"A good Journalist must be angry at Society": Lincoln

Friday, 10 February 2012

'Meme' Mania and the University of Lincoln

The world's most popular social networking site, 'Facebook' has seen its fair share of 'trends and fads' since its establishment in 2004; from charity drives requesting that users change their profile pictures to show their support to applications which allegedly show you who has visited your Facebook page the most.

The latest craze appears to be the 'meme.'

According to Wikipedia, a 'meme' is "an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."

Meme: Michael Jackman

The earliest reference to the concept of a 'meme' was in the British evolutionary biologist, Richard Dawkins' 1976 book: 'The Selfish Gene' where he explains the theory of 'Memetics;' the evolutionary model of cultural information transfer.

With the expansion of the internet, the idea of the 'meme' was developed into the 'internet meme,' a phenomenon which generally takes the form of comical or politically influenced pictures, adorned with bold captions, often of a satirical nature. Websites such as quickmeme.com allow users to quickly and easily create their own, personalised designs and share their via Twitter, Facebook and other social networking platforms.

Despite not being a particularly new introduction to the 100 billion dollar social networking site which boasts eight-hundred and forty-five million users; the 'meme' has begun to dominate many Facebook dashboards - especially those of university students.

A popular 'meme' application on Facebook consists of one-hundred and forty-thousand monthly users with thousands of other users following pages dedicated to their university's 'memes.'

Universities including Nottingham Trent, University College London (UCL) and Goldsmiths all have their own specifically designed 'memes' and The University of Lincoln is no exception with two-thousand-seven-hundred and seventy-two (2,772) 'likes' in counting.

Lincoln's most popular include mentions of the notorious level crossing outside the Engine Shed building (often making students late for their lectures) and reference to the infamously long waiting lists at the university's medical centre.

It leaves us all wondering: how long will it last until the Facebook community reveal its next 'big thing?'

By Benjamin Yates

Sources:
Picture: University of Lincoln Memes Facebook Page - Michael Jackman

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meme

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_meme

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme#cite_note-1

http://www.quickmeme.com

Lincolnshire Police Arrest 2 Over Bike Theft...

Lincolnshire Police arrested 2 men on Lincoln's High Street at around 3am yesterday morning under suspicion of bicycle theft.

The two local men (aged: 20 and 33) were stopped and searched by Officers who seized two bicycles and a quantity of drugs. The men were taken back to Lincoln Police Station where they are said to be helping Officers with their investigations.

The arrests come shortly after Lincolnshire Police announced a 50 per cent increase in the number of cycle thefts across Lincoln.

Pic: Guardian

The main 'hotspots' include the city centre, the University campus and the West End of Lincoln.

Insp Mark Garthwaite said: “We’re seeing an increasing number of reports of bicycles being stolen. They range in value and type from cheap ladies shopping bikes to high-end mountain bikes worth thousands of pounds. They have been correctly locked, but criminals are using bolt cutters to cut through them."

Between 2010 and 2011 there was a total of 1675 incidents of bicycle theft across Lincolnshire

An investigation conducted by the BBC found that one bike is stolen every 71 seconds in the UK. In 2005, four-hundred and forty-thousand (440,000) cycles were stolen with 90 per cent of all thefts occurring when the bike was locked-up in a public place.

Lincolnshire Police are advising people to be vigilant and to report any suspicious behaviour to Lincolnshire Police on 101 or to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.