Meme+Write-Up

= Making a Meme: Life in 10 Seconds =

Introduction:
Being a society that is driven by technology, specifically the Internet, new forms of entertainment and expression are constantly emerging. One prominent form today is the Internet meme. An Internet meme is a cultural phenomenon that has universal appeal and therefore spreads virally on a global scale (Finniss). The popularity of Internet memes is grounded in one of their primary features: their interactivity and ability to be manipulated and redistributed by viewers. This promise of interactivity has led us to become active producers and consumers of these cultural products. For this reason, we (group GPL) have decided to engage in this relevant practice, making a study of the memetic qualities of memes in order to apply this to the conception of our own video that we aimed would memetically propagate. The following paper will discuss the strategies behind our meme, “Life in 10 Seconds,” including aspects of its production and dissemination.

Here's a brief video that gives a nice summary of the concept of memes as social/cultural phenomena, through the use of prevalent examples:

media type="youtube" key="2QiAEXhjOys" height="390" width="640" align="center"

Jtoeman. "What's a Meme." //YouTube//. 10 November 2010. Web. 14 November 2010.

Production:
In order to understand why certain memes become popular, we analyzed three, successful Internet memes that are each distinct in content and form. The first meme that we examined was “The Lip Dub”. From this meme, we borrowed three main elements: the idea of context, juxtaposition and the homemade look and feel. This meme made it apparent that the context and setting of a meme are crucial considerations. For example, using a familiar context invites the viewer to identify with the meme ( "Lip Dub"). In terms of our meme, we incorporated elements of popular culture to assure rapid recognition and involvement of the viewers.

Likewise, juxtaposition is another important component that can also be used to enhance the context. For instance, one well-known lip-dub meme combines a pop song with a military setting, which creates an unlikely juxtaposition that adds both humour and an annoyance factor to the meme ( "Lip Dub"). We discovered that humour and an annoying quality are two other persistent facets of viral memes. We used these two components to create “Life in 10 Seconds,” a meme that uses images of iconic celebrities, like Justin Bieber, Barney and Snooki and juxtaposes them with a video of a man screaming hysterically, which creates the idea that someone is shrieking at the sight of these celebrities. A scream that is seemingly a result of fear or disgust is not the usual reaction to these popular icons, so this adds a sense of discord to the meme, as juxtaposition is being used as a tool to enhance the humour factor.

Another commonality among these lip-dubbing memes is the homemade style of production and editing ( "Lip Dub"). We applied this approach to our own meme because the lack of refinement makes the viewers feel as though they could contribute to it too, conveying that one does not have to be a professional to take part in the meme. As well, the low quality adds to the "truthiness" of the meme, giving it a sense of “realness” and spontaneity in comparison to the typical videos aired by mass media, which are normally corporate, organized and specifically targeted ( // Zimmer) //. Our amateur style of editing, with no smooth transitions, makes the audience more receptive to the meme because it eliminates the normalized, yet controlling, top-down power hierarchy of this mass media schema. Once again, this encourages the viewers to transcend their typically passive roles to become active participants in the evolution and spread of the meme.

As part of our research we also looked at the “Brother Sharp” and “The Lying Down Game” memes ("Brother Sharp;" //"Lyingdowngame//"). From these two memes, we learned that a meme is not limited to the video format, but can also be composed of a series of static images. We decided to combine both live action and still photos in our meme to enhance the juxtaposition and the impression that it is homemade. The use of video and images in a sequence leads to repetition, which is another important element of memes. In “Brother Sharp” for example, repetition is apparent as the image of a homeless man is appropriated in a number of different scenarios, ranging from placing his face in posters for common movies, to displaying him as an example of a fashion trend ("Brother Sharp"). In this case, it is the viewers who are generating the variety of different adaptations from the initially proposed image. Similarly, this incentive for participation can also be seen in “The Lying Down Game’s” use of the repetition strategy. One initial image of a person pretending to be dead in an unconventional setting captured the attention of viewers and encouraged them to act, not only as consumers, but also as producers, in making their own variations of the meme ( //"Lyingdowngame//"). We kept this in mind, while designing our own meme, as we encouraged the audience to use the repetitive aspects of our meme, such as the scream, to create their own versions.

Therefore, in composing “Life in 10 Seconds” we decided to combine all of the aforementioned elements. The use of a repeated scream and its juxtaposition with commonly known images, which creates a play on socially accepted contexts, adds to the humour and annoyance factors of our meme. Collectively, these features also enhance the “shock and awe effect” of the meme, further supporting its universal acceptance.

Launch Strategy:
Our meme was officially released on November 5, 2010. We uploaded the video on //YouTube// and incorporated word tags related to its aspects of popular culture, like "Justin Bieber," "Snooki" and "Barney," tags related to CCIT and memes, and also tags such as "Best Halloween Costumes 2010," "Halloween scare," and "Halloween pranks". In doing so, we incorporated as many relevant tags, covering as broad a range as possible, to ensure the greatest viewership. We also took advantage of a current affair (Halloween) and how videos about this particular holiday are often the most popular around October 31.

Aside from the conventional modes for spreading memes, such as //Facebook// walls and individual "tweets," we incorporated slight changes within our strategy, in order to maximize the quality of our meme distribution. For instance, instead of just posting our meme's link to //Facebook// walls, we also sent individual announcements via messages in //Facebook//. This strategy creates a sense of exclusivity and maximizes the chance of our meme actually being viewed, rather than passively browsed through. Also, considering that our //Twitter// account only has a cumulative sum of 90 followers, we contacted student associations with extensive //Twitter// followers (over 300) and "tweeted" our meme through them. With this strategy, we improved the quality of our distribution process in two ways: one, more people received "tweets" with our meme on it; and two, our meme was put in the hands of people who are actually strong //Twitter// users, increasing the chance even further of our meme going viral. We also made our meme available to an audience familiar with the features that aid in spreading memes, hoping to harness this knowledge, by making our video accessible to our fellow classmates by posting it on our course wiki.

Conclusion and Findings:
In all, our meme met certain objectives that we had established, yet the limited timeframe prevented us from fully determining if our efforts are truly memetic. Ever since its release, there has been a steady progression of the viewing of the video on //YouTube//. On the first day (Nov. 4, 2010), there were 30 views. On the second day, the views had a 200% increase - a total of 90 views, while the third and fourth days indicated a sharp increase of over 100 views. Within the four days, we also noticed a high response rate in the form of wall/link comments on //Facebook// and a clear trend of redistribution from our friends, who reposted the //YouTube// link to other people. The same thing cannot be said about //Twitter// however, because the initial "tweet" failed to spread, despite having over 300 followers. In fact, there is no definitive way to determine how many people have viewed the link through "tweets" as opposed to //YouTube//'s "view count". Perhaps, better utilization of //Twitter// is necessary.

What we can learn from this is that a continuous distribution of a meme is necessary for it to spread extensively. The rise of the "view count" of our meme can be attributed to the persistence of our wall posts and constant spamming in //Facebook//.

If we devoted more time in spreading the meme, perhaps its "view count" would increase in accordance with the steady progression we experienced during the initial days of its launch. Though leaving the distribution process to our friends created a slight rise in views, it was insufficient with regards to fully establishing a memetic video. For us, the main component of a meme is a continuous distribution without the creator's influence. With all this in mind, time is essential for a meme to go viral and a more strategic implementation of incentives offered to views could have been beneficial.