Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with memes

Pictures of celebrities riding public transit?

Tom-B — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:58:18 -0800

We're looking for photos of famous people riding public transit for a Facebook page that fights prejudice against public transportation. In my city, public transportation is seen as something for the lower class.
We're trying to frame it as something cool and rebellious, that goes against mainstream capitalist expectations of getting rich and buying a car, humanizes the city, etc.

So we're looking for photos of famous alternative people, say Kerouac in a bus in 1953, or Afrika Baambaata riding the subway in 1980, suitable for making some memes in memegenerator. Help us out? Thanks!

Seeking good writing/research on Internet memes

mediated self — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 11:10:50 -0800

Authoritative\scholarly sources for the history and culture of Internet memes? I'm interested in memes as Internet artifacts (whether viral videos, catch-phrases, advice animals, etc.), not the roots of the term in genetics/evolutionary theory which I think I have covered (Dawkins, Blackmore, Dennet). Know Your Meme is a great resource but I am looking for a higher-quality source, i.e. journal articles, long-form journalism, non-fiction books.

These previous questions (1, 2) sought similar information and yielded some good leads, but they are several years old and I figure much more has been written on Internet memes since then.

Getting the Memes Out of My Facebook News Feed?

WCityMike — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 13:11:20 -0800

Is there a way one can prevent people sharing a Facebook page's photos on your newsfeed -- either using Facebook's native settings or a Firefox extension or Greasemonkey userscript? I'm trying to weed out the memes and sassy e-cards. Can I block the pages like I would a person? Okay, Facebook question time. I hate these … *sigh*

I have a few Facebook friends who share photos from pages that are annoyingly named. These “photos” are usually fairly stupid memes, Photoshopped e-cards, etc.

I’d like to preserve the friendship, but filter out those specific posts. It should be possible, I imagine – it’s a specific type of thing, it’s when they are sharing someone else’s “photographs”. Even moreover, it’s usually when they’re sharing photographs off a page, not a person.

These pages are usually something like:

... shared Reading someone's status and thinking 'oh shut the fuck up.''s photo.
... shared I don't care what you think's photo.
... shared Rottenecards's photo.

I can’t quite figure out if there’s a way I can “block” these pages like I would a person. Or if there’s a way I can prevent this specific person’s shared photos from turning up in my news feed without blocking all their other stuff.

Defriending the person's a last resort, and likely one I might not even take.

Duck, duck, horse

Obscure Reference — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 19:00:35 -0800

Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or 1 horse-sized duck? That's not my question (much as I might like it to be). I'm trying to find the origin of this question, which was asked to President Obama recently. The earliest cite I can find on-line is from 2003. Then practically nothing until 2010. Was this question original in 2003? Where did it go in the intervening years?

Big in 2012

dontjumplarry — Mon, 28 May 2012 22:11:20 -0800

What cultural fads and crazes have hit the big time in 2012? In other words, what are the ZUMBA, Atkins diet and Crocs shoes of today? Some online examples might include Pinterest, and the "Shit XXXXs Say" video phenomenon on YouTube. But I'm also looking for offline fads. Trends which peaked late last year are also OK.

I want more stories like these

Omnomnom — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 01:23:40 -0800

I want to keep track of things like Paul Christoforo vs. Penny Arcade, Kony 2012 and Woody Harrelson's Reddit-fail, but also successful marketing memes like Ikea's Herding Cats ad. Examples where marketing meets or collides with the fickle internet mob. Which websites should I be following?

WARNING: SUM OF DIS CHAPTA IS XTREMLY SCRAY. VIOWER EXCRETION ADVISD

soft and hardcore taters — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:05:23 -0800

I'm heartbroken, and need some distraction. Ridiculously involved, dorky stories stories and youtube junk preferred. The last few things to keep my interest were My Immortal, and the Ben creepypasta series of videos. I've watched almost every available Judge Judy episode I could find. Fun new stories to get lost in would be great. Thanks, metafilter

What is the source movie for the "Hitler finds out..." meme?

sramsey — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:34:00 -0800

You know those "Hitler finds out..." videos that are cropping up everywhere? What movie is that clip from? I'm talking about videos like these.

GIF Archaeology

0bvious — Mon, 16 May 2011 07:17:15 -0800

I'm writing a paper on (animated) GIFs and am trying to track down some of the most (in)famous. I suppose I am talking memes, but I'm more interested in the GIF as an archaeological reference point. I frequent sites like dump.fm, tumblr etc. so am quite tuned in to the glitchy/kitschy side of GIF culture. How theoretical have people got on these wonders of the web? How does one trace the history of an animated GIF? I have a personal take on this (my paper is only short), but would love to find some well recognised, well lauded or completely briliant, unknown theoretical essays on the subject.

When I ask for (in)famous GIFs I am really trying to track down GIFs that spawned a long running meme. There are LOTS of memes out there, and many of them have been turned into GIFs, but which memes specifically came from the GIF culture? Has anyone traced these lineages? How would one go about examining a GIF archaeologically (if that is at all possible)?

Cheers

What should my teeny-bopper pop song be about?

Lutoslawski — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 15:13:24 -0800

I've been tasked with writing an 'original pop song teenagers will like and want to dance to.' The music does not worry me. It's choosing something to write about that's got me hung up. For a theatre project of sorts, I need to compose a pop song a la Britney or Gaga or Katy Perry or whomever. I can write pop music just fine - but when it comes to lyrics or a hook or even a theme for such a song - I got nothing. It's been a long time since I've been a teenager and I think a thing or two has changed.

I'm looking for suggestions that will not come off as 'an older dude trying to be cool' and perhaps it will even strike a chord with the teeny bopping crowd.

I've tried doing research by reading the lyrics of some of the aforementioned artists, but most of them save the chorus or hook line are largely jibberish. That's no good either.

So what are some major teenage memes? Issues? Fads? Trends? Any one-liner, a concept, a hook, a word or joke that might make a good pop song is welcome. It can be dirty, ironic, sexy, even silly. Obvs there's a lot of LULZ that one could come up with - and it CAN be a little lulzy - but I don't want it to simply be a song making fun of teeny bop pop songs.

A song about sexting? Skinny jeans? A break-up over facebook? Vampire sex? What?

Help me AskMe! And thank you.

8-) Deal with it?

joshuaconner — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 15:11:07 -0800

I'm looking for an animated GIF of someone sending a series of texts that are an ASCII representation of the "Deal With It" meme. Where did I see this?

Study on suggestibility?

Andrhia — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:37:19 -0800

Looking for research on the human brain's susceptibility to suggestion/environmental cues? Some time ago, a friend of mine linked me to a study in which people were required to read a newsletter espousing political views they strongly disagreed with. There was no immediate change of opinion, but several months later, the subjects were more likely to agree with these ideas they had started off opposing. The conclusion was that after an idea has been knocking around in your head for a while, your brain starts to forget where it came from and whether it was supposed to trust the source or not.

Does anyone know what the heck this study is? Can anyone hook me up with similar research, that simply being exposed to an idea, wither explicitly in writing/speech, or communicated through the environment, is powerful in its own right?

"Nothing good will come of this" ???

dorgla — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:54:45 -0800

"Nothing good will come of this" is popping up a lot lately, but my Google+fu has failed to yield the origin of this catchphrase. Got clues?

Help me make a compilation of songs made popular via Youtube.

theButterFly — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:51:00 -0800

I am looking to make a compilation of music that consists of songs that owe their popularity to Youtube. What songs does the hive mind recommend? i want to put together a compilation of musical tracks that owe their popularity to youtube. They could be things of a viral nature like "Chocolate Rain" or songs that gained a following due to youtube like "Here is Goes Again" by OKGO. What songs would you suggest?

TECHNOVIKING doesn't dance to the music, the music dances to TECHNOVIKING

jimfl — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:49:55 -0800

What is the music that Technoviking is dancing to?

Wag more bark less baffles me.

mathowie — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:02:54 -0800

Where did the "Wag More, Bark Less" bumper sticker meme start? My own sightings of them have gone from extremely rare to many cars seen in every single trip I take. Is it a dog owner/pet store promotional item? Is it a political thing? Something on Oprah I missed?

Can you help me find an Aerosmith quote about the song "St. John"?

Ubiq — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:36:04 -0800

Can you help me find an Aerosmith quote about the song "St. John"? I'm writing an article about how certain songs and other media are catchy and/or sticky. I remember reading somewhere a quote from Stephen Tyler of Aerosmith saying, in effect, that he was surprised that the song "St. John" from "Permanent Vacation" wasn't a monster hit, because it sure seemed catchy to them. Attempts to google search for it just finds me scads of web sites of ring tones and lyrics. Anyone know where I might have seen the quote?

The Hermeneutics of 4chan: A Deconstructive Analysis of Teh Lulz

Keter — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:27:08 -0800

Academia must have discovered the Internets by now... right? I'm interested in finding some academic, long-form journalism, or just generally "high-thought" articles about "low" Internet culture, from memes to 4chan to Anonymous to Second Life. Halp?! What is the psychology of griefing? What makes a meme? If the center is not the center, then... then... who was Phone?! I barely know where to start, and the college reference librarian gave me a bit of a queer look when I asked her for guidance. I attend an academic institution with a prolific number of journal submissions, so if any potential articles are behind a subscription wall, it's entirely likely that I can access them.

On that note, even suggestions as to possible journals that I can comb on my own time would be helpful--I do my work in the natural sciences predominantly, so I'm unfamiliar with the scene when it comes to other disciplines. Any particularly interesting books would also be welcome.

I've already discovered the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, found a few articles from Bonnie Nardi, and am familiar with I Can Haz Research Paper (from the blue, previously). Not to mention the New York Time's take on 4chan, weev, and anonymous. This is first and foremost for my own curiosity, so anything you have stumbled across that you think would be interesting to digest (whether it be interesting because it's genuinely insightful analysis, or so bad that it's good for the lulz) would be great!

What's the joke thas hase the punchline "what and give up show business"

bonecrusher — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 11:42:58 -0800

What's the original joke that has the punchline "what, and give up show business?" Google doesn't help, since it's such a common reference, most links are using the line assuming you know the joke.

What's the history of the demotivational poster?

hpliferaft — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:46:03 -0800

What is the origin of the "demotivational poster" internet meme? I'm looking for a history of the demotivational posters popularized on 4chan (I think).
Here are examples from the company that the Wikipedia says popularized them. A search on Encyclopedia Dramatica returned nothing.

Where were they started? And by whom?

Help me thread the needle.

Powerful Religious Baby — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:02:45 -0800

Over the past year or two, I've noticed an increasing use of the phrase "thread the needle" in news stories and blog entries. The problem is, I don't know exactly what "thread the needle" means, and it appears in a variety of contexts that don't appear entirely consistent with each other. Lee Huang and Robert Litan use it interchangeably with the phrase "walk a fine line." Timothy Noah, similarly, thinks it means "to skillfully navigate a difficult problem." (Many people seems to be using it interchangeably with "threading one's way"--a figurative action that differs slightly, in my mind, from the figurative action of "threading a needle.") David Welna, however, thinks it means "to get something started," and Andrew Sullivan seems to think it means "to aid understanding." This dude thinks it means "broach the subject." (I'm almost certainly misreading a few of these examples, but I think that's due to the fact that the phrase is often used in a vague or nebulous way.)

It's mentioned often in connection with politics, particularly Barack Obama. Is there any consensus about the use of this phrase, or are people hearing it, instinctively filling in their own definition, and applying it however they see fit? I'm interested.

I accidentally the whole conversation?

hobbes — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:59:36 -0800

Does anyone know of a working mirror with all the "I accidentally the whole fleshlight" conversations? The Flickr photos in the Joe Rogan board aren't showing up and I've only been able to random bits various Photobucket accounts. And I've also checked the Encyclopedia Dramatica entry.

Someone's got to have accidentally the whole chatlog. :P

Were there unwilling/accidental celebrities before the Internet?

waxpancake — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:59:43 -0800

Looking for examples of accidental/unwitting/unwilling celebrities, before the Internet. Help me find the Star Wars Kids, Afroninjas, and Tay Zondays of the pre-1990s. I'm doing a talk at ROFLThing in late August, and I want to talk about unwilling or accidental celebrities. You'd think there would be historical examples of people who became famous for embarrassing actions before the age of the Internet, but I'm having a very hard time finding them. Were there accidental celebrities in the '60s, '70s, and '80s? How about the Victorian era?

Finding unwitting celebrities is much easier, with the entire genre of outsider art and outsider music. It's easy to make the argument that Tay Zonday and William Hung are the direct descendants of Wesley Willis and Tiny Tim, but they were very willing participants in their celebrity.

I'm more interesting in people that became famous accidentally, real or fictional, before the Internet. Bonus points for anything before 1970. Thank you!

Help me get my head on straight about a political idea

snsranch — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:55:04 -0800

How can a person who doesn't even have a blog start a meme like thing, a cultural change or influence based on word play? I'm really tired of the use of the word "liberal", "lib" etc. So my propagandist idea is to somehow replace it with "progressive" or anything that doesn't connote mediocrity, weakness and lack of focus.

It's a long shot, and no I'm not exactly pro-Democrat, but it's worth a try.

(sorry-kinda USian context)

You entitled kids get off my lawn!

dw — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 13:48:02 -0800

What's the origin of the phrase "special (little) snowflake?" It's a meme expressing the idea that we have treated modern kids as so special and unique that they have a natural sense of entitlement. I've seen it occur with and without the word "little."

I haven't been able to find where the phrase comes from. My Google-fu is failing me.