Longevity

Longevity is Dawkins' third major characteristic of a successful meme. The longer a meme remains viral, the more it can be replicated and spread onto new minds, ensuring its ongoing circulation. Longevity can only occur when ideal conditions for a meme's replication, innovation and evolution are in place. That is, circulation at an optimal time, such as coinciding with current events and spread within ideal affinity spaces, such as appropriate networks with relative opinions. A prime example of a long-surviving joke that has made its way into the digital world where it has become a fecund meme is what is known as the "Lebron ringless" meme. The memes of this joke can vary in terms of content but the main message of the joke remains constant, that is the theme of Lebron James's inability to win a NBA championship during the first 9 seasons of his career. Memes regarding the situation range from comparing him with other championship winning athletes, mobile phone ring tones and the Olympic logo. Since James has now won an NBA championship, the meme continues to live on, by comparing various cultural aspects of daily routines as having "more rings" then Lebron, for example, a phone usually rings more the once. The longevity of this particular Lebron James meme, among the many that is in circulation, is also due in large part to people connecting with the humour behind it, otherwise the meme would not be as long-lived as it has been. Indeed, some fans may claim that only a marquee player such as Lebron James could have generated such attention. However, what is perhaps most significant is that collectively, the Lebron James memes exhibit an aspect of fan culture that is diverse and yet complex, with an abundance of themes being contradictory to his star image.

Clearly, the memes' contradictions between James's pubic persona and marketing strategies and what a global fan base is thinking, hooked into a sizable and ultimately widespread discontent with James's personality. The Lebron James memes has proven to be robust and long-lived. A quick search on Google using terms like "Lebron James memes" or "Lebron ringless memes" brings up a plethora of links and images to websites that have reproduced different variations of meme concerning James, with many adding their own input and creations to the designs. The memes are infectious because of the absurd humour contained in the macro images, such as comparing James's lack of championships to the number rings that make up the Olympic logo. The humour within the exchange does not hide the notion of the high degree of generativity that exists within online sports fandom.