Sociological Definition of the Concept of «Internet-Meme»: Away From «Meme»

Abstract

The article is devoted to the development of a sociological definition of the іnternet-meme. The emergence of the Internet as a special space of communication has provoked the emergence of new phenomena in society, which should be studied by sociology. One of these phenomena is the Internet meme, the study of which is not only practically promising in the context of digitalization and internetization of Ukrainian society, but also important for determining the possibilities of influencing social phenomena. The purpose of the article is to develop a sociological definition of the іnternet-meme based on the systematization of existing approaches and generalization of the main properties of the Internet meme. The development of a sociological definition is only the first but necessary step in the study of Internet memes and the possibilities of their impact on social reality. To achieve this goal, the article distinguishes between the concepts of «meme» and «internet-meme», taking into account the metaphorical nature of the term «meme» (coined by R. Dawkins), which is a product of the theory of Social Darwinism, and the derivative origin of the word «internet-meme». The analysis of the literature allowed the authors to distinguish the following areas of consideration of Internet memes: 1. as special information; 2. as a certain action or situation; 3. as an information capacity capable of carrying certain information units and constructs. Based on the results of the analysis, the authors have identified such properties of the іnternet-meme phenomenon as contextuality (dependence of content on form and situation), intertextuality (ability of an Internet meme to make references to other texts and templates) and schematism (transmission of concise images, meanings and information that affects the simplicity and speed of consumption of Internet memes). Based on the identified areas of consideration of Internet memes and their distinguished properties, the article offers the author's definition of an іnternet-meme as a schematic means of storing and reproducing information used on Internet platforms and discursively combining the artifacts of the sign system with the actual context of the environment or its individual elements in a template way.