Which memes are bad memes?

[Raccoon]

I wrote:

Originally Posted by Raccoon

A meme is simply a unit of cultural information that spreads through a population. My sig for a long time read "Not all memes are bad memes, please adopt this meme!" - like the Union Jack being everywhere when Def Leppard was popular ADISC has had its own memes, like the "Ban the Yawgmoth Club." Budweiser started a meme with its excellent ad campaign that had people yelling "Whassup" to everyone else, even in non-English languages.

What Moo designates bad memes (according to our site's policy) generally originated @4chan or got spread from there like face palm, epic fail guy, or Caturday.

Is this accurate as to which memes are the ones frowned on by ADISC?

[Charlie F]

Yes.

As far as I know. Chan memes are the disallowed ones, where as something that comes from elsewhere is okay.

The problem area is non-chan memes that are popular on chan sites. No idea what goes on then. I guess it's ultimately down to Moo.

All people need do is report post a meme, and there's no harm done if they make a mistake.
We haven't really had any meme problems for a while, so I thinks it's a non-issue ATM.
Unless people are wondering about Hypnotoad, which is not a chan meme. The whole Toad-flu thing is an ADISC meme AFAIK, and ADISC memes are definitely allowed.

[talula]

At risk of sounding... well... stupid.... what's a meme?

[Dream]

Originally Posted by talula

At risk of sounding... well... stupid.... what's a meme?

A meme is something uses by /chan like mudkipz, awesome face, etc.

[talula]

Originally Posted by Sandman

A meme is something uses by /chan like mudkipz, awesome face, etc.

Yes, so what is it?

[PostTenebrasLux]

Talula-

Racoon provided a definition in the quote at the top of the thread. Here's a wikipedia page on it:

Meme - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I like the idea the 4chan memes are not welcome here. I was not aware of 4chan until hearing about it first on this site and then again recently on the radio. Based on what I know, I'm not a fan. Since learning a bit more, I can see where some of the nonsense posted on FARK originated. I always figured 'facepalm' and 'caturday' were FARK originals...whatever.

[Lil Snap]

Originally Posted by wikipedia

A meme (pronounced /miːm/ - rhyming with "cream"), is a postulated unit or element of cultural ideas, symbols or practices that gets transmitted from one mind to another through speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena. The etymology of the term relates to the Greek word mimema for "something imitated".[1]. Supporters of the concept of memes believe that they act as cultural analogues to genes, in that they self-replicate and respond to selective pressures.[2] Memeticists have not definitively empirically proven the existence of discrete memes or their proposed mechanism as they do not form part of the consensus of mainstream social sciences. Meme theory therefore lacks the same degree of influence granted to its counterpart and inspiration, genetics.

Richard Dawkins first introduced the word in The Selfish Gene (1976) to discuss evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. He gave as examples melodies, catch-phrases, and beliefs (notably religious belief), clothing/fashion, and the technology of building arches.[3]

Meme-theorists contend that memes evolve by natural selection (in a manner similar to that of biological evolution) through the processes of variation, mutation, competition, and inheritance influencing an individual entity's reproductive success. Memes spread through the behaviors that they generate in their hosts. Memes that propagate less prolifically may become extinct, while others may survive, spread, and (for better or for worse) mutate. Theorists point out that memes which replicate the most effectively spread best, and some memes may replicate effectively even when they prove detrimental to the welfare of their hosts.[4]

A field of study called memetics arose in the 1990s to explore the concepts and transmission of memes in terms of an evolutionary model. Criticism from a variety of fronts has challenged the notion that scholarship can examine memes empirically. Some commentators question the idea that one can meaningfully categorize culture in terms of discrete units.

Memes in Internet culture
Main article: Internet meme

The term internet meme refers to a catchphrase or concept that spreads rapidly from person to person via the internet, largely through email, blogs, social networking sites, and instant messaging. The term is derived from the original concept of memes, although it has come to refer to a much broader category of cultural information. Examples include Rickrolling, lolcats, Leave Britney Alone", and "All your base are belong to us". Web sites such as 4chan, Digg, Youtube, and Encyclopedia Dramatica have become major hubs in spreading Internet memes.

The whole memes = bad news controversy rocked ADISC a while back and there are many threads to search on, should you choose. Not really a topic to look forward to anytime soon, IMO.

[Dream]

Originally Posted by Charlie F

Unless people are wondering about Hypnotoad, which is not a chan meme.

Yes it is, hypnotoad is a chan meme.

Hypnotoad - Encyclopedia Dramatica

This is an example of an hypnotoad meme in action. Someone well post a thread about hypnotoad then the next 100 posts well be "ALL GORY TO HYPNOTOAD" or something like that until the thread 404 itself.

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by PostTenebrasLux

I like the idea the 4chan memes are not welcome here. I was not aware of 4chan until hearing about it first on this site and then again recently on the radio. Based on what I know, I'm not a fan. Since learning a bit more, I can see where some of the nonsense posted on FARK originated. I always figured 'facepalm' and 'caturday' were FARK originals...whatever.

I also see the value in keeping the "bad" ones away, though many seem harmless; they are very powerful. First of all, they hijack the language; if we allow one we allow the lot; and then we look indistinguishable from all the other sites riddled with the damn things. They damage the ability to keep serious things spoken of seriously; well and good for sites that take nothing seriously, but bad for us, who deal with many serious things; it would be all wrong for someone in a panic over having same-sex attaction, say, to tell, "You thought you were straight and are cutting yourself because you think some guy is cute? *facepalm*

Also, bad memes are faddish. This type of site needs to remain consistent in many ways, in its tone and language, to function as a support site. If it were full of the latest /chan/ memes a newcomer would have no idea what last month's or last year's posts were about. If this site turned to crap, unintelligible and generic it would die from ceasing to be relevant as surely as it would from a hack attack. Donations would dry up for one...

[Pojo]

Why not just take the safe route, and not post any meme, whether it be "good" or "bad"