As memes helped us to communicate, to criticize and to sell

Memetisty scientists believe that memes are responsible for the rapid dissemination of ideas and patchy. This was the case not only in the present, but in ancient times, but it was in the era of digital revolution memes-ideas spread almost instantly.

Their viral nature is reflected in the concepts of "viral marketing", "the viral content", "myslevirusy". Their rivalry for the attention of the person and his other resources, such as airtime and advertising space, as reflected in terms such as "memetic weapons" and "memetic war."

Memes - ideas viral

Memetics is not science, it is only on the verge of science, said Alexander Sergeyev, a member of the Commission to Combat Pseudoscience and Falsification of Scientific Research at the RAS Presidium. However, if you do not take into account all the ambitions of memetics and use it as one of the communication theories, in her face, you can get a working scheme representation ideas.

Here memetics complements the theory concepts of cognitive linguistics. Concept - a word or expression that generalizes certain values ​​and situations. For example, the concept of "justice" - that the word "justice", and the image of Themis blindfolded, which arises in the mind when pronouncing of the word, and certain situations, which we present in its utterance, and our individual and common cultural associations connected with justice.

as the concept of "script" are considered in cognitive linguistics - a scenario change stereotypical events in certain situations, and the concept of "frame" - the structure of the description of these situations. But these terms are intended primarily to describe and study the linguistic reality.

Meme - a concept similar to the concept, script and frame, but the ability to describe not only the language, but also any extralinguistic reality: cinema, cultural practices, music, fashion, painting, stereotypes and variation. This term is very convenient for the study of popular culture, especially media culture and ideology.

Meme - it is not just a funny picture, but also a unit of cultural information. Science, or rather the knowledge that studies memes in this sense, is called memetics.

Meme in memetics - is an idea, a symbol or image that is self-replicating, and passed out of the consciousness of one man to the consciousness of another. The creator of memetics, the British biologist Richard Dawkins, thought that memes - a structure in the nervous system, which is transmitted from person to person because of their psychological appeal to people.

His follower Susan Blackmore believes that people - this meme machines, but the brain - a meme-store, which explains the large size of the human brain as compared to the brains of primates. According to Blackmore, if the gene - the first replicator evolution, meme meme and Technology (distributed by machinery) - second and third replicators. Like genes, memes - the selfish replicators that seek to maximize the dissemination of themselves. So, they are parasites or viruses to their hosts.

Recently, quite often through the theory of memes, ideas conceptualized different phenomena of mass culture, such as the rise in popularity pseudoscientific theories of homophobia or marketing trends. It is through the theory of memes is made possible adequately and succinctly describe so different in content objects: in these examples memes beautifully displayed as "anatomy" of the phenomena themselves, and their mechanism distribution.

Memes as viral ideas contain something attractive for anyone who distributes them.

This has a psychological appeal and desire to adherents of pseudoscience to explain to everyone how things work "in fact", and the idea of ​​separation people into "us" and "them" on the basis of any characteristic, and the promise of a "better life" or belonging to it, which is contained in the marketing memes. Let us dwell on the last two examples.

The division into "us" and "foreign" contains the endorsement "their" disapproval and "them." This is the basis of the so-called hate speech or hate rhetoric, and one of the main instruments of social power of language. At the same opposition is based, and any ideology. Due to the properties of modern media space ideology can form and spread among a large number of people in the shortest possible time.

Modern ideology of any society is convenient to represent itself as the so-called meme-plexus, that is a complex of memes, working together and mutually reinforcing. Conventionally, we can say that the ideology of the ruling Republican Party of the United States - a meme-Plex, consisting of memes Make America Great Again, Islamophobia, meme democracy, chauvinism and meme meme Donald personal success Trump.

Some of them really viral: meme Make America Great Again manifested itself not only as an inscription on a red cap and a symbol of the conflict with General Trump Motors, but also as an ironic internet meme with golden retriever, depicting redneka (redneck - conservative provincial representative of the American worker class; among voters Trump had a large number of those in America called rednekami).

Differently virality meme emerged in marketing. There is a whole section - viral marketing, focused on creating the most catchy and playable promotional products - such that people will share the Internet and social networks with friends and subscribers. Virality has become a defining indicator of success of the content.

Marketer Jeffrey Miller writes that the marketing does not respond to existing consumer preferences and in essence is a cultural engineering - process purposeful creation and dissemination of new cultural units, that is, all the same meme: "All the money goes out to promote certain memes, brands, products, or certain people. "

Therefore appear in advertisements are no longer ashamed of - it directly affects the performance of popularity, citation, mention from various sources, may not be affecting sales growth directly, but increasing personal rating and replicability image.

Opinion leaders are those not so much because of the quality of knowledge they possess, as because of the fact that they dispose of popular channels of information, and thus can broadcast to the masses certain ideas or products.

So, briefly summarize the theory of memes can be applied not only in the context of evolutionary psychology, but and as a visual description of how to apply those or other ideas - alone or in complex. It is particularly suitable for those cases where we need to talk about the phenomena of mass culture, advertising, ideology, or to show how elements of media culture function, certain representations people. In this context, the term "meme" is a part of communication theory, discourse theory and related linguistic sciences, along with the terms "idea", "concept", "stereotype", "frame" and "script".

Memes in advertising: HYIP and antihayp

We all remember a meme from L'Oreal «After all, I deserve it," the former slogan of the company, has evolved into a full-fledged viral idea. But marketing uses not only memes like the ideas but also the memes in the more usual sense for us.

It is appropriate to recall the second definition of a meme from the Oxford dictionary: "Mem - it is a picture, a video, a fragment text, usually humorous in nature, which is copied and spreads rapidly Internet users. "

First of Internet memes I spoke Susan Blackmore in her book "meme machine" in 1999. She was referring primarily viruses or phishing web mails that contain them.

Internet memes in the sense that is reflected in the second definition Oksforskogo dictionary, caught the eye of British scientist Peter Ludlow. Article 1996 "High Noon Electronic Frontier: Conceptual problems of cyberspace", he notes that memes - This "conversation pieces", reflecting a common phrase or idea that is released and begins to work in his own way in many discourses. Summing up, we get the definition of the Internet meme as a special type of Internet communication.

Internet meme uses several channels of information are usually visual and verbal, and sometimes auditory canal, if we are talking about a video or song. Since internet memes involved several channels of information, they stand on a par with genres cartoons and poster making internet meme ideal means of advertising or political propaganda.

One of the most significant moments for the spread of Internet memes in RuNet was the use of memes major Russian banks in their official social networks for advertising services. On the example of last year's meme "Vzhuh" can be understood, how quickly it spreads, as first fuzzy photos with cat in the cap, then becomes professionally rendered cat-magician conjures a quick translation funds.

Another segment in which memes are widely used - it is telecom. Memes got on television advertising is through the largest telecom holdings. This video "Winter is coming" from MTS, which used the slogan of "Game of Thrones" and "Captain Unlimited", "Beeline", which reminds us of the meme Captain Obvious.

In "MegaFon" and bet on the level of "memetichnosti" infomercial - starred Steven Seagal in the mobile advertising network, which itself is very replicable character for the Russian audience, remembered not only as a hero fighters category B, but also as a colorful materyaschiysya in Russian character from 90.

Memes are not only used in advertising - commercials themselves are often "taken away" by Internet users on memes. Particularly susceptible to this video based on the song or compulsive motive: for example, a movie about Cough Syrup "Tantum Verde Forte" after the first week of rotation has been segmented on the ridiculous images.

With the highest speed, perhaps, the last time spread memes about rap battles. Virtually every SMM-specialist is forced to respond to the emergence of a new competition to be in the trend and do not miss infopovod.

Now very popular among marketers has become a meme uses the word "HYIP"Vytseplennoe of the English language by young Russian rappers to refer to the hype and excitement around something (in the first place, of course, about themselves). Quickly reprinted it as quickly pall - so much so that there was "antihayp" - intentionally ignoring the hype in any area.

Memetic War: The Phantom Menace

About HYIP as a method of work of the American media says Marty Lucas, founder of New York-based Paper Tiger Television (quoted in Douglas Rushkoff "Mediavirus"): "The main method of work of US media - this is hype. Originally this word was used in the United States in the 20s to refer to drug dosage. This was a reduction from hypodermic needle"Needle for subcutaneous injection." US media - is a series of hypes. This was especially true of the Reagan era. Reagan knew how to manipulate the media perfectly. During his presidency, we were prepodneson series of events designed to cause public outrage and public opinion against a variety of objects. "

Next Lucas says about the events associated with the Gulf War, when the Paper Tiger Television forces organized a large-scale press campaign on national American television. Then thousands of videomakers materials that were in the Bay area, got into the rotation of satellite TV, fill the information gap and created a buzz around the event. Author Douglas Rushkoff calls resulting effect "mediavirusnym": the virus was precisely antiwar idea that suddenly became widespread thanks given to it by channels information.

Since the Gulf War is associated another episode: in 1991 the French philosopher Jacques Baudrillard published an essay series, which subsequently formed the basis of the book "the Gulf War was not." In this book, Baudrillard says that as such, the United States war against Iraq was not, and all the information that people get about the war - is a product of propaganda. All events, according to Baudrillard, were stylized and told the media by means of simulacra (sign without content, a copy of a copy).

Here again we come close to the iconic nature of the meme and its similarity to the simulacrum. Memes, or simulacra, a substitute for the actual events occurred: important is not the fact of what happened, and the chain reactions to it.

Modern press campaign consist of mediamemov broadcasting certain ideas, and infopovody often exist in the media as the memes. For example, a meme covfefe Twitter-account of Donald Trump was picked up immediately by those who wanted to focus on trampovskoy disorder.

Recall that on the night of May 31 on Twitter President of the United States there was a mysterious tweet: «Despite the constant negative press covfefe"(" In spite of the constant negative kovfefe Media "). Probably, the president began to write some message damning character, but did not finish it, and mysteriously changed English coverage ( "Coverage") at covfefe. It's hard not to agree that writing a message with a typo in the fastest speed of response of social networks rather recklessly.

Politically sensitive internet memes, specially created by spin doctors, too, abound. Of relatively enduring memes meme can mention made of photos with Vladimir Putin, vacationing with the always naked torso on an annual fishing trip. Made with a clearly positive promise, he did not avoid replication thousands of users who made his own corrections elements - some with irony, someone with discontent.

In the wake of the activity of the Russian liberal thought in 2010-2012 replicated meme "party of crooks and thieves" (abbreviated - PZhiV), which still can be found in the liberal discourse. And then if we have not seen the bright-memes oppositions in the official discourse of power, but now the production of memes equally well established on both sides of the fence.

Some researchers (Korovin, Prokhanov) include the very existence of political memes to the phenomena of political competition and ideological propaganda, indicating replication of memes term "memetic war", while they themselves memes - "Memetic weapons." Thus, memes become part of the information war, the war of the XXI century.

Very striking examples of such a confrontation is filled with all the social network "Odnoklassniki", which communicates over age category of Russian citizens. If we want to explore the whole of its content along the line of Russian-US relations, we find that the degree of the passions has not changed much from Cold War "enemies" are assigned insulting nicknames ( "stupid"), and "our" are endowed with heroic features (meme "that people do not win" "Smekalochka"). Even if we assume that once these memes were launched by spin doctors, now they are successfully replicated by the users themselves.

The situation is different in other social networks, where through the Public large imageboard replicated variety of memes, including political ones. But they are not taken for granted audience just as fast. First meme here - the comic element, and then - the carrier specific ideas.

Nevertheless, the ideas, packaged in such a way may also appear intrusive in our minds, even if we perceive them only comic envelope. Therefore, it is essential to maintain the cold mind and operate critical thinking when analyzing content - because of our mistakes will be replicated on the next day, and the violent reaction will create unnecessary HYIP.

Comic meme packaging ideas can be used for the negative impact of information and to form a positive image.

An interesting example of the British boys Stefan Bertram Lee. In 2017 he moved to Syria to support the People's Protection Units. From there he leads a meme channel on Facebook, creating funny pictures about LIH (Islamic State - organization forbidden in the territory of Russia) to raise the morale of the Syrian soldiers resistance. Since the beginning of 2017 page Dank Memes for Democratic Confederalist Dreams ( «dank memes for the dream of a democratic confederalism"), where Bertram Lee published his work, it is gaining popularity.

On the avatar community - meme depicting a young man and the girl, dreaming each of his: a young man - a kiss and a girl - on the Syrian Democratic Union. According to the Syrian militia fighters Christopher Stephen memes supporting it: "War is very cruel, so if you do not laugh, you will break."

As you can see, the Internet meme has become a universal communication unit: with it you can show their emotions or their attitude to something, something to advertise something to criticize.

With the help of memes can be influenced by political opponents and allies, to broadcast their position to seek and create a community of like-minded - in other words, it is possible to transmit any information. It is thanks to his endless comic potential memes are gaining increasingly wide audience.