Howdy there, @nednilclan here on her alt account! If you're reading this, I bet you're confused as to why so many people call their animations "memes" when they clearly aren't supposed to be funny. (At least in most cases anyway.) I will attempt to explain! (If you're reading this and you aren't confused, then idk why you're here but thanks for joining us, I suppose lol) If people have been bothering you, telling you your project doesn't qualify as a "meme", then feel free to send them a link to this project. Let's get started! A meme, by Google's definition, is "an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation." However, most people know it by it's sub-definition; "a humorous image, video, piece of text, etc., that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users." (By the way, if you want proof that was is indeed Google's definition of a meme at the time of this project's creation at least, then press the D key on your keyboard after pressing the flag, and a screenshot will appear. Press H to hide it.) Most people are more familiar with memes that fit under the sub-definition of memes. They're more humorous, some people even call them "dank memes." Of course, most of us in the animation community have nothing against these types of memes, but that's only one of the many types of memes. If you re-read the first definition, notice how it doesn't say anything about needing to be humorous. Let's break down each little section of the definition one at a time and really study it. (At least to the best of my ability with the apparent character limit.) • "an element of a culture or system of behavior" - From what I know, this could include images, text, a phrase, a dance move, a video, etc. • "that may be considered to be" - This makes the whole definition super flexible for what's considered a meme imo • "passed from one individual to another" - Meaning, people reproduce/copy/share it with others. • "by nongenetic means," - The definition of "nongenetic" is: "not relating to or acquired through heredity; not genetic." Which means it isn't passed down like a physical/mental trait in a human or the inheritance of a title/office/right. • "especially imitation." - This basically means that typically memes are imitated upon (or "remixed", you could say) by people, changing it up. Let's focus on that last part real quick. (The imitation part.) If a meme is supposed to be imitated, then why do all people (on both YouTube and Scratch) call their animations "memes" when they haven't been reproduced by anyone? Why do they call it a meme right off the bat like that? Well, the answer is because it is the animator's intention for their animation to be replicated/copied by others. When they slap the word "meme" in the title, they're basically saying "Hey, please copy this animation!" Even if no one does, they still keep the word "meme" in the title, and that's okay. I hope that cleared things up! Did I say something incorrect? Was there something I didn't touch on? Let me know your (constructive) thoughts in the comments below! (Replies from me may be slow.) Music is from Super Mario Sunshine
