The spread of Internet memes explained through internal motivations.

1. People
Explained Through
Hipster Ariel

2. Remember The Six Phases of an Internet Meme?
1. Resonance and Stimulation
2. I Can Play Too
3. Investment in Stream
4. Shifting Context
5. Curators
6. Memetic Residue
We decided to look at are internet meme
phases in terms of individual’s motivations
for interacting with them.

3. Phase 1: Resonance and Stimulation = Shared Interest
shared interest
The markers of meaning in an internet
meme tell people that other people are
interested in the same things that they are.

4. Phase 2: I can play too = desire to belong
Would you want to be him?
When people create and spread this content
with other people, they become part of the
group that gets the joke.

5. Phase 3: Investment in Stream = Collective Ownership
Do you think they feel like
they are part of the team?
By becoming invested in the content stream, people began to feel
a connection to the content and to the group and to the actual
content.

6. Phase 4: Shifted Context = Borrowed Meaning
Community 2
Community 1
Participators can use borrowed meaning to enter new communities.

7. Phase 5: Curators = Validation
Do you think the band on stage is
grateful to the record label that
took a chance on their music?
Curators mine the internet for the best material. When they
showcase a community’s content, it validates that what the
community finds cool is, in fact, cool.

8. Memetic Residue = Lack of Interest
It doesn’t matter how great something is people
eventually lose interest.
People are constantly moving on to content that they
perceive as newer, funnier, and more relevant to them and
their community.

9. Individual’s Motivations During the Phases
of an Internet Meme
1. Shared interest Individual is
2. Desire to belong motivated by social
3. Collective ownership desires
4. Borrowed meaning rather than content
5. Validation quality.
6. Lack of interest