I agree with the OP, but what is a MeMe and why does the capitalization make a difference?

Ok, I just searched original meme in the searchbar. NONE of them are actual memes.

Well, they're not the standard 4chan/reddit/cheezburger style memes, but if they are repeated based on a general pattern, then they are by definition memes

birdoftheday wrote:

Well, they're not the standard 4chan/reddit/cheezburger style memes, but if they are repeated based on a general pattern, then they are by definition memes

A ‘meme’ is a virally-transmitted cultural symbol or social idea.

They aren't viral.

Original and meme are mutually exclusive.

Definition of viral: quickly and widely spread or popularized especially by person-to-person electronic communication

I don't see why not?

Blaze349 wrote:

A ‘meme’ is a virally-transmitted cultural symbol or social idea.

They aren't viral.

???

MegaApuTurkUltra wrote:

Blaze349 wrote:

A ‘meme’ is a virally-transmitted cultural symbol or social idea.

They aren't viral.

???

These ‘original memes’ aren't viral. They aren't reshared thousands of times and they are unrecognizable and forgettable to most people that frequent the web. The one I saw wasn't presenting an idea. It was an animation of an human-like cat moving around. Maybe they meant MeMe, what ever that is.

Blaze349 wrote:

MegaApuTurkUltra wrote:

Blaze349 wrote:

A ‘meme’ is a virally-transmitted cultural symbol or social idea.

They aren't viral.

???

These ‘original memes’ aren't viral. They aren't reshared thousands of times and they are unrecognizable and forgettable to most people that frequent the web. The one I saw wasn't presenting an idea. It was an animation of an human-like cat moving around. Maybe they meant MeMe, what ever that is.

oh, you played the confusing pronoun game. I see what you meant now

Why do you need to place an arbitrary number (“thousands”) on “viral”?

birdoftheday wrote:

Why do you need to place an arbitrary number (“thousands”) on “viral”?

Everything is relative.

Whether they are reshared thousands of times or not memes are inherently unoriginal.

Jonathan50 wrote:

Whether they are reshared thousands of times or not memes are inherently unoriginal.

Someone had to make them up, didn't they?

birdoftheday wrote:

Jonathan50 wrote:

Whether they are reshared thousands of times or not memes are inherently unoriginal.

Someone had to make them up, didn't they?

Memes have to be viral before they are memes.

What about fsjal? Or milhouse? and who says they have to be viral before?

birdoftheday wrote:

Someone had to make them up, didn't they?

AFAIK, the original We Are Number One is original and therefore not a meme. We Are Number One but <…> is unoriginal and it is a meme.

What about the first We Are Number One but (…)?

Oh, wow… Searching up “animation meme definition” on Google will bring up the first result as… A blurb from the Scratch Wiki? But yeah, here's a screenshot of it:

WolfCat67 wrote:

Oh, wow… Searching up “animation meme definition” on Google will bring up the first result as… A blurb from the Scratch Wiki? But yeah, here's a screenshot of it:

Oh, ok.

I hope this post helps settle this:

“Meme”

Dictionary.com - Source (1 support, 1 against / 50% support)

NOUN
a. a cultural item that is transmitted by repetition and replication in a manner analogous to the biological transmission of genes.
b. a cultural item in the form of an image, video, phrase, etc., that is spread via the Internet and often altered in a creative or humorous way.

A: A lot of “original memes” on Scratch are barely “transmitted by repetition and replication.”
B: Scratch “original memes” are displayed in the manner of an image, and are spread through a limited part of the Internet (Scratch), but are rarely altered in a creative/humorous way - and are only loved or favorited.

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary - Source (1 support, 1 neutral / 75% support)

NOUN
1
: an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture
2
: an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online especially through social media

1: Scratch original memes are sometimes shared.
2: Original memes can be seen as an interesting/amusing item, and are typically through video or image, and are shared through a somewhat social media website.

Urban Dictionary - Link not provided; potentially inappropriate content on same page. (1 support, 2 neutral, 1 inapplicable / 50% support)

(noun)
1 : an idea, belief or belief system, or pattern of behavior that spreads throughout a culture either vertically by cultural inheritance (as by parents to children) or horizontally by cultural acquisition (as by peers, information media, and entertainment media)

2 : a pervasive thought or thought pattern that replicates itself via cultural means; a parasitic code, a virus of the mind especially contagious to children and the impressionable

3 : the fundamental unit of information, analogous to the gene in emerging evolutionary theory of culture
- meme pool (n.) : all memes of a culture or individual
- memetic (adj.) : relating to memes
- memetics (n.) : the study of memes

4 : in blogspeak, an idea that is spread from blog to blog

5 : an internet information generator, especially of random or contentless information

1: The memes are rarely shared, but are only really praised (through love-its/fave-its.)
2: Not really applicable to this use.
3a: “Meme pools” can be studios with original meme projects inside of them.
3b/3c: Disputable/variable.

Opinion - Original opinion (2 support, 1 against, 1 neutral / 66.66% prior to neutral; <66% after neutral)

(NOUN)
A media file that is spread through the internet in humor or remembrance of a particular subject.

A “Scratch original meme” is posted on the Internet to be viewed, but is only praised and not really shared. It does, however, cover a particular subject, but it's humor depends on who's viewing it.

KEY:

Definition.

Supports the idea that Scratch memes are actual memes.
Disputable.
Does not support the idea that Scratch memes are actual memes.
Not applicable.

Thanks for reading,
Austinato