Fecundity

Fecundity is Dawkins' second key feature of successful memes. Fecundity refers to the rate at which an idea or a trend is copied and spread. That is, the more quickly a meme spreads, the higher the possibility it will capture wider imaginations and sustained attention, and will be replicated, reproduced and distributed in the process (Knobel 2006, 412). A recent example of how the rapid spread of a meme can have on cultural trends in the world, is provided by the fan responses to Chicago Bulls bench warmer Brian Scalabrine. Fan-recorded videos of Scalabrine during Bulls games are posted throughout YouTube, in which the crowds unanimously cheer for him by chanting his name or the slogan "MVP". These positive crowd responses draw heavily on the host of Brian Scalabrine related memes that has flooded sports meme and basketball fan communities throughout the internet. The memes sarcastically praise his basketball skills and portray him as a marquee talent. The memes spread like wildfire throughout basketball fan networks, where it was copied, refined, combined and transmitted across the various meme communities on the internet. The sarcastic tone of the memes created humour, which in turn, created buzz for the theme, which ultimately lead to the success of the meme as it became "trendy" for online basketball fans to make Brian Scalabrine memes. The success of the meme has translated into the mainstream with fans offering him support that has traditionally been reserved for the superstars of the game. The other significant impact of the meme is that, those who are less familiar with basketball may possibly mistake Scalabrine to actually be one of the sport's major superstars. The exposure of Scalabrine through the fecundity of the meme effectively transformed his image to a career fringe player, to a cult hero.

Richard Brodie (1996) adds an important dimension to the analysis of memes. He argues that memes tend to influence minds more quickly when they are transmitted by "trustworthy others" (Brodie 1996, 152). The "trustworthy others" Brodie (1996, 152) refers to can include "people I would like to be like" or "people like me". So using the Scalabrine memes as an example, fans exposed to the memes were mostly already interested in basketball and memes, and because it became "cool" to create Scalabrine memes, many individuals wanted to follow the trend as well. Thus, affinity spaces and ideal conditions clearly play a role in the fecundity of a successful meme.

Scalabrine chants:

Scalabrine Memes:

 
 

Fidelity, Fecundity and Longevity

In The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins (1979) identifies three characteristics of memes as: fidelity, fecundity and longevity. Despite his work being written in 1979 and focused on human interaction from a biological perspective, Dawkins’s ideas can be applied to measure the evolution of particular internet memes.

Fidelity refers to the recognisability of the meme. That is, while variations are vital aspects to the evolution of a meme, the core idea of the meme usually remains intact. The majority of memes rely on the recognisability of the image, video or caption and if audiences can not connect the resemblance of the meme and the source text, then the meme will likely be unsuccessful.

For example, the “bitch please” meme uses the face of former NBA star Yao Ming to convey a dismissive or sarcastic attitude to one's ideas or input. The image is easily recognised by basketball fans but those who are not familiar with the sport likely would not understand the humour of it.

 

Through spreadability on the internet, the image macro has since become popular on meme templates and used as a vehicle to convey messages beyond the sport of basketball.

 

 

Fecundity refers to how rapidly a meme can be replicated and spread. Obviously, the more imitations that are spawned from a particular meme measures the success of the meme. When Anthony Davis was hyped as the future of basketball, images and videos of him in action saturated the online basketball fan community. However, fans quickly became more interested in his facial features rather then his basketball talents. Memes which made fun of his eyebrows and teeth began surfacing throughout the internet where thousands of replications have spawned as a result.

 

 

 
 



Longevity measures how long a particular meme can survive and evolve. For example memes concerning Lebron James's unsuccessful attempts at winning a NBA championship ring has been the topic of meme creations throughout his career. Now that he has won a NBA championship ring, memes regarding his inability to win more then one championship have become the norm.

 

 

The sharing of information on the internet promotes independence and autonomous creativity by lowering the barrier of entry for creative production where individuals are encouraged to participate in this cultural process and express themselves. Internet memes seem to tip-toe the very fine lines between creative innovation and tasteless kitsch, as well as profound wit and unsympathetic vulgarity. Regardless, whether users are producing successful memes or not, internet memes also have the power to significantly influence social beliefs, ideas, perceptions and values.

From an industrial standpoint, whether it is overwhelmingly supporting the underdog or profusely rejecting the superstar, internet memes through imitation, replication and spreadability, has the potential to build popular consensus that can translate into the real-world, creating a situation that goes against the commercial imperatives of sports advertisers and corporations.