Memes in Alltag

Descendants (at least 25 branches originate here)

• Memes in Alltag

  Let us now temporarily leave theory behind.Look at ordinary life as a landscape of things passing from person to person.We will move from the smallest and faste

  • is_parent 1 · Contagion

    😮 yawning😂 laughter👏 applause👀 looking where everybody else is looking🌊 the stadium waveThese are useful starting examples because copying is immediately visibl

    • is_parent Experiment 🔒 ·

      One person suddenly looks intensely at the ceiling.How many people look too?Did information pass?Was anything learned?Would you call it a meme?
  • is_parent 2 · Gestures

    🤝 handshake✋ high five👊 fist bump✌ peace sign🫶 hand-heartfinger heartsair quotesA tiny movement can carry socially learned meaning.

    • is_parent Gesture = Movement + Convention ·

      The physical movement alone is not enough.A raised thumb means something because other people already know how to interpret it.The same movement can mean differ
  • is_parent 3 · Rituals

    🎂 birthday cake + candles + song + wish🥂 touching glasses before drinking🎆 counting down at New Year🪵 knocking on wood🤞 crossing fingers💰 throwing a coin into a

    • is_parent The Elevator ·

      Enter.Turn around.Face the door.Avoid prolonged eye contact.Become strangely silent.Who taught us this?Many everyday conventions are acquired without an explic
    • is_parent The Queue ·

      At the highest floor of the Eiffel Tower, there are two elevators facing each other. If human beings were fully rational beings, two equally long queues should
  • is_parent 4 · Words

    “Actually...”“However...”“You know?”“At the end of the day...”euh… [øː] , bah ouiблядь, f*ck, vole ...Language is full of units which seem to "live their own l

    • is_parent Catchphrases ·

      A phrase can detach itself from its original situation.It becomes reusable.People recognize it.They repeat it because others recognize it.Recognition itself can
  • is_parent 5 · Earworms

    A melody enters through the ears.Hours later it is still playing internally.You hum it.Somebody else hears it.Now it may inhabit another mind.An earworm is almo

    • is_parent Sound Memes ·

      nursery rhymesfootball chantsadvertising jinglesmelodies with changing lyricsTikTok audio fragments detached from their original contextThe carrier can change w
  • is_parent 6 · Drawings

    ♥ a heart that looks nothing like an anatomical heart★ a five-pointed star☀ a circle with rays🏠 a square house with a triangular roof💡 a light bulb meaning “ide

    • is_parent The Cool S ·

      Who knows how to draw the “Cool S”?Who taught you?Where did you first see it?Do you know who invented it?Why did generations of schoolchildren reproduce it?A ne
  • is_parent 7 · Interface Memes

    💾 floppy disk = save🔍 magnifying glass = search⚙ gear = settings🗑 bin = delete♥ heart = like☰ three lines = menuThe original object can disappear while its symb

    • is_parent Memes Can Outlive Their World ·

      Many people click a floppy disk icon without ever having saved a file onto a floppy disk.The symbol has become detached from the technology that produced it.Its
  • is_parent 8 · Fashion

    ripped jeansmulletsmoustachesCrocsrolling trouser legsparticular sneaker stylesblack clothing in particular creative milieusBodies become media.

    • is_parent Fashion Evolves ·

      Someone adopts a style.Others notice it.Some imitate it.Some exaggerate it.Some reject it.Some revive an older version thirty years later.Replication produces v
  • is_parent 9 · Food & Household Knowledge

    family recipessourdough starterscutting sandwiches diagonallyparticular ways of folding pizza“five-second rule”putting a wet phone into riceUseful, useless and

    • is_parent Transmission ≠ Truth ·

      A meme does not have to be true to spread.It does not have to be useful.It does not have to benefit its host.It merely needs properties that allow further trans
  • is_parent 10 · Social Formats ·

    the elevator pitchbrainstorming with Post-itsthe agenda slidethe TED-style talk“three things I learned...”the Venn diagramthe iceberg diagramSometimes the meme
  • is_parent 11 · Internet Memes

    image macrosreaction GIFs“POV:”“starter pack”“nobody: / absolutely nobody:”“tell me X without telling me X”“how it started / how it's going”The Internet did not

    • is_parent Template + Variation ·

      Internet memes make one property especially visible:a stable template + many mutations.Distracted Boyfriend.Drake Hotline Bling.Woman Yelling at a Cat.The image
  • is_parent 12 · Stories & Rumours ·

    urban legendsschoolyard rumoursghost stories“a friend of a friend once...”life hacksfolk explanationsStories are compressed, reconstructed and altered every tim
  • is_parent 13 · Beliefs ·

    superstitionsstereotypesideas about successideas about beautyideas about what a “proper career” looks likeideas about how families, schools or workplaces should