To Meme Or Not To Meme

For those of us, myself included, who participate in "memes" but haven't the faintest idea where that term originated or what it means, I came across a concise and useful description of the meaning of "meme" on Grizzly's blog:

"In 1976 biologist Richard Dawkins wrote a book entitled "The Selfish Gene" and in it he coined the term "meme". He created the word by taking a Greek term "mimeme" (something imitated) and shortened it to rhyme with gene. The purpose was to describe a cultural phenomenon that was similar to the biological world of genes... [which] are able to replicate themselves and propagate from one organism to another in the form of genetic information which makes up the broader spectrum of evolutionary biology. Dawkins noted that the cultural world behaved in much the same way - cultural information propagates from one mind to another and mutates and spreads among the populace and becomes a building block for the cultural preferences as a whole.

Think of tunes, catch phrases, fashion trends, fads, beliefs, architecture or what we consider esthetically pleasing as examples of memes. Why does society like what it likes as a whole since so much of it is subjective? - we like square houses not round, why is tall and thin seen a beautiful and not short and thick?

Our acceptance of cultural traits and our willingness to pass these bits of info along to others is a meme.

It's ironic that Dawkins term never caught on at the time he coined it - 30 years later it is suddenly in vogue thanks to bloggers and memes have become a meme of their own - bloggers have been starting memes as a way to connect to each other and transmit messages to a much wider audience. Like a chain letter a meme can grow and mutate rapidly over the web."

I appreciate this description, although if called upon to create my own definition of "meme" I suppose I would have used an analogy with viruses rather than genes.  When I began blogging in February 2007 I could Google FeeFiFoto and find seven references.  Yes, seven.  Not 700 or 70,000, but just plain old seven.  And, although seven is my lucky number, it's not so lucky if it's the number of Google references pertaining to your business.  I felt as if I was floating though space, alone, in a vacuum, that I'd make no sound if I fell in the forest and nobody was nearby. 

Today I Google FeeFiFoto and find 11,500 references.  Awareness of my web business is spreading as surely as germs though a preschool.  And a large part of this new exposure comes from participation in memes, bless their little viral hearts.

So here's the latest meme started by Heather, who's probably at home WAHMing as we speak:

How long have you been blogging?

About two hours since this morning.... Oh, you meant total?  I've been blogging since February, although I've been working on this blog only since August.  I started with an experimental blog on Blogger and discovered that I enjoyed relating my slip and fall stories, as long as I had a say in how they were disseminated.

What inspired you to start a blog and who are your mentors?

I began blogging after meeting Jim and Franki Durbin of Durbin Media. One aspect of their business involves training small web-business people like me to promote our businesses through blogging.  The previous owners of FeefiFoto had promoted exclusively through Google, which paid off somewhat in a less competitive atmosphere; but by the time I came on board the site was generating sales mostly through goodwill and fumes.  Durbin Media, and Drill Sergeant Kristen, trained me to compose meaningful and appealing blog entries to attract the attention of my ideal customers, like scrapbookers: people who want to preserve photos and memories in creative ways.

Are you trying to make money online, or just doing it for fun?

I'm definitely TRYING to make money online, but I must admit that blogging brings me great enjoyment.  Is it fun?  I suppose yes, in the same way that knitting is fun.  When I complete a post I particularly like, I feel a special triumph.

Tell me 3 things you LOVE about being online.

If I want, I can stay immediately up to date on all the news.  Of course, most of the news is so bad that I'd rather miss it, but I did keep up with the World Series.  And if it weren't for the Internet I'd never find things like this, from FrostfireZoo:

It's a world map made of Spam.  Real Spam.

Second, I can find any object or piece of information I could ever need.  In fact, my onlineitude was what got me involved in buying and running FeeFiFoto in the first place, since they needed someone who knew how to make a retail site appealing, and I'm all about shopping online.

Third, I meet (or in some cases, lurk near) some of the most fascinating people.  There's Antique Mommy, who adores her child more than the air she breathes, and writes so eloquently about her sparkling relationship with him.  Her stories remind me of all that I love about my children.  There's Dad Gone Mad, who's as funny and sensitive as any of the Mommy Bloggers.  There's Christina at Solo Mother, and my friend Gayla at Mom Gadget, who recently sent me an HP Photo Book kit, and dozens of bloggers whose stories and recommendations I look forward to reading every morning, and afternoon, and evening, and night, and morning and afternoon... 

Which brings me to the last question:

Tell me 3 things you STRUGGLE with in the online world.

See above.  I spend waaaay too much time on the computer, because it's always calling me blah blah blah.

There's too much information.  When I was in law school we learned that it was time to stop researching when the same information and sources kept coming up, but that happens way more rarely on the Internet.

The "R" key on my laptop is on the verge of joining its friend the "V" key on the picket lines, so now, in addition to having to retype all my vvvvvvvvv, I'm beginning to have to retype my rrrrrrrrrrr too.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for checking in.

Comments

[Grizzly]

Hi, I noticed your link (Thank You)and just had to check it out. Glad I did - you are a wonderful writer and I have to admit that virus would indeed be a better term than gene. All the best with your site.

Cheers,

Grizzly

[FeeFiFoto]

Thanks for the compliments! As the middle child, I always felt starved for attention. ;)

[Heather Masson]

I'm so glad you found my blog and thank you for participating in the meme.

It is so interesting to find how other bloggers got their start, and things that they enjoy or struggle with.

I enjoyed reading your post, have stumbled it and added you to my reader. :)

Heather

[Antique Mommy]

Thanks for the kind words and the link Fee! I had no idea where the word "meme" came from. The interwebbery, it's just full of info.

[Gayla McCord]

It's amazing at just how much a little project like blogging can take on such a tremendous life of its own.

I've met some amazing people through blogging and because of blogging that I would have never met otherwise.

Thanks for including me in your meme. I feel truly honored.

[Lisanne]

I always thought that it was pronounced "mem," not "meeme." How interesting! Thanks for clearing that up for me (and for stopping by my blog, BTW!).