Each Wednesday in What Memes Mean, Kirk Bozeman questions the significance, humor, and subtexts of viral videos, memes, and other Internet fads.The term meme was coined by biologist Richard Dawkins in 1976 to posit how evolutionary principles might apply to culture at large. In Dawkins’s definition, a meme (he was intentionally trying to coin a word that sounded like gene) is an idea, habit, or phrase we pass from person to person within culture. Dawkins proposed that this worked according to a … [Read more...]
About Kirk Bozeman
What Memes Mean: Why Memes Are Important (Part 1)
Each Wednesday in What Memes Mean, Kirk Bozeman questions the significance, humor, and subtexts of viral videos, memes, and other Internet fads.Commenting on pop culture is an interesting task. Making sure you’re viewing something from the right angle, interpreting it in the correct fashion, and saying things in a way that is interesting can be daunting. Sometimes the biggest issue doesn’t seem to be the commentary itself, but simply deciding what to comment on.We are constantly barraged by p … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Asides, Viral Tagged With: cultural heart, lifespan of a meme, What Memes Mean Leave a Comment
What Memes Mean: 'Trayvoning' and the Problem of Irreverent Humor
Each Wednesday in What Memes Mean, Kirk Bozeman questions the significance, humor, and subtexts of viral videos, memes, and other Internet fads.The recent shooting of Trayvon Martin was a sad tale, sparking much discussion on a number of racial and social issues. (Please see the collection of links here for CaPC’s articles concerning the tragedy.) Recently, an attempt at a Trayvon Martin related meme sprung up, though (thankfully) it was put to rest quickly.The meme was similar in form to me … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Asides, Viral Tagged With: irreverant humor, Trayvon Martin, Trayvoning, What Memes Mean 3 Comments
What Memes Mean: Life Moments in Live Lip-Dub
Each Wednesday in What Memes Mean, Kirk Bozeman questions the significance, humor, and subtexts of viral videos, memes, and other Internet fads.I’d hate to be the guy who planned on proposing to his girlfriend the week after this video hit the Net. Leave it to a Portland resident to up the creative ante for major life events to unobtainable levels for the common man.Recently, Isaac Lamb (an actor and Portlandian) proposed to his girlfriend Amy Frankel (also an actor and Portlandian) in an el … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Asides, Viral Tagged With: Isaac Lamb, wedding proposal videos, What Memes Mean Leave a Comment
What Memes Mean: Ian and Larissa
Each Wednesday in What Memes Mean, Kirk Bozeman questions the significance, humor, and subtexts of viral videos, memes, and other Internet fads.Ian and Larissa were very much in love, and from all outward signs their relationship was moving toward marriage. But in 2006, Ian received a traumatic brain injury in a terrible car accident, leaving him in ICU. He eventually made it to rehab and was able to return home, though the effects of the injury were severe and left him in need of constant … [Read more...]
What Memes Mean: Frictionless Sharing, Cool, Annoyance, and Positive Privacy
Each Wednesday in What Memes Mean, Kirk Bozeman questions the significance, humor, and subtexts of viral videos, memes, and other Internet fads.Facebook introduced us to the concept of "frictionless sharing" last year, with good ol’ Zuck telling us about a number of exciting new apps that would be able to automatically share music, articles, and video to our Facebook feed (which was soon to become some sort of "Timeline"). No extra buttons to push, no extra mouse clicks (i.e., no "friction"), a … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Asides, Viral Tagged With: frictionless sharing, privacy problem, What Memes Mean 1 Comment
What Memes Mean: A Disheartening Meme On Introversion
Each Wednesday in What Memes Mean, Kirk Bozeman questions the significance, humor, and subtexts of viral videos, memes, and other Internet fads.My mother has often mentioned that as a boy I would abscond to my room for hours at a time, where she would later find me quietly absorbed and entertaining myself to no end with my set of plastic "cowboys and Indians". She then usually notes with a chuckle that my sister was "not like that", she was always asking what we were "going to do n … [Read more...]
What Memes Mean: What If Memes Were Art?
Each Wednesday in What Memes Mean, Kirk Bozeman questions the significance, humor, and subtexts of viral videos, memes, and other Internet fads.An interesting video titled Are LOLCats and Internet Memes Art? was recently posted on the Idea Channel, a PBS-affiliated YouTube venture. Host Mike Rugetta posits that with Internet memes “people are creating images and sharing them with strangers for the purpose of communicating their personal experiences… That, my friends, is art, plain and simp … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Asides, Viral Tagged With: art, Idea Channel, Mike Rugetta, What Memes Mean Leave a Comment
What Memes Mean: The Re-Appropriation of Ryan Gosling
Each Wednesday in What Memes Mean, Kirk Bozeman questions the significance, humor, and subtexts of viral videos, memes, and other Internet fads.Canadian born actor Ryan Gosling is one of Hollywood’s hotties-of-the-moment. When I was a kid, it was Clooney, so that should both date me and/or show the vapidity of such a title.A little while back, a photo-caption meme based on a number of Gosling still shots started to develop on the 'net, initially collected in the form of the crassly titled tu … [Read more...]
What Memes Mean: Avoiding Scumbag Apologetics
April 11, 2012 by Kirk Bozeman
Each Wednesday in What Memes Mean, Kirk Bozeman questions the significance, humor, and subtexts of viral videos, memes, and other Internet fads.Look, I know you get frustrated.You’ve got the presuppositional/evidential thing down pat, thoroughly worked through old vs. young earth creationism, and moved past a cursory reading of Case for Christ into all the obscure books in its most footiest of footnotes. And your heart is ready, really ready. You’re prepared for friendly, honest, patient dis … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Asides, Viral Tagged With: photo-caption memes, What Memes Mean
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