Memetic ecology; Based on the term meme, coined by Dawkins, referring to the vast universe of cultural carriers, the cultural 'blood' of the world wide web.
Memes are a unique neologism. The word is but 4 letters long and is used in casual daily parlance, yet encompasses a vast and vibrant living sphere of cultural values, norms, and niches. The tone of a meme is neutral, allowing for a variety of topics, themes, subgenres and inside jokes to be expressed in a cogent manner; a mere byte of media, be it a video, gif, image, or phrase.
This blog post proposes a new understanding of the ways in which the memetic ecology exists. Instead of one whole sphere of memes, there exists an ecosystem of cliques, each clique pandering to a niche of interest. These cliques can overlap with other cliques, just as human interests can vary between various things. Thus, each time a meme is viewed, it is processed in a unique way, one which is subjective to the recipient. This implies that the intent to communicate some specific message can be lost in translation quite easily, if the meme comes into the path of a recipient who is not of that memes clique.
The sub-memetic ecosystem then is a world in which offense is freely given and taken, accidentally or intentionally. It is a place in which a disparity between message-intent and message-receipt exists.
Just as a speaker of French is unable to communicate to a speaker of Swahili, memes can sometimes "go over someone's head", if a particular cultural reference is not known for example.
This blog post will take a look at how one meme in particular displays this idea of disparity between message-intent and message-receipt by examining the intent of the creator, the use of various media, the reception of the meme, and the aftermath of entering the sub-memetic ecosystem.
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On the 6th of June, 2012, Laina Walker, AKA Laina Morris, AKA wzr0173 (on youtube.com), uploaded this video, a Justin Bieber fan tribute video. She changed the words of a popular rap song of the time and create a fictional character; a girlfriend who 'nags' her boyfriend incessantly and is reminiscent of a stalker.
Whilst her singing would never warrant a multi-million dollar contract, and her lyrical styling might be elementary at best, it was the character she portrayed that was memorable. That video generated 16 million views and 43,857 new subscriptions for her account; she had gone viral.
(snipped from youtube.com)
The various denizens of the internet were quick to react; a screenshot later and they had found their latest carrier, "the overly attached girlfriend":
(downloaded from generateallthememes app)
Laina had entered the sub-memetic ecosystem, now her likeness was at the mercy of internet. The screenshot of her face had become a carrier, some image freely available for use in any way the creator saw fit.
The image itself, sans wording, is neutral toned. It communicates very little, except maybe begging for a staring contest. It is uncontroversial, plain and unblemished.
Going viral, becoming a star on the internet, bode over well for Laina:
(snipped from her twitter account)
Yet, there were now two Lainas; the one grounded in reality, and the meme. Each would find new life by crossing through various levels of the sub-memetic ecosystem.
Reality-Laina would go on to follow the overly attached girlfriend meme-theme and capitalize her youtube popularity. She has gone on to host charity videos, enter online car competitions, win online car competitions, make q-and-a videos about her overly attached girlfriend persona and even reflect on her fame since the JB fan video.
Reality-Laina has also engaged in crossing through the sub-memetic ecosystem; by making videos with other meme-ers and making a video in the style of another meme. In this video she meets Jimmy Tatro ( a west-coast fraternity 'bro' who has his own hilarious channel), whilst in this video she meets the original bad luck brian (who is a meme too!). Following the style of the classic Iphone parodies on youtube, Laina uploaded this video that showcases her ability to mix her overly-attached girlfriend persona with another meme carrier.
Meme-Laina also produced an overly-attached boyfriend meme which lead to this photoshopped picture that puts both overly attached love interests together.
Memes are a unique neologism. The word is but 4 letters long and is used in casual daily parlance, yet encompasses a vast and vibrant living sphere of cultural values, norms, and niches. The tone of a meme is neutral, allowing for a variety of topics, themes, subgenres and inside jokes to be expressed in a cogent manner; a mere byte of media, be it a video, gif, image, or phrase.
This blog post proposes a new understanding of the ways in which the memetic ecology exists. Instead of one whole sphere of memes, there exists an ecosystem of cliques, each clique pandering to a niche of interest. These cliques can overlap with other cliques, just as human interests can vary between various things. Thus, each time a meme is viewed, it is processed in a unique way, one which is subjective to the recipient. This implies that the intent to communicate some specific message can be lost in translation quite easily, if the meme comes into the path of a recipient who is not of that memes clique.
The sub-memetic ecosystem then is a world in which offense is freely given and taken, accidentally or intentionally. It is a place in which a disparity between message-intent and message-receipt exists.
Just as a speaker of French is unable to communicate to a speaker of Swahili, memes can sometimes "go over someone's head", if a particular cultural reference is not known for example.
This blog post will take a look at how one meme in particular displays this idea of disparity between message-intent and message-receipt by examining the intent of the creator, the use of various media, the reception of the meme, and the aftermath of entering the sub-memetic ecosystem.
_________________________________________________________________________________
On the 6th of June, 2012, Laina Walker, AKA Laina Morris, AKA wzr0173 (on youtube.com), uploaded this video, a Justin Bieber fan tribute video. She changed the words of a popular rap song of the time and create a fictional character; a girlfriend who 'nags' her boyfriend incessantly and is reminiscent of a stalker.
Whilst her singing would never warrant a multi-million dollar contract, and her lyrical styling might be elementary at best, it was the character she portrayed that was memorable. That video generated 16 million views and 43,857 new subscriptions for her account; she had gone viral.
The various denizens of the internet were quick to react; a screenshot later and they had found their latest carrier, "the overly attached girlfriend":
Laina had entered the sub-memetic ecosystem, now her likeness was at the mercy of internet. The screenshot of her face had become a carrier, some image freely available for use in any way the creator saw fit.
The image itself, sans wording, is neutral toned. It communicates very little, except maybe begging for a staring contest. It is uncontroversial, plain and unblemished.
Going viral, becoming a star on the internet, bode over well for Laina:
Yet, there were now two Lainas; the one grounded in reality, and the meme. Each would find new life by crossing through various levels of the sub-memetic ecosystem.
Reality-Laina would go on to follow the overly attached girlfriend meme-theme and capitalize her youtube popularity. She has gone on to host charity videos, enter online car competitions, win online car competitions, make q-and-a videos about her overly attached girlfriend persona and even reflect on her fame since the JB fan video.
Reality-Laina has also engaged in crossing through the sub-memetic ecosystem; by making videos with other meme-ers and making a video in the style of another meme. In this video she meets Jimmy Tatro ( a west-coast fraternity 'bro' who has his own hilarious channel), whilst in this video she meets the original bad luck brian (who is a meme too!). Following the style of the classic Iphone parodies on youtube, Laina uploaded this video that showcases her ability to mix her overly-attached girlfriend persona with another meme carrier.
We have see how, in real life, Laina has gained significant meme 'capital', the ability to stay relevant, milk her 'overly attached girlfriend' persona in other meme carriers, and mingle with other meme-ers. Her movements in the sub-memetic ecosystem have produced more content and thus more hilarity.
Meme-Laina, the carrier that was a screenshot of Reality-Laina's JB fan video, has a life independent of Reality-Laina's will. Reality-Laina has no control over the message installed in the carrier by 3rd party creators. In a tragically ironic twist, Reality-Laina loses control over her own image, whilst Meme-Laina embodies a spirit of free speech and expression.
The carrier has various levels of usage. Here is an example of basic, to-the-point, and clear expression of the carrier, a good reconciliation of carrier and message.
Here is yet another example as described above, yet with a internet shock-game reference.
Here is an example that pushes the boundary, yet still only toes the line.
It became clear to fans and meme-ers that there was yet untapped gold in Lainas videos, and more screenshots emerged with variations of the overly attached girlfriend meme.
Here, here and here and examples of how other screenshots maintain some relation to the initial intent of the overly attached girlfriend meme but with specific nuances in each.
Here, here and here are examples of how other pictures of Laina, found on her Facebook account and Twitter account, have been used outside of the entire overly attached girlfriend context, yet with a redeeming quality that makes the recipient think of the first Laina meme.
Meme-Laina also produced an overly-attached boyfriend meme which lead to this photoshopped picture that puts both overly attached love interests together.
As we can see, Meme-Laina spawned a myriad of other meme carriers and messages, thus leading us to understand that one meme can easily create other variations of itself, spreading out infinitely into the sub-memetic ecosystem as millions of different viewpoints create and receive this information.
Testament to the notion discussed above, it is rather telling that the original overly attached girlfriend meme is dropping in relevance online, possibly due to it's variations becoming more popular than the original.
Written by Pravin M Jayasinghe
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