Digital reproducibility and evolution

The current internet meme trend, hosted predominantly by websites such as quickmeme and knowyourmeme and whatdoumeme provides a typical example of how mass reproduction functions in the virtual environment. Typically, an individual meme consists of a recycled image accompanied by a comic caption. These images may feature well-known cultural figures like Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Philip J. Fry from Futurama, Ned Stark from Game of Thrones or The Most Interesting Man in the World from Dos Equis beer advertisements. The images may also represent newly invented characters such as the socially awkward penguin, the paranoid parrot, scum bag Steve or bad luck Brian, to name a few. Memes can be reproduced by any member of the public according to the prescribed theme, for instance memes using The Most Interesting Man's image features the trademark phrase structure, "I don't always....but when I do...."). Since the captions are created anonymously by the viewing public, the line between producer and audience becomes non-existent. Memes evolves like a life form with captions behaving like genetic traits, spreading to influence individual thought processes (Dawkins 1976). Internet memes thus are ideas or concepts spreading and evolving over the internet, by chance, through commentary, forwarding, search, or other communicative means online (Wagner and Jiang 2012, 185). Without the momentum gained by sharing, a meme has little cultural relevance. On websites like quickmeme and knowyourmeme, users are guided towards the most popular memes, thus they are more likely to be reproduced and shared on Facebook streams, Twitter feeds and other social media websites. And when a meme explodes into popularity,  its reproducibility appear to guide its cultural value, thus a work’s reception has become a part of its reproducibility. As a result, consensus are often formed which at times contradict against the commercial imperatives of administrators and producers alike. For instance, as exhibited in a previous post of this blog, many fans through memes, conveyed their views of Kobe Byrant as a selfish player, often disregarding his achievements in the sport, therefore forming a consensual view which contradicts against his official star image. Another example is the cult-like following Brian Scalabrine has attracted as a result of fan generated memes. Despite his perceived lack of basketball skills and playing time on the court, Scalabrine has become the inspiration of meme creations showing support for him that has transcended into positive fan responses during his basketball games. 

What makes memes generative is how the activity of meme creation has been adopted by various participatory cultures. Popular cultural mages or phrases are used by fans to create extended discussions concerning a variety of cultural topics. A meme template featuring a stock image can be used as a crossover to convey messages regarding other cultures and vice versa. This notion was shown in previous posts regarding NBA commissioner David Stern http://memesnba23.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/fan-displeasure-through-memes.html and socio-cultural issues being expressed through memes featuring basketball stars http://memesnba23.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/socio-cultural-issues-through-memes.html . The memes below show how singular images are used to generate a host of discussion topics, many of which are paradoxical to the image's origin industry (e.g. using images from movies or television programs to generate conversations about politics and sports...etc.)