In some cases, these memes used words and phrases contain intentional misspellings such as lolcats or incorrect grammar. Limor shifman explores this presence and how it affects us in her book memes in digital culture. As groups of digital items created and published by wide and often heterogeneous crowds, memes both reflect and. Shifman has done an exemplary job of balancing an analytical overview of her subject with forays into fascinating conceptual debates. As users share memes with friends and family, their values and beliefs are distributed right along with the laughs. In this short but dense book, limor shifman deals with a slippery but pervasive kind of digital objects. Internet memes may be entertaining, but in this book limor shifman makes a compelling argument for taking them seriously. Shifman has done an exemplary job of balancing an analytical. Memes in digital culture download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl. The book is smart yet accessible, balanced yet provocative. In each chapter, shifman has put footnotes on references to research or on things she hasnt elaborated on, but may require more understanding. Author limor shifman provides a comprehensive and clear definition of what internet memes are. Thousands of its viewers responded by creating and posting their own variations of the videomitt romney style, nasa johnson style, egyptian style, and. Pdf on mar 14, 2016, christopher lehman and others published memes in digital culture, edited by limor shifman.
In december 2012, the exuberant video gangnam style became the first youtube clip to be viewed more than one billion times. So yeah, its an exciting time to be an internet meme scholar. Memes, shifman argues, encapsulate some of the most fundamental aspects of the internet in general and of the participatory web 2. Repetition is a characteristic of memes that helps them achieve the level of influence shifman describes. Shifman discusses a series of wellknown internet memesincluding leave britney alone, the pepperspraying cop, lolcats, scumbag steve, and occupy wall streets we are the 99 percent. C this article has been rated as cclass on the projects quality scale. Memes have a large presence in our digital culture. Richard dawkinss 1976 introduction of the term meme to describe units of culture, and the uncertainty of terminology that academia has thus far. There is no doubt that memes have had a significant impact on our culture, our ways of knowing, the emotional self, how we see the world and how we interact with it. Memes in digital culture books pics download new books. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.
Limor shifman, in her 20 book memes in digital culture, called memetic media our postmodern folklore. It is extremely important for content composers, content consumers to keep in mid the effects of memes and new digital literacies and what effects it will have on the population. Shifman, limor memes in digital culture 2014 free ebook download as pdf file. An internet meme, more commonly known simply as a meme m i. Memes in digital culture accomplishes a great deal in a very efficient package. In this book, limor shifman investigates internet memes and what they tell us pdf about digital culture. Internet memes, such as lolcats, planking, or gangnam style, have become prominent aspects of digital culture. Gangnam style and its attendant parodies, imitations, and derivations is one of the most famous examples of an internet meme. In this book, the author investigates internet memes and what they tell us about digital culture. Limor shifman wrote a publication titled memes in digital culture, where she discusses the use, characteristics and effects of memes in todays digital culture. It is information, words, instructions, richard dawkins declared in 1986. Patrick sharbaugh, asiascape memes in digital culture is a superb overview of the study, power, and potential of memes. Defining and characterizing the concept of internet meme. Shifman discusses a series of wellknown internet memes.
Click download or read online button to get memes in digital culture book now. Columbia universitys report on postindustrial journalism as cited by campbell, 2018 highlights that with the dawn of the internet comes a new ecosystem of information production, distribution and consumption. Shifman teaches courses on mass communication theory, popular culture and the internet, political satire in the digital age and internetbased. At its peak, the harlem shake meme was immensely successful at both generativity generated nearly 4,000 youtube videos uploads per day, and popularity it only took about 40 days to reach 1 billion views on youtube, half the time that it took gangnam style. Andlike has always been the case with folk culturethese media are premised on collective strands intertwining into new tapestries of cultural production.
Download pdf download citation view references email request permissions. In practical terms the memetic social system is reconstituted when members of participatory digital culture use rules and resources of. The meme, once defined as a small unit of culture, is an underrated invention of the digital era. Creatingidentityandbuildingbridgesbetweenculturesthecaseof9gag. Memes in digital culture is a superb overview of the study, power and potential of memes. Like genes, memes are defined as replicators that undergo variation, competition, selection, and retention. Pdf on jan 4, 2015, ali zaidi and others published memes in digital culture find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Memes in digital culture shifman, limor, 1974 in december 2012, the exuberant video gangnam style became the first youtube clip to be viewed more than one billion times. Memes as artifacts also possess cultural and social attributes as they are produced, reproduced, and transformed to reconstitute the social system.
Memes in digital culture mit press essential knowledge. Previous meme research tends to consider memes as a single cultural unit p. High this article has been rated as highimportance on the. An indepth analysis of the origin and nature of internet memes makes this book a great read for any researcher interested in digital culture and new media, writes. This book doesnt dive the deepest, but it lays out all of the important issues well enough for anyone to understand why memes are so sticky from a college student to an interested grandparent in why kids these days are making wacky cat videos. Shifman, limor memes in digital culture 2014 meme idea. Memes in digital culture, written by limor shifman published on 15 jan 2015 by brill. In this book, limor shifman investigates internet memes and what they tell us about digital culture. Memes in digital culture ebook by limor shifman 9780262317702. Memes in digital culture the mit press essential knowledge. Memes in digital culture by limor shifman is another great addition to the mit press essential knowledge series. It is safe to say that the harlem shake rapidly surpassed the status of a simple internet meme and found its way as.
Memes in digital culture by limor shifman lse research online. What lies at the heart of every living thing is not a fire, not warm breath, not a spark of life. Memes in digital culture examines the central aspect of digital culture that is internet memes. Among the phenomena she has studied are online humor and gender, the global spread and translation of online joke memes, and the evolution of new forms of webbased humor. Shifman discusses a series of wellknown internet memes including leave britney alone, the pepperspraying cop, lolcats, scumbag steve, and occupy wall streets we are the 99 percent. Patrick sharbaugh, asiascape memes in digital culture is a superb overview of the study, power and potential of memes. Thousands of meme makers in india are turning it into a potent and, at times, inflammatory.
Communication krzysztof gajdka university of economics in katowice, poland. Memes are quick visual ways of selfpresentation, essentially telling whom someone is, what someone thinks is important, or what someones political stance is. At any given moment, many memes are competing for the attention of hosts. She discusses a series of wellknown internet memes, including leave britney alone, the pepperspraying cop, lolcats, scumbag steve, and occupy wall streets we are the 99 percent. Shifman s interest in using the analysis of internet memes to view contemporary culture in the digital age is a timely one. In what follows, we consider the contents of shifmans. Traditionally, a prominent form of such memes consisted of image macros paired with a concept or catchphrase. This article is within the scope of wikiproject internet, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the internet on wikipedia. Memes in digital culture is a superb overview of the study, power, and potential of memes. Memes in digital culture by limor shifman overdrive. More importantly, shifman argues that internet memes are indicators of an active digital culture. Memes in digital culture by limor shifman 9780262525435. Pdf memes in digital culture, edited by limor shifman.
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