A meme embodies the spreading power of an idea. Its mutations and variations emerge from the “big data” and information that circulate the web. James Gleick describes the mutating qualities of memes: he claims that memes “are not to be thought of as elementary particles but as organisms….Memes are complex units, distinct and memorable—units with staying power.”  The “staying power” of memes becomes linked to traces of thought and the effects of a variety of ideological and technological influences.

Perhaps we can even think about memes as having an alchemic composition; like a chemical solution, memes recombine and refigure, defining the very notion of an idea through the flexible iterations of digital information.

The impetus of memes impacts social activism, social media, and online interactions. The film We Are Legion focuses on how memes accentuate the raw website 4chan. The site’s anonymity allows threads to explode, mobilizing and archiving attention-getting images and views. The movie describes 4chan as a “a breeding ground for Internet culture.” The group “Anonymous” cultivates the growth of the site, spreading ideas as open expression:  the group represents a fusion of limitless, subversive voices. The mien of 4chan and also “Anonymous” represents, then, both the positive and negative consequences of “hacktivist” sites.

In addition, this movie illustrates how memes  function as digital rhetoric. The persuasive power of memes reinforces the influence of “Anonymous.” What began as a small Internet group, eventually became characterized as the very power of technological transmission and intelligence: moreover, “Anonymous” seeks to encapsulate the  stratification of what “chaotic” means.  The movie poses the question as to whether or not  “Anonymous” successfully creates a form of electronic civil protest on the site 4chan: is this just a virtual form of what Thoreau deems to be a bit of civil disobedience?  Does the discursive work done on 4chan illustrate an electronic sit-in at its finest?  The movie concludes by foregrounding the important ways in which the Internet is changing what “protest” means especially when we think about the unique ways that the Internet allows  “protest” to become faceless and ubiquitous. 

In addition, I think that “green memes” are some of the most influential memes out there. I think that the Internet is one of the most important places to spread the word about environmental activism: the combination of image and language allows people to understand pressing issues about the Anthropocene.

Finally, this is a moving meme that circulated after African American Trayvon Martin was killed by George Zimmerman.  “Hooded Memes” like the one below were created by many people, illustrating national solidarity and a stand against the murder of Martin.