One Does Not Simply Define Memes: A Prototypical Theory to Understanding Internet Memes
Humanities
Phil 195A: Senior Essay
Memes are humorous digital content shared from person to person on the internet. They
can be images, texts, gifs, videos, or any combination of the above. They evolve quickly, have a
short lifespan, and an ability to convey a variety of conversational subjects. There is no clear
definition of what a meme is and we don’t know how we are able to distinguish memes from
other kinds of digital content. This paper proposes that instead of a definition, we have a
prototypical concept of what a meme is. Instances of digital content are compared to a list of
features common in typical memes. The more common features the content has, the more likely
it would be considered a meme. To test this, I created an online survey with 28 images found on
the internet. Participants were asked if these images were memes, if they would share them on
social media, and if they thought the images were funny. Images that were considered memes by
most participants looked like prototypical memes while images that were not considered memes
had fewer common features. Images that caused disagreements between participants had some
features of typical memes but were missing a key feature or blurred the lines between feature
boundaries.
