picture or have a cool idea, and think “Hey, I think the world should know about this.” This usually ends up in an image spam or copypasta, normally to be forgotten forever.

Is an Idiot a clearly identifiable type of person? No. Maybe, state that people who force memes often lack understanding of Internet Culture. Try to say accurate things without painting them in personal bias

Why is it bad?

To really figure out why forced memes are such a big deal, we need to explore culture as a whole.

Many people
Who?
consider it a shameful act to try to artificially manufacture a random instance into solid culture and this obeys the general laws of culture,
Where are these general laws of culture?

whether it be over the internet or in the real world.

Culture is formed out of chaos;
Objectively? You can prove this?

within the common interaction between people, predictable behaviours, expectations and practices are formed that evolve from previous culture and new needs, however primitive those are. These cultural markers are very difficult to artificially reproduce,

The whole Advice Dog family reproduced through artificial means. Does that mean they are not true memes?

and so any obvious attempt at non-natural change is generally met with an impulsive dissent.

All of technology would disprove that assumption

This is the evolution of culture, which has been going on for millennia, in every civilization and on every media.
Bold statements like this should be avoided until your third best-seller.

With the creation of the internet, a new cultural medium was created, which ended up evolving into it’s own culture on it’s own.

Or is it the extension of many existing cultures

Due to internet anonymity, this process is sped up dramatically, with people challenging the common cultural authority with no fear of bodily harm, which is a natural evolution to real-life challenging of authority. And also, due to this, fully anonymous sites such as 4chan are much more culturally significant than sites requiring a login, such as forums.
There have been MANY memes before 4chan and outside of 4chan. In fact, many memes found on 4chan are rooted elsewhere

This is simply because as more “personal” identity is formed, there is more to loose by posting something that is not accepted as mainstream.

Forced memes on their own are nothing to worry about. Through human behavior and cultural evolution, the artificial is left out of what’s popular.
How do you account for cosmetic surgery? Prosthetics? Tupperware? Auto-Tune?

If a forced meme does become a meme in it’s own right, it is usually because of a separate event, outside the creator’s control. For instance, someone might want to force Millhouse as a meme, but the response, “Millhouse is not a meme” becomes a meme instead.
This is an assumption and is not proven.

Where’s this going?

Forced Memes exist all around us. There will always be idiots, and there will always be trolls, and one way or another, a forced meme will be created. Due to it’s nature, most will not be remembered, but memes like Millhouse (is not a meme) and F* Yeah Seaking are commonly found examples of a “forced meme.”

It’s very possible that there are many other forced memes than most may think. Because of the anonymous nature of the internet, there’s a lot of room for a single person or group to carefully manipulate the masses into accepting a certain thing as a meme.
No. We’re wise enough to recognize that interest plays a big factor. If there are a ton of derivatives, but no one is actively seeking the meme out, it’s probably not contagious.

We might only be seeing the worst level; the noobs who fail at manipulation, while the masters manipulate us without our knowing.
We see many levels, from the n00b up to the group of publicists trained in viral marketing.

But all in all, forced memes are harmless.
says who?

Forced memes that make it mainstream are mainstream for a reason; it’s because enough people like it, or because a specific and independent event has made it popular. In either case, it had the opportunity to be rejected by popular culture and “fail.” If it didn’t, cultural evolution has done it’s job. On the other hand, forced memes that fail are just a topic to talk about. They keep discussions rolling, and are an integral part of the spam that makes up 99.9%

Fake statistics are the bane of my existence. Never use a percentage statistic unless you have a source that supports it. This is a reference site.

of the internet. Out of the chaos, order will always be achieved.