What is a Meme and How to Make Them
Examples of Memes
You Probably Already Use Memes
You know those cute pictures everyone posts to their Facebook walls, sometimes with words, sometimes without. They're called memes and they are everywhere! Sometimes they can be used to make a statement in an eye-catching or humorous way, and sometimes they can be used to promote a blog or website.
Definition
/mēm/
Noun
- An element of a culture or behavior that may be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, esp. imitation.
- An image, video, etc. that is passed electronically from one Internet user to another.
It can be a concept that is spread from one person to another in the form of a photo or a photo with text and is most commonly spread via the Internet.
Memes to Drive Traffic to Your Blog
By looking at my meme examples, you can probably guess some of their uses. The obvious one is humor and of course, making a statement. But for those of us who are bloggers, memes are a great way to DRIVE TRAFFIC to your blog.
Sites like Pinterest and Facebook are great places to show off pictures of all sorts, especially memes. The hope is that people will share and click on your meme, thus visiting your website or blog. You know you've done it with other people's memes, so why not your memes!
Important: the main meme needs to be the first picture for your blog. When you post to Pinterest, it automatically takes your first photo.
Creating Memes
One great place to make a meme is with Adobe Photoshop. You can purchase an older copy on Amazon for relatively inexpensive, or if you're going to use the program for things like personal photos or websites, then I'd splurge on a newer version. Thankfully, Photoshop comes with a book because it can be complicated; the program can do so much!
My new favorite place is a free website called iPiccy. I learned about it from a fellow blogger Dawn Edmonson. She has been successfully blogging on her site The Feathered Nest for six years now. She uses her memes to showcase her works on Pinterest which then drives people to her website. Love it Dawn!
Getting back to iPiccy, it's easy to take any photo and turn it into a meme. The first step is to choose the photo. It can be one you took or one you got from online.
Be Creative, Watch What Others Do
If you're like me, I like to "steal" ideas from others. Memes are no exception. While I might "steal" an idea, I try not to copy exactly what that other person has done. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after all.
In case you are dry when it comes to quotable quotes, here are a few websites to get some good ones:
