MASARYK UNIVERSITY Faculty of Social Studies Department of Sociology Internet Memes as Means of Communication Master’s Thesis Brno 2012 Author: Bc. Branislav Buchel Study Advisor: Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky, PhD. I declare that I worked on this diploma work independently and with the use of the listed literature. Brno, 19 May 2012 Branislav Buchel 2 I would like express my gratitude to Ms. Nadya Jaworsky for guiding me through writing of this thesis as well as all the feedback and encouragement she provided me with. 3 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 6 2. Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 9 2.1 Arriving at a method .................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Narrowing down the sample ..................................................................................................... 11 2.2.1 Data collection sites ............................................................................................................ 12 3. Theory of memes ............................................................................................................................. 17 3.1 Key features of memes .............................................................................................................. 19 3.2 Modes of Transmission .............................................................................................................. 24 4. Internet memes ............................................................................................................................... 29 4.1 Demotivational posters ............................................................................................................. 30 4.2 Rickrolling .................................................................................................................................. 33 4.3 “All your base are belong to us” ................................................................................................ 34 4.4 Xzibit Yo Dawg ........................................................................................................................... 35 4.5 Disaster girl ................................................................................................................................ 37 4.6 LOLcats ....................................................................................................................................... 38 4.7 Creating memes intentionally ................................................................................................... 41 5. The Internet ..................................................................................................................................... 43 5.1 Hypertextuality .......................................................................................................................... 43 5.2 4chan ......................................................................................................................................... 46 5.3 Insider Knowledge ..................................................................................................................... 50 6. Communication ............................................................................................................................... 52 6.1 Popular Culture .......................................................................................................................... 54 6.2 The Casually Pepperspray Everything Cop ................................................................................ 56 6.3 Rage Faces (Rage Comics) .......................................................................................................... 58 6.4 Advice Animals ........................................................................................................................... 61 7. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 63 8. Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................... 67 9. List of figures ................................................................................................................................... 70 10. Name index .................................................................................................................................... 71 11. Annotation ..................................................................................................................................... 72 4 5 1. Introduction The Internet is the newest of media and so far it is also the most complex. It can provide most of what previous media have provided. We can talk person to person like via the telephone, we can listen to radio broadcasts, we can watch movies and even live events streamed through the Internet just as we do on television, and we can also use it to read books or news. What is also remarkable is the fact that the introduction of the internet was able to shift the equation in effect in the rest of the media. Previous types of media were predominantly one-way communication channels. By this I mean that there was “one” central transmitter of information and the rest were just receivers. This state has been challenged by the spread of the Internet. Suddenly, there is a medium which provides all its users with an easily accessible opportunity to be transmitters of information, to be active. People have eagerly grasped this opportunity and now we spend gradually more and more time connected online. The Internet gives a completely new meaning and dimension to Simmel’s concept of individualization. There would be few, if any, who would not be able to find something that is relevant to their interests. And not only can they find information pertaining to the subjects of their interests, but there are also public spaces available for people with similar interests to share and interact with others. However, these public spaces are different from those we have been used to so far and thus their new virtual inhabitants are still trying to figure out the options they provide and how to best utilize them in the most beneficial way. One such area, where people are still just exploring the options provided by the Internet is communication. The Internet provides many options and opportunities for interaction and communication while almost bypassing entirely obstacles of physical distance and time. On the other hand it also poses substantive constraints on our communication and those attempting to communicate in the same way as they do in physical world might be very surprised by the outcome of their efforts. Communication on the internet poses several substantial obstacles to communication. The complete absence of mimics and voice modulation reduces the content of the message substantially unless the video or audio is used and even then it is distorted by the quality of the recording equipment. However, the vast majority of the internet communication today is actualized through textual forms of communication where the quality of computer hardware does not 6 even factor in. One of the ways to overcome the difficulties of communication in the internet environment which have emerged is internet memes. I first started to take an interest in internet memes several years ago. At the time I did not know what internet memes were – or even memes in general; all I saw were witty and funny pictures. The first time I encountered an internet meme was probably when I was seeking some advice regarding my computer. While searching for some advice I stumbled upon an internet message board forum where someone posted a question about a problem which looked very similar to the one I was struggling with. Luckily there were many kind people who were trying to answer the question and solve the problem at hand. However, their view of how the problem should be solved differed, substantially as it seemed, and the discussion strayed far from the original problem to some particular details. I was interested to see how the discussion had ended, since I still wanted to know if they had come up with a solution to the question asked. At one point somebody apparently lost patience and instead of trying to argue further posted a picture of Nicolas Cage with a strange bird on his head saying “My hair is a bird Your argument is invalid.” At that time, I did not know that what I had just seen was a very basic internet meme, but since then I was noticing similar pictures on various internet sites and later I learned to distinguish even more types and forms of internet memes. I have also learned that they are referred to as memes. From a sociological point of view I have found it interesting to discover what internet memes actually are, who uses them and why. I answer these questions in my thesis and thereby contribute to sociological understanding of the internet environment. Because I have been using the grounded theory approach to explore and describe internet memes I have decided to organize my thesis accordingly. I put the methodology chapter at the beginning, and just then I continue with theoretical chapter and the rest of analytical