Is that an AI-answer?
It’s the dictionary definition
But then you are missing or leaving something out:
Lol, I always love it when people have to split hairs so finely on definitions that they risk fission.
I made this joke elsewhere, but this is basically the No True Memesmen fallacy. The definition of meme includes these pictures, and trying to narrow the definition to exclude them is laughable.
When everything is a meme, nothing is. Ther is no adaptation, no cultural twist, no recontextualisation or any other relevant criteria in a screenshot of text and nothing else.
Ok, so just make up your own word that has the definition you want, or deal with your definition not being the same as others’. Because the definition of meme isn’t as specific as you want it to be.
I see this as no different than the people who argued that image macros aren’t memes.
Because the definition of meme
The Oxford Dictionary’s definition of a meme you meant to say.
For example, Jana Zündel (german article), a german meme researcher, stated that a meme always includes a recontextualisation. The Wiki page lists key characteristics such as intertextuality and cultural evolution.
There is a screenshot from reddit posted here earlier today, do you think that’s a meme? Can you take it, put it in a new context and have it keep its original context as a reference so that the new post would create a new idea building on the context? Or is it just a random story, maybe funny to some?
You keep saying that, it’s not getting any less wrong though
You can parody a piece of text. They literally just did it by overlaying wojack on top of the dictionary description.
Most posts here aren’t parodies. They’re just blanket text
Ahahaha.
I was just about to comment this lmaoo
I’m gonna say posting screenshots is kind of parallel to the purpose of this place. Lemmy is an aggregator, a platform where content from other sites is linked/reposted.
Original content is still important, as without them, the website would die in a few weeks. But we should not ignore the value “crossposted” stuff adds to this place. I read a lot of great, original stories under the thread shown in your screenshot.
!science_memes@mander.xyz is a perfect example of this. It is filled with unoriginal content and screenshots but I genuinely learned more stuff in the comment section of that community compared to “serious” science communities in other platforms. That also has something to do with the quality of fediverse users of course, but my point stands
I like to throw this one around on occasion.
Edit: I’m looking through the community now in the past few hours…
I’m here for snappy Xitter, 4Chan, reddit or similarly sourced screenshots of texts, cuz i won’t open none of those sites.
there’s a reason you wont open those sites. lean into that and rid yourself of their taint.
Oppinion disregarded.
I’ve been wondering for sometime as to why those kinds of posts weren’t be removed and guided to another community. Like !microblogmemes@lemmy.world or !humor@lemmy.world
Maybe the rules re too lax, or the mods got used to let this go so the community gains traction.
Or people forget they’re supposed to report that crap.
sometimes the screenshot of a post from other social media is taken out of contex too.
!microblogmemes has a very narrow scope and !humor only wants “lighthearted” content. So these are only a partial replacement.
Most of the “real” memes that get posted are terrible, so I can’t say I mind too much.
Feel free to make your own quality memes.
I came here to say this to you. Be the change! Flood the zone with what you want to see. We’d all appreciate it.
That’s literally what they did…
Why fo you feel the need to tell me what I am already doing though?
Because you aren’t anymore. Where is today’s? I would like several please.
A meme is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme.
-Wikipedia
You can argue that many of the text posts do not meet the criteria, but just as many of the shitty image macros posted don’t either.
You stopped reading too early.
I was the whole thing. That extra context still doesn’t require image macros or exclude purely textual memes. Also good job continuing to break accessibility with laziness.
with laziness
Nah, on the GP’s case, breaking accessibility requires a lot more effort than preserving it.
a meme was originally used to describe repeated patterns in genetics, and is fundamentally another way to say “mimic,” so we could build an argument for a totally different way to moderate content here.
but the spirit of the community is to showcase the modern internet meme, so I think taking the narrow definition of “new jokes over repeated images” is more appropriate than a literal definition of the word itself.
I don’t mind those posts.
Okay go don’t mind them in another community that isn’t called memes.
Those posts are also still memes whether you like them or not
Me: (come here to laugh.)
OP: (taking it real personal and arguing with everyone in the comments)
> be me > writing fediverse-original greentext > does only appear correctly in certain viewersI see a bit of both sides being argued in the comments here. We don’t have a clear rule about this atm, so removals have been inconsistent and case-by-case, often based on reports.
Maybe I’ll start and pin a discussion thread about this during the week (when we’ll get the most eyes on it) and see what the wider community wants, and if desired, maybe we can come up with a rule wording that isn’t too restrictive, but removes stuff that genuinely feels “off topic” for a memes page.
A meme is a meme, regardless if it has been screenshot. it is the content not the vessel
but not if it’s a text-only screenshot, like a twitter/tumblr post. the point of the modern “meme” is to be variations on a visual-based theme.
otherwise, it’s just a joke or a comment
I also choose this guys wife is a meme. You done goofed is a meme. Memes aren’t image macros. Any image macro or screenshot from X The EveryThing APP isn’t a meme without some sort of community traction. Funny jpeg aren’t memes and its a vulguar bastardisation to belive them as such.
I am going by the original definition of meme, in which jokes and comments (if shared) are a meme, language is a meme too. otherwise you are just talking about captioning images, which are a type of meme, but saying only those are memes is jut dumb.
a tomato is a fruit, but does it belong in a fruit salad?
the real question is what goes on a salad, I there is no rule that no fruiting bodies are allowed in a salad. yet we also add cheese bacon, chicken and mushrooms to salads. what is your point?
The meme police
memestasi if you will
OP: 👏 TOMATO 👏 IS 👏 NOT 👏 A 👏 FRUIT 👏
Everyone: tomatoes are botanically considered a fruit
OP: ackshually I don’t like it in my fruit salad, therefore it is not a fruit
Let me fix this.
OP: 👏 TOMATO 👏 IS 👏 NOT 👏 A 👏 FRUIT 👏
Everyone: technically, a tomato is a fruit
OP: OK sure, but I don’t want it in my fruit salad
Everyone: fair enough, that makes sense.
Nah, OP is just straight denying that screenshots of text are memes. Claiming some bullshit like having to make some change to it for it to qualify as a meme. Just ignoring reposts of green texts, copypasta, reddit stories (poop knife, cylinder, cbat guy, etc etc etc etc), people getting ratioed on twitter, tumblr chains.
Like, wtf kinda change does OP want me to make if I wanna revive some old classic greentext. Draw a big red circle on it? Slap a wojak right in the middle?
Screenshots are lazy, sure, but they are definitely still memes. Whether an exact replica or not.
I mean, /greentexts exists
I wouldn’t say they’re memes inherently, though they can be if they’re the navyseals meme or something if it becomes iconic.
See, that’s the thing. They are still memes. Bits of information that are transmitted with or without modification.
If a copypasta isn’t iconic, that doesn’t mean it’s not a meme. It’s just a less successful meme than the navyseals meme. Same thing with greentexts, images, comics, reddit posts.
OP: ackshually I don’t like it in my fruit salad, therefore it is not a fruit
adds bacon to fruit salad
Anything humans spread around and share other than our DNA is a meme. The definition of a meme is “non-genetic information shared by any means.”
Behold, a meme:
And a tomato is a fruit. It would be stupid to pretend it should be utilised by its definition.
A tomato is a fruit. And all fruit are vegetables, but not all vegetables are fruit.
Sounds like you should crack open a dictionary.
a tomato is a fruit
Yeah, I know. I said that.
a tomato is a vegetable
Never said it wasn’t.
So you weren’t being sarcastic?
No? Have you never heard the analogy: “intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad” ?
Experience tells me cherry tomatoes are great in a fruit salad.
the word meme gained a second definition on the internet, which is similar to the first but focused on specifically things intended to be funny. because context is a part of language whether you like it or not, that meaning is the one that is being used any time you see the word on the internet unless otherwise specified or unless the context in which you’re seeing it is one where the other is more appropriate (like a discussion about linguistics or the spread of ideas).
I would argue that memes aren’t necessarily meant to be funny. I think the most important component of a meme is its composition, which is usually a square image with optional text. But yeah, I completely agree with your broader points.
there are also memes (meaning the kind intended to be funny on the internet in this case) which dont use images at all but are just a recurring reference or something like that. it is largely the same idea as the original meaning of the term but on the internet it generally refers to things that are intended to be funny (in recent years, usually through self-reference as a result of algorithm-based social media).
That’s fair, but I was thinking in the context of meme communities like this one in which nearly all of the posts are images.
usually a square image with optional text.
Thats an image macro which is a specific type of Internet meme. Although I’ve never heard of someone suggesting they must be square; that seems very odd. Are the meme police checking height:width ratios now?
There is no meme police and nobody uses the term image macro.
Nothing in either definition requires them to be funny
i said intended to be funny. for example, the 67 meme is not funny. it is intended to be funny though, and like most new memes recently is intended to be funny mainly by referencing how it otherwise isn’t funny. theres a guy on yt shorts (I think the channel is etymologynerd or smth similar) who explains it a lot better.
because context is a part of language whether you like it or not
The irony of this reasoning is that the things spread as memes you do not think should be called memes because they are not “intended to be funny” are called memes by a vast majority of people on the internet. Making them memes, whether you like it or not.
You’re presuming most people regard text on a selfie as a meme.
I’m convinced the majority of people think a meme is a recurring image format with humerous intent (more or less).
For what its worth, I’m of the opinion that words are not prescribed, words are defined by their use.
This may seem contradictory, until you realise that you can’t just let every definition of a word be equal and valid.
If my definition of a meme was a blue towel, which was shared by ten other people, then asking you to fetch my meme (blue towel) is moronic.
if you actually read the comment, I didnt say that anything was not a meme. what I said was that the person I was replying to was ignoring the other meaning of the word which, because of context, is clearly the relevant meaning in this case.
People holding onto the idea that memes should be defined by their original context are using the same rhetoric as those who insist it’s okay to call cigarettes “fags”
