Forums / Discussion / Meme Research

Is it just me, or do the new memes just look like popular viral videos?

Idk. It could be just me.

Well, some of the viral videos (keyboard cat, crazy frog brothers) ARE memes.
Some (bus uncle, soulja boi girl) are not.

Dave, can you explain further? What makes the craxy frog brothers a meme and soulja girl not a meme?

i like the heidigger approach: putting an idea in context as a meme makes it a meme. its only what kind of meme that determines its value as the meme.

for instance, crazy frog is a meme, but it is a "repetative-make-me-laugh and show friends meme". soulja girl is also a meme, but it is a "omfg, i can't believe this happened and it was on video so i must show my friends meme."

confirmed, at least for myself, is a meme that has a value that makes it impressionably ironic, humorous, ground-breaking (something for derivative works), quotable, main-stream famous, or other quality characteristic that has some appeal to others. some memes don't have that value or work only in a very solipsistic manner. of course, there is the deadpool for something that had value but declined over time due to later revealed details after its meme-dom (i.e. forced meme, commercial viral video, etc). and, always, there will be some in which myself (and other mods) don't see the value and cannot confirm/deadpool until other reasons are revealed.

Is that the deal with Por que no te callas? Not enough info to sway you guys?

wow, that was way in the backlog. checked it out. confirmed it. =)

btw, this is my views on memes and differ between jamie, chris, and other mods. and i usually don't mod much (too busy working on new feature for the community).

Ooh, I hope it's a swim-up bar. Those things are wicked.

damn. i guess the boxes of tiki torches in the back room were a sure giveaway…

@Chris.

It's all really about the content of the video.
Things like Numa numa, the Crazy Frog, and Keyboard Cat all have one thing in common; music. Music in itself helps video memes immensely by making them memorable, whereas videos like Bus Uncle and Soulja Girl are simply quick, flash-in-the-pan fads at best.

People will always remember Gary Brolsma, especially whenever they hear the Numa Numa song. Not everyone will remember Soulja Girl or Bus Uncle; in fact, they will almost undoubtedly forget about them over the course of a month or two. Same with the Christian Bale thing (which I never really considered a meme)

Just think about it for a sec; real memes are memorable. Fads are not. These videos are sadly just that.

Also, @Greg, eff yes. Just make sure the guest speaker/torch juggler doesn't burn the site down.

um, i for one will forever associate terminator with christian bale yelling at shane.