If it has not been imitated / repeated it’s literally not a meme. That’s not gatekeeping, it’s observing a definition.
You have even agreed with me in your definition. Posting a random picture with some text on it that you made that has imitated nothing is not a meme, it’s just a picture with text on it.
The picture is not necessarily the meme. The format is. That’s where you’re gatekeeping. Posting a random new picture with a caption on top, that’s still a meme format.
Oh, is that why this com is called memeformats and not memes? That’s a huge stretch to say “oh it’s a picture with words so it’s a meme”. No, it isn’t.
I would argue it is either 1) neither necessary nor sufficient, or 2) that it is sufficient but not necessary. Which line depends on whether we are talking about something literally BEING a meme, or something merely having the potential to be a meme.
In the former case - whether something is a meme or not - having text is neither necessary nor sufficient. Adding text to an image does not a meme make, and equally some memes do not have text (or aren’t images at all).
In the latter - whether something could be a meme - adding text is sufficient to provide that potential. It may not be necessary (6-7 for example) but it could be enough.
It is one of the necessary conditions for a meme, but it is not sufficient.
A meme is any reusable, repeated format, literally speaking. You’re just gatekeeping.
Meme definition
If it has not been imitated / repeated it’s literally not a meme. That’s not gatekeeping, it’s observing a definition.
You have even agreed with me in your definition. Posting a random picture with some text on it that you made that has imitated nothing is not a meme, it’s just a picture with text on it.
The picture is not necessarily the meme. The format is. That’s where you’re gatekeeping. Posting a random new picture with a caption on top, that’s still a meme format.
Oh, is that why this com is called memeformats and not memes? That’s a huge stretch to say “oh it’s a picture with words so it’s a meme”. No, it isn’t.
I would argue it is either 1) neither necessary nor sufficient, or 2) that it is sufficient but not necessary. Which line depends on whether we are talking about something literally BEING a meme, or something merely having the potential to be a meme.
In the former case - whether something is a meme or not - having text is neither necessary nor sufficient. Adding text to an image does not a meme make, and equally some memes do not have text (or aren’t images at all).
In the latter - whether something could be a meme - adding text is sufficient to provide that potential. It may not be necessary (6-7 for example) but it could be enough.