Mary PetticeI'm teaching a class on internet #memes next semester. I have opinions: Richard Dawkins' neologism "meme" is useful but not completely helpful in describing internet memes, as an analog for genes ignores audience agency and #ParticipatoryCulture. What opinions do you have about memes and how to talk about them?
Dom | TheHellfridge 
@Beocat not sure, the analogy isn't perfect for sure. However i think there's a body of work on environmental effects on genes (which I admittedly am no expert on, so pinches of salt and all). So what we do, where and how we lead our lives impacts our genes beyond just what's given from one gen to the next. So while that doesn't perfectly map onto agency and participation, it might make the analogy click better. Not sure if that helps in any way hehe.
@Beocat on the other hand it should be considered that richard dawkins is a transphobic tool who's way outlived his relevancy, so taking HIS words with loads of pinches of salt might also be a prudent thing to do hehe
@DommeFridge I guess I’ll just use the coinage as a jumping off point—the term has taken on a life of its own. Epigenetics, I think, is the study of how behavior and environment influence genetic expression. That might make the term fit a little bit better. And I agree about Dawkins!
@Beocat
If there are any game studies folks around (which is where I'm a bit more at gome at) you can also dig into the first two Metal Gear Solid games. They respectively have genes and memes as their explicitly stated themes and the second one is also based more on the Dawkins definition rather than the colloquial "funny images with text" variety
If there are any game studies folks around (which is where I'm a bit more at gome at) you can also dig into the first two Metal Gear Solid games. They respectively have genes and memes as their explicitly stated themes and the second one is also based more on the Dawkins definition rather than the colloquial "funny images with text" variety