3. INTERNET IS SERIOUS BUSINESS
The idea of the meme as a cat picture, rage face, or Advice Dog is
over.
“Memes” are so mainstream that they’ve now been co-opted by
marketers for brands like SmartWater, VitaminWater and Comedy
Central.
Cheezburger bought Know Your Meme for a reported seven figures
in 2011.
4. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEMES
The concept of the Internet meme (and the generation that made it
famous) is aging.
Communities like Reddit and (maybe) 4chan that became popular by
starting memes—and saw those memes appropriated for profit—now
want to be taken more seriously.
Memes as we know them may be over, but the lessons we’ve
learned about how to make something “viral” can still be useful.
5. WITH GREAT VIRALITY COMES
GREAT RESPONSIBILITY
Memes as tools to spread serious information. Memes as journalism?
ex.: BuzzFeed hires professional journalists, partners with The New
York Times for election coverage. How does this change things?
How should popular curators decide what’s worthy of promotion?
What responsibilities do they have to their audiences?
What if you’re just posting to a small Tumblr or deciding what to
upvote on Reddit?
7. HOW (AND WHY)
TO MAKE SOMETHING GO VIRAL
Is there inherent value in “viral?”
How can we separate the valuable from the pointless, the
uninteresting and the unfunny? (Should we even try?)
What’s the difference between something viral and news? (Is there
even a difference?)
8. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
What are memes going to be when they grow up?
What will journalism look like on the post-meme Internet? (What
should it look like?)
What happens to the already-blurry line between “viral” and news?
