Categories are not invariant. This paper attempts to explore the dynamic nature of semantic category, in particular, that of fashion language, based on the cognitive theory of Dawkins’ memetics, a new theory of cultural evolution. Semantic attributes of linguistic memes decrease or proliferate in replication and spreading, which involves a dynamic development of semantic category. More specific...

The challenge of predicting meme success has gained attention from researchers, largely due to the increased availability of social media data. Many models focus on structural features of online social networks as predictors of meme success. The current work takes a different approach, predicting meme success from linguistic features. We propose predictive power is gained by grounding memes in ...

This paper reports on the automatic generation of image macro based Internet memes – potentially funny combinations of an image and text, intended to be spread in social networks. Memes are produced for news headlines for which, based on linguistic features, a suitable macro is selected and the text is adapted. The generation method is described together with its current implementation, which i...

Saussurean and Chomskyan “conduit” views of meaning in communication, dominant in much of expert and lay linguistic semantics, presuppose a simple, closed and linear system in which outcomes can be predicted and explained in terms of finite sets of rules. Summarizing critical traditions of scholarship, notably those driven by Bateson’s view of systems infused with more recent linguistic-anthrop...

The process by which social movements move through time and space can be understood as a process of innovation diffusion of memes or ideas. This process of diffusion may be traceable through computational linguistics and map geocoding of the linguistic memes employed by such movements. A Visualizing Information Space In Ontological Networks (VISION) method is described and illustrated with web-...

We describe a 460-million word corpus of online discussions. The data are collected from public news websites and community-ofinterest Internet forums, and are designed to support research on the propagation of socially relevant ideas, a.k.a., “memes.” A structural and statistical description of the corpus is given, and the employed methods of website monitoring, collection, and extraction are ...

Humorous images can be seen in many social media websites. However, newcomers to these websites often have trouble fitting in because the community subculture is usually implicit. Among all the types of humorous images, Internet memes are relatively hard for newcomers to understand. In this work, we develop a system that leverages crowdsourcing techniques to generate explanations for memes. We ...

Providing information can be expanded to include systems that deliver information-like artifacts. They provide such “things” as advertisements, propaganda pieces, and meme artifacts. Memes are the subject of extensive intellectual debate in science and popular culture because it is claimed that parallels can be drawn between theories of cultural evolution manifested in memes, and theories of bi...