Via BoingBoing
Pet hate. I can't stand this trend among bloggers at the moment that involves passing around an old style chain letter and marketing it as a "meme." Yes, this form of information spread uses memetics to propogate, and you could even say that the idea being spread is a meme itself, however it is only A TYPE OF MEME! By using the term in this way it detracts from the wider implication of what memes are and what they can and can't do.
For instance, this is what I call a meme. Entertainment satire site Dateline: Hollywood posted an article recently in which outspoken conservative voice and TV evangelist Pat Robertson blamed the death and destruction of Hurrican Katrina on comedian and avowed lesbian Ellen Degeneres hosting the Emmy Awards.
Dateline: Hollywood » ROBERTSON BLAMES HURRICANE ON CHOICE OF ELLEN DEGENERES TO HOST EMMYS
"“God already allows one awards show to promote the homosexual agenda,” Robertson declared. “But clearly He will not tolerate such sinful behavior to spread beyond the Tonys.”"
Classic stuff.
However, using the documented power of the mind virus, this hoax spread throughout the blogosphere with people venting their anger, or even agreeing with the preacher.
As Ben Fritz from datelinehollywood.com says,
"...you'll see virtually all of them are to that [parody] article with most of them believing it. And you should see some of the emails we've been getting (most mad at Robertson, some trying to "correct" our facts, and just a few getting the joke). It's the craziest thing on the Internet I've been involved in."
More comments from Franklin Avenue blog including some of the emails.
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