The term “meme” as we might know it today was first defined in 1976 by Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene. In the chapter “Memes: The New Replicators,” Dawkins defined a “meme” as a living structure, like an idea, which is passed from its originating point like a parasite which spreads through the cultural transmission, or the sharing of the idea, spreading from its original host and “infecting” others systematically (Dawkins, 189-92). Dawkins pulls the word “meme” from the Greek word “mimeisthai,” which means “to imitate,” in order to give a definition to what he describes as “a unit of cultural transmission” (Dawkins 192). Dawkins compared the concept of a meme to science of a human genome, which can replicate itself and spread through reproduction (192-3). By Dawkins definition, a meme can be any kind of behavior, belief, idea, or concept that spreads throughout a culture. Dawkins also describes a meme as a virus, which can spread from host to host through touch (or, in this case, the sharing of information), replicating itself exponentially to increase in scale. In the youtube clip on the top left, Dawkins himself explains the theory in detail, also comparing it to a computer virus. Below that, a clip from the Big Bang theory illustrates meme theory in action, using gossip within a group of friends to track the spread of an idea. 

 

Dawkins comparison to a meme functioning as a virus is perhaps more apt when discussing modern conception of a meme. While Dawkins was perhaps best known for applying his concept of meme theory to the idea of God and organized religion, today most people apply the word “meme” to any piece of digital media on the internet, with particular emphasis on how the media functions and how fast it has spread. Miriam Webster, for example, defines a meme as both “an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from one person to another in a culture,” citing Dawkins, and as “an amusing or interesting picture, video, etc., that is spread widely through the Internet”.

 

One hallmark of an internet meme is its rapid distribution due to the digital medium in which it occurs. A new meme might spring up in one hour, spread exponentially in the second hour, and wind up on the front page of a newspaper by the next day due to its rapid dispersal. Figure 3 on the left maps out the social and geo-technical factors that effect the spread of internet memes and how levels of technological and social networking competence effect the speed in which memes spread.   This rapid spread of information can also be studied in the context of rhetorical velocity, which is what I will be analyzing using of the now controversial "Pepe the Frog" meme as a case study.