The long duration of memes in the digital environment: A study from four online image generators

Authors

  • Luís Mauro Sá Martino Faculdade Casper Libero
  • Rafael Grohmann Faculdade Cásper Líbero - FIAM

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4013/fem.2017.191.09

Abstract

Memes are one of the most striking features of digital culture. Memes might be defined as a self-replicating idea that spreads across human minds just as genes are shared by bodies. In the last decades, digital media has provided a particularly appropriated environment to the quick pace of meme’s multiplication. In this paper, we would like to argue something opposite: grounded on empirical data gathered from four meme-generator websites, we would like to suggest the existence of long-duration memes. The study indicates that the more a meme is known, the more it seems to become known.

Keywords: memes, digital media, communication, communication theory.

Author Biographies

Luís Mauro Sá Martino, Faculdade Casper Libero

Professor do Mestrado em Comunicação na Contemporaneidade da Faculdade Cásper Líbero. Doutor em Ciências Sociais pela PUC-SP. Foi pesquisador-bolsista na Universidade de East Anglia, Inglaterra. Autor dos livros "Teoria da Comunicação" (Vozes, 2009) e "Comunicação & Identidade" (Paulus, 2010), entre outros.

Rafael Grohmann, Faculdade Cásper Líbero - FIAM

Doutorando em Comunicação na ECA-USP. Professor do Mestrado Profissionalizante em Jornalismo da FIAM - Professor da Faculdade Cásper Líbero

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Published

2016-10-24

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 1 (2017): january/april

Section

Articles

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