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

As discussed in the preceding posts of this blog, Richard Dawkins (1976) theorised three characteristics of successful memes, all of which remain relevant today. Fidelity, fecundity, longevity refers to the meme's quality that enable easy imitation, replication and spreadability of the meme. Fragments of information that make sense or are meaningful to the reader are likely to become more successfully imitated or reproduced. In this sense, memes are successful because they are memorable (Blackmore 1998, p. 57). However, there is also an argument that they are important and useful as well, because of the increasing prominent use of memes as a communication method.

One important aspect of meme fidelity is susceptibility (Knobel 2006, 414). The notion of susceptibility refers to the timing or location of a meme, such as the meme's relevance to current affairs, its relation to already successful memes, as well as the interests and values of the space in which the meme is circulated. According to Knobel (2006), "ideal conditions" of susceptibility will allow particular memes to function more easily and maximize the possibilities for the meme to spread and go viral. Under ideal conditions, the "hooks" and "selection attractors" built into the design allows the meme a higher possibilities of success, without being hindered by community filters, audience confusion or other forms of cultural barriers.

For example, since Michael Jordan's retirement, contemporary mass media has consensually advertised, marketed and talked about him as being the greatest basketball player of all time. Certainly, his statistics and overall achievements in the sports reinforce this notion. These images firmly portray Jordan as an iconic hero, in highlight reels, graphic montages, magazine features and endorsement campaigns.

Since retiring as a player, Jordan has ventured into managerial roles within the NBA, first as the general manager of the Washington Wizards and more recently, as the owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. Both franchises have rarely experienced success under the management of Jordan, with the Bobcats accumulating the unenviable achievement of having the win/loss record in NBA history during the 2011-12 season.

Many fans begun to question Jordan's greatness and alternative memes began circulating throughout the meme and basketball fan communities of the internet. These memes challenge broadcasted versions of Jordan during his playing career, as well as his overall legacy. The memes mock his failures as a team administrator and frequently incorporates existing memes, in order to further the notion of familiarity. The memes spread rapidly via social networks and meme websites, hooking into the sarcastic tone of memetics and ongoing critiques of Jordan's (lack of) administrative skills, that begun originally emerged from within discussion forums and social media.

Official Jordan advertisements.

 






Memes

 

 
 
 

Pizza Rolls

The "pizza roll" memes are a perfectly example of generativity on the internet. The origins of the meme are based on the simple premise that the members of the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team are mostly young players. There is no direct connection between the Thunder and pizza rolls other then the simple fact that the Thunder are a young team and pizza rolls are predominately marketed toward young children. An alternative interpretation of the meme is based on the notion that the team's star Kevin Durant is perceived as a "mama's boy" because she attends all of the Thunder's home games, thus some of the memes carry the caption "mom made pizza rolls". The concept has spread and mutated into memes using images from the Olympics, baseball, volleyball, the Jewish holocaust, as well as incorporating images of politicians Barack Obama, Herman Cain and Martin Luther King, and singer Katy Perry.

 

 

 

Meme All-Stars

The meme all-stars were conceived by NBA Humour, a meme community on Facebook. This all-star team consists of the most featured basketball stars in memes throughout the internet. The players that feature in this line-up are a mix of the game's superstars and lesser-known athletes, whom have been involved in situations that have been considered "meme worthy" by basketball fans around the globe. And in fact, a couple of players are simply featured because of their perceived lack of basketball prowess. Together, they comprise an often shifting, hardly ever fixed, cultural actuality wherein the tension between the expectations of a knowledgeable fan group and the commercial imperative of the image consultant, sports administrator and the athlete is played out, with fans attaching contradicting connotations to the celebrated star which they ultimately cannot control. Additionally, these collated texts provide insights into the cultural influence of memes, in which it is increasingly been utilised as a form of visual and textual expression.

Lebron James
Background: 3 x NBA MVP, 8 x NBA All-Star, 1 x NBA Champion, 2 x Olympic Gold Medallist.

Meme Origins:

*"Lebron's fault": Stemmed from comments regarding a comment he made about another player on Twitter. When asked if he would apologise for the comment, he insisted he would not, citing that he was sick of being blamed by fans and the media for incidents that was not his fault. The concept has mutated and spread to convey issues beyond basketball.

 

 
 


"Taking my talents to South Beach": This infamous quote by Lebron James, from the "Decision" interview which he announced he was signing with a new team during a televised special, has taken a life of its own, and has been used to depict similar or appropriate situations.

 

 

*"Ringless", "More rings then Lebron": These memes mock Lebron's failure to win a NBA championship during the first 9 seasons of his career. He won a championship in 2012, so the memes have mutated to comparing Lebron with other athletes from all sports who have won more titles than him.

 

 


 "Choker" , "Missing the 4th quarter": After consecutive years of succumbing to the pressure in the last quarter of important matches.

 
 


*"Hairline": His receding hairline.

*"Lebron travelled": Many fans and pundits believe James to be a serious offender of the travelling rule in basketball, in which one walks or runs more then two steps in between the dribbling of the ball.

 



Brian Scalabrine:
Background: 1x NBA Champion (played zero minutes throughout the 7 game final series),. career fringe player.

Meme Origins:

"White Mamba": A sarcastic take on Kobe Bryant's nickname as the "Black Mamba".

 

"We need Scalabrine" / "God": With career averages of a modest 3 points per game and 13 minutes per game, Scalabrine has developed a cult status on the internet. His perceived lack of playing time and talent has been constantly used as meme topics, to the point where it has translated to his basketball matches where fans passionately chant and cheer for him.

 
 

Kobe Bryant:
Background: 1 x NBA MVP, 14 x NBA All-Star, 5 x NBA Champion, 2 x Olympic Gold Medallist.

Meme Origins:

"Ball Hog": Originated from Bryant's role as the focus of the Los Angeles Lakers offence where he is the primary scorer. Many fans believe, he takes ill-advised shots despite sometimes having team mates in better positions to shoot the ball.

 

 


"Trade everyone": It has been widely perceived that Lakers management will explore all options to bring the team a championship, and in years gone past the roster has seen many transformations, but, Bryant's position has always been cemented within the team.

"Rapist": Stemmed from sexual accusations against Bryant in 2003.

Jeremy Lin:
Background: First ever player of Taiwanese or Chinese descent to play in the NBA. Lin also broke the NBA record for highest scoring and assist averages over his first five career starts.   


Meme Origins:

"Linsanity": The word Linsanity was used to describe the excitement surrounding Jeremy Lin's meteoric rise. His breakout performances has a generated a host of memes regarding him and replacing words using his surname, such as Linsane (insane), Linning (winning) and Lincredible (incredible)

 

 

 

Asian stereotypes: There have also been numerous memes mocking Lin's Asian heritage, most notably, in the form of racial stereotypes such as, the perception of Asians being “nerdy”, their "bad" driving abilities and their supposed lack of athletic talent.

 


 



Chris Bosh
Background: 7 x NBA All-Star, 1 x NBA Champion, 1 x Olympic Gold Medallist


Meme Origins:

"Ostrich": The ostrich meme mocks Chris Bosh's facial features by comparing his face to that of an ostrich.

"Dinosaur": Is a mutation of the ostrich comparison. 
 


Luke Walton
Background: 2 x NBA Champion, career fringe player.

Meme Origin:

"Benchwarmer": Like Scalabrine, Walton's career averages of 17 minutes and 4 points per game is a stat line that not many basketball fans will remember. Walton predominately saw playing time towards the end of matches with his team holding unbeatable leads. Luke Walton memes predominately mocks the notion that he sits on the Lakers bench more then he does competing on the basketball court.

 
 



On the surface, all of the memes were mocking the players but perhaps it also demonstrates the notion that memes convey how fans really perceive particular stars. Whilst players like Bryant and James are marketed in mass media as role models and all-time greats of the game, and granted, they are perhaps two of the greatest players of our generation next to Michael Jordan, the memes paint them in a not-so flattering manner. More significantly, these are not one-offs but rather, thousands of memes conveying the same or similar messages. Conversely, unlikely heroes and meteoric risers such as Brian Scalabrine and Jeremy Lin has received coverage and support normally reserved for the more celebrated players, that would eventually transcend to assist in moulding their star images in the real world.