Know You Meme and Make Sure to Exploit The Hell Out of It

Quick english / history lesson

Meme

1. a cultural item that is transmitted by repetition in a manner analogous to the biological transmission of genes.

2. an idea or element of social behaviour passed on through generations in a culture, esp by imitation.

- 1976, introduced by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in "The Selfish Gene" (1976), coined by him from Gk. sources, e.g. mimeisthai "to imitate," and intended to echo gene.

On my search for an "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" video to post to my sisters Facebook page this morning, I stumbled across this gem of a presentation from the recent Web 2.0 Expo, hosted in my very own City of SF. Having wanted to attend the expo and being highly interested in what it had to say about the web, possibly social media integration, where things are going, etc. - I was, of course, drawn in.

I should have consulted the dictionary first, as it would have better prepared me, more accurately, for what I was about to watch. The title of Dawkins' book couldn't have put the topic addressed to better terms, I'm not going to attempt to, maybe just flesh the idea out from my own point of view a bit.

Maybe my "spidey" senses should have also been tipped off by the fact that this was a conference that coined it's name after a term that is so two years ago. HAHA (yes, I just laughed at my own nerd joke). But fact remains, Web 2.0 "was" the new big thing, a termed used to express a new level of web usage and development that clearly represented a new generation/model in how we build an online world. The term is no longer fresh, and neither was this video.

More often than not I felt myself wondering if this video was made with ADHD riddled children in mind. The presenters... Maybe this is a good time to pause and watch it if you already haven't and then we'll dive back in.

INTERMISSION

The speakers themselves seemed to be their own embarkation of Wallace Stevens "Of Modern Poetry 2.0" making sure they get credit for this "hip" idea while instructing people how to make sure they get credit for (or at least stay conscious of the idea of getting credit for) their own "hip" ideas. They seemed chipper and pleased with their having offered the "red pill" of idea-ownership into the group consciousness.

Trying to be too hip, talking at the crowd as in a manner reminiscent of Nickelodeon award show hosts, their constant culture references seemed more an exercise in representing how cool and obscure they were rather than getting to the point of getting to their point. I half expected Cyrus or Bieber to pop out behind the curtain and close out the presentation with their latest single. Gawh.

Honestly, it was a terribly interesting and highly entertaining presentation. However, I still don't see where they got to a real point of discussion toward what their purpose for presenting this topic was, or bettering things on the world wide virtual scope of things.

The "meme" concept has been around long before the computer, so the presenters pointed out ad-nauseum, bringing this concept that has sat on the public consciousness back burner to the foreground to .... then what? Talk about how this applies to the world wide webs, maybe? For those who are striving "to be the first at Internet famedom!"

I see why they are asking these questions, I understand and appreciate the importance of this topic. But doesn't this seem a bit too forward thinking, and by that I mean a bit self-aggrandizing. Like they're just snotty kids worrying about getting credit for their stuff in front of teacher.

Yes, of course, almost everyone wants to get recognition for what they've created, accomplished, etc. - almost doesn't need to be stated. But, overall this presentation reeked of a "Hey, look how cool we are for having thought of this" moment. Oh, and by the way, we're gonna Disney-afy this b!t¢h with zany graphics and speedy upbeat dialogue.

Oh, and please, let's not overlook the token pretty girl, set upon a stool with long hair, pretty legs and an apparent inability to speak without stumbling over the fifth word of every sentence, for a two-fold purpose:

1. instant street cred for the four chic geek males sharing her stage

2. duh.... look at her computer geeks. You paid God knows how much to get in here. You should get to enjoy it.

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