Internet Memes and What They Mean to Digital Media

This week, I thought I'd talk more about the online sensation that is the internet meme. Of all the topics we've covered thus far in BDC 192, motion graphics have been among my favourite, because I find GIFs so amusing. But GIFs only encompass a small subcategory of internet meme culture.
By definition, a "meme" is "an idea, belief or belief system, or pattern of behavior that spreads throughout a culture either vertically by cultural inheritance (as by parents to children) or horizontally by cultural acquisition (as by peers, information media, and entertainment media)" (UrbanDictionary.com). So an internet meme would be a meme spread throughout culture through the digital medium of the world wide web. This could include virtually (see what I did there?) anything that can be transferred online; pictures, videos, sound clips, etc.
One of the things I love about internet memes is that they make participating in the online world so much more fun. For example, literally anyone with an internet connection will tell you that wasting away hours watching popular YouTube clips is among the easiest things a human can do. Take, for instance, your average adorable cat video:

When someone sees something like this that they enjoy, they instinctively save/bookmark it, send it to their friends via a social medium like email or Facebook, or add a comment about the video in the box below the clip. And so, a meme is born.
Internet memes are also used to express emotions. More and more people take part in online communities, such as tumblr, Oh No They Didn't, and various other social spaces that are either general or more niche (e.g. a Harry Potter community message board). If a user wanted to express excitement, wouldn't it be more fun to post a GIF such as the one below, rather than type, "omg i'm so excited!!"

These are but a few examples of why internet memes are changing the way people engage digital media, but in my opinion, it's definitely not a bad thing!