Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Indiana University Researchers Get $1 Million Grant To Study Memes

Posted by samzenpus on from the oh-long-johnson dept.

An anonymous reader writes with news that the NSF has just awarded a group of researchers a grant to study the life cycle of memes. "Indiana University is receiving nearly $1 million in federal grant money to investigate the genesis, spread, and demise of Internet memes. The grant from the National Science Foundation awards four Indiana researchers $919,917 to for a project called Truthy that will, as the grant's abstract explains, "explore why some ideas cause viral explosions while others are quickly forgotten." (And yes, in case you're wondering, the name was inspired by Stephen Colbert's neologism "truthiness.") The government-funded research is aimed at identifying which memes are organic and which ones are mere astroturf. "While the vast majority of memes arise in a perfectly organic manner, driven by the complex mechanisms of life on the Web, some are engineered by the shady machinery of high-profile congressional campaigns," Truthy's About page explains."

71 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. I know some good memes they can study by Quarters · · Score: 2

    Up the road at Purdue University there are always quite a lot of memes about Indiana University. They're all really negative, so that might affect the study results.

  2. Re:Let me help them by fisted · · Score: 3, Funny

    Look, there are over 9000 memes, but your list doesn't contain any.

    --
    CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
  3. One does not simply get paid to surf the Web by Brewmeister_Z · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't always get paid to surf the Web but when I do, I make sure to get a grant that could have gone to a better cause...

    --
    I Cater to the Needs of Stupid People. - from a coffee mug Christmas gift
  4. Re:Let me help them by tepples · · Score: 1

    Natalie Portman naked and petrified, karma whoring, ASCII Goatse/Penis Bird, only old Koreans use that anymore, BSD is dying, GNAA, The Lone Gunmen Are Dead, OMG Ponies, Twitter sockpuppets, nobody wants an HTPC, hosts file, Buck Feta...

    Any more?

  5. LOL .... by gstoddart · · Score: 1

    I, for one, welcome our new meme-studying overlords.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:LOL .... by itsdapead · · Score: 2

      I, for one, welcome our new meme-studying overlords.

      In Soviet Russia, memes study you!

      --
      In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
  6. Re:Let me help them by gstoddart · · Score: 1

    Editors can't spell (or read), that gross poop eating guy, Time Cube guy, Cowboy Neil, dupes.

    I'm sure there's plenty more.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  7. Interesting. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    One doesn't have to see the value in stuff that isn't immediately applicable R&D(and I'm not here to debate the point, do as you will); but if you are OK with the concept of such research this actually seems like a pretty good idea:

    The question of how and why ideas, 'culture', religions, new scientific hypotheses, etc. are transmitted and compete with one another is really a very long standing one. A lot of the historical study emphasizes 'elite' culture and theory(mostly because everything else was oral record only, and that doesn't keep well; but written works sometimes survive) or religious(high frequency of literacy, and proselytizing is a technology of considerable interest to contemporary religions); but there is also study of popular culture, folk mythologies, what the middle and lower classes were reading and watching(once that became common), and so on.

    Cultural transmission is a very solid social science topic, and internet memes have the dual virtues of both potentially being novel(they might actually follow some traditional propagation pattern, might be something new, either way would be interesting to know) and being amenable to large-scale analysis because the internet is just so conveniently searchable and heavily cached in various places. You don't have to like the entire field; but this research project seems like a perfectly reasonable exercise.

    1. Re:Interesting. by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 1

      Cultural transmission is a very solid social science topic

      "Social science" is an oxymoron. Science is not a field. It's a methodology, and social sciences fail miserably at applying that methodology. It's undoubtedly an interesting academic exercise, but let's not pretend it's something that it's not.

      One could possibly make the argument for spending money on social research like this were we not currently in a long-term deficit spending pattern. As it is, we simply don't have the money to waste. Just because a million dollars is a tiny fraction of the federal budget doesn't mean I shouldn't care that the government just pissed away a million of our tax dollars on something that is virtually guaranteed to have zero real impact on the lives of the people that funded the research.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    2. Re:Interesting. by MisterSquid · · Score: 1

      The question of how and why ideas, 'culture', religions, new scientific hypotheses, etc. are transmitted and compete with one another is really a very long standing one. [. . .]

      Cultural transmission is a very solid social science topic, and internet memes have the dual virtues of both potentially being novel(they might actually follow some traditional propagation pattern, might be something new, either way would be interesting to know) and being amenable to large-scale analysis because the internet is just so conveniently searchable and heavily cached in various places.

      While a bit dated and somewhat intellectually renegade, Marshall McLuhan has done much to talk about how print fostered literacy (duh) and the transmission of ideas in a stable form across human cultures in The Gutenberg Galaxy (i.e. Gutenberg Bible and the enablement of Christianity as a proselytizing religion with a relatively stable population of "practicing" Christians all "reading" the same text). However, his writing style is a bit mimetic of the illuminated manuscript and he communicates his point in a way that makes sense to scholars of literature and critical theory. McLuhan's work is not your usual dry, codified sociocultural study of the effects of media!

      But the above was only a momentary detour on the way to the work of Susan Blackmore who is interested in the evolution of life on Earth and the question of whether life on Earth will make it to the point where it can successfully leave its planet of origin. Her talk is entitled "Memes and 'temes' " (yes, it's a TED talk) and is fascinating in terms of how she thinks about memes and the transmission of ideas in a Darwinian model.

      I wonder if the researchers in Indiana have any interest in the area Blackmore stakes out in her talk. Would be great if they did.

      --
      blog
    3. Re: Interesting. by spatley · · Score: 1

      If we are going to get pedantic, methodology is the study of methods. (Like geology is the study of the geo ~earth)
      The word you are looking for is "method"

  8. Another pile of nostalgic /. memes by tepples · · Score: 2

    Emacs vs. vi vs. viper-mode fence sitters, GNOME vs. KDE, Bill Gates as a Borg, Get Some Priorities (after a major natural disaster or terrorist attack), Less space than a Nomad, .page .widening, my UID is lower than yours, Stephen King is dead, You fail it, You insensitive clod, early versions of Mac OS X (later Windows Vista) taking 20 minutes to copy a 17 MB file, will we see it before Duke Nukem Forever (which became "before Valve releases 3" once DNF finally came out), "Taco snotting" and other slashfic, RTFA (read the fucking article) and its bowdlerization to "the featured article"...

  9. 3 steps. No, 4. by drainbramage · · Score: 2

    1: Find idiots in government handing out other peoples money (redundant)
    2: Apply for grant
    3: ???
    4: Profit

    --
    No brain, no pain.
  10. The federal deficit this year is $550 billion by NotDrWho · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This year the federal government moved $550 billion closer to default and the collapse of the dollar.

    Just thought I would point that out, since it seems relevant.

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    1. Re:The federal deficit this year is $550 billion by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Oh, it's absolutely relevant. I don't care if I get modded off-topic. I've got plenty of karma.

      Quite frankly, this sort of stuff is insane when we're continuously running a massive deficit. No one likes to hear this, but we really need to crank down the government spigot at so many levels it's no longer even funny. We simply don't have the money to be spending on what I'll generously term "discretionary" research. It's not just grants either, which admittedly take up a very small portion of the budget.

      The military budget is out of control. Yes, we live in a dangerous world, but we need to ask the rest of the civilized nations to help share the burden a bit (and this is coming from a somewhat conservative hawk), or perhaps scale back our overseas adventures. Our social program expenditures and pensions are ballooning even worse than military spending. We just passed another hugely expensive entitlement (health care reform), but with no regard to how the government is going to pay for it without crippling increases in taxes, deficit spending, or inflationary money printing. The NSA is spending billions to harvest and process all the data on the internet passing through the US for questionable benefits and even more questionable legality.

      The federal government has demonstrated time and time and time again that they can't be trusted to balance the budget in a fiscally responsible manner. It's always more politically expedient to pass the buck to the next generation, and when the time comes to really tackle the problem, it's going to be really painful for everyone. Federal spending money is power, and that power is apparently just too damned addictive to resist. It would be best to deal with it as soon as possible and in a responsible manner over time, just like with any debt incurred.

      A few other nations have been hopping on the constitutional balanced budget requirement. Maybe it's time to join them? I haven't quite made up my mind, but I'm definitely leaning towards support right now. A number of Keynsian economists argue against it, saying that it's best to allow deficit spending in bad economic times, but seeing as we never seem to STOP deficit spending in recent years, it's hard to make that argument with a straight face.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    2. Re:The federal deficit this year is $550 billion by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Quite frankly, this sort of stuff is insane when we're continuously running a massive deficit.

      No, not even slightly. The reason you're running a massive defecit is because you have dumped trillions into two pointless wars and the military industrial complex. It was such a dumb idea that even previous presidents have warned about such things.

      Cutting back on basic research is a sure-fire way to hobble long term future development. The only way to do this successfully and on the scale and longevity required is via government funding.

      etc...

      Yes government spending is out of control. About the worst way of reignin it in is to cut down on basic research.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    3. Re:The federal deficit this year is $550 billion by mean+pun · · Score: 1

      Moreover, it is also very likely to be an astroturfed meme.

    4. Re:The federal deficit this year is $550 billion by complete+loony · · Score: 1

      Where did the majority of your spending money begin its life? Bank loans. Remember that massive issue the banking sector had recently?

      We need to get our economy off credit. We need to stop borrowing against every security we can find. Either we reduce our debts voluntarily, or we go bankrupt. Either way, we will reduce our debt level over the next 5-20 years. This is going to remove money from circulation. If the government runs a surplus, this will also remove money from circulation. If we stop deficit spending the economy will shrink and may falter.

      Back in the 30's we were facing a similar (but much smaller) debt problem. The "new deal" in 1933(-ish) was a program of government spending that helped to reduce the impact of the Depression. When spending was cut in 1937, the economy dipped again. While the level of debt continued to drop, what finally eliminated the remaining debt was the massive spending and manufacturing to fight WWII.

      Government deficit spending isn't the problem. It's the only thing that can save us from ruin as we inevitably reduce our debts.

      --
      09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
    5. Re:The federal deficit this year is $550 billion by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 2

      Did you not even read my post? I'm agreeing with you about the military spending - it's a massive part of the federal budget. I'll even quote myself for your benefit, so you don't have to do all that pesky reading before typing up a reply.

      The military budget is out of control. Yes, we live in a dangerous world, but we need to ask the rest of the civilized nations to help share the burden a bit (and this is coming from a somewhat conservative hawk), or perhaps scale back our overseas adventures.

      And how exactly is meme investigation "basic research"? I'd really like to know how cutting frivolous grants like this will damage future meme propagation on the internet. I'm perfectly fine with federal dollars being judiciously spent on science which may have a real impact on our society or fundamental technology, or even of our understanding of the universe. This isn't it.

      A million dollars is a tiny percentage of our federal budget, but that doesn't mean we should be pissing it away when we don't have a lot of excess money floating around.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    6. Re:The federal deficit this year is $550 billion by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 1

      Large government-sponsored programs have a notorious history of exploding far beyond predicted budgetary constraints. We'll see in another few years or so if that prediction, turns out to be accurate. History is on my side, unfortunately.

      Even so, I'll go ahead and concede the point. Fine, let's say the new health care program has zero impact on the budget, or perhaps a negligible effect. I should also have not used the phrase "with no regard to how the government is going to pay for it", because obviously that's not true, as the budgetary effects were studied by the CBO. Better?

      It's completely besides the point I was making, which is that the fact we've had record deficit spending for many years demonstrates we simply don't have excess money to waste. I don't believe the government's deficit spending is a partisan issue. It's pretty obvious that unless we eventually reign things in, we're going to be in real trouble later down the road. You don't agree?

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    7. Re:The federal deficit this year is $550 billion by misexistentialist · · Score: 1

      That was mostly through cutting Medicare payments, not the new mandates. Remains to be seen if this was an improvement in efficiency or a reduction of services

    8. Re:The federal deficit this year is $550 billion by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Yes I did: I summarised it as "etc".

      We both agree military spending is out of control.

      And how exactly is meme investigation "basic research"?

      It's pretty solid social science as far as I see it. It's about better understanding of people.

      I'd really like to know how cutting frivolous grants like this will damage future meme propagation on the internet.

      It won't harm meme propagation, and if you believe that you seriously misunderstand the research (which is why decisions on such things should not be left to lay people). It's about better understanding of human behaviour.

      I'm perfectly fine with federal dollars being judiciously spent on science which may have a real impact on our society or fundamental technology, or even of our understanding of the universe. This isn't it.

      It's understanding of people, how they behave and so on. I don't see why the study of human behaviour is not a worthy topic of research.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    9. Re:The federal deficit this year is $550 billion by hsthompson69 · · Score: 1

      So, if the ACA reduces the deficit, but we build programs that spend that extra money and *more*, are we really reducing the deficit? :)

      Compare the GAO report to the CBO report:

      http://www.nationalreview.com/...

    10. Re:The federal deficit this year is $550 billion by hsthompson69 · · Score: 1

      Actually, the CBO report is a lot more rosy than the GAO report (GAO being generally more reliable):

      http://www.nationalreview.com/...

      I wonder if the CBO report counts as astroturfing? :)

    11. Re: The federal deficit this year is $550 billion by JWW · · Score: 1

      "Solid Social Science"

      Wow. That pegged my oxymoron detector!

    12. Re:The federal deficit this year is $550 billion by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 1

      It won't harm meme propagation, and if you believe that you seriously misunderstand the research

      Whoosh? Just trying to be funny and failing as usual.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    13. Re:The federal deficit this year is $550 billion by NotDrWho · · Score: 1

      If we stop deficit spending the economy will shrink and may falter.

      And if we keep doing it the economy will collapse.

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    14. Re: The federal deficit this year is $550 billion by complete+loony · · Score: 1

      A national credit limit of around 40% of GDP should be plenty to cover short to medium term shortfalls and entrepreneur activity. That would include all household, business and government debts. Why have we allowed the banking sector to convince us they are essential for the functioning of every part of the economy? They have a perverse incentive to encourage us to borrow, and over the last 50 years we've bought into their propaganda. Take away all of the interest payments we're currently making and our economy has a chance to thrive.

      --
      09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
    15. Re:The federal deficit this year is $550 billion by mjwx · · Score: 1

      Quite frankly, this sort of stuff is insane when we're continuously running a massive deficit.

      No, not even slightly. The reason you're running a massive defecit is because you have dumped trillions into two pointless wars and the military industrial complex. It was such a dumb idea that even previous presidents have warned about such things.

      Cutting back on basic research is a sure-fire way to hobble long term future development. The only way to do this successfully and on the scale and longevity required is via government funding.

      etc...

      Yes government spending is out of control. About the worst way of reignin it in is to cut down on basic research.

      Pink elephant in the room.

      The government gave $1 million dollars for research that sounds silly but may yield results in psychology (leading to developments in teaching, detecting and treating mental illness, advancements in stand up comedy). Meanwhile, the US military spends $1.3 Billion per day (that's $1,300 million)*.

      Now I know a lot of advances come from the military, but I highly doubt much of the money is being spent on R&D. The US could reduce it's military spending a little and solve most of it's economic problems. * Based on the 2014 budget of $495.6 billion divided by 365.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  11. Re:Let me help them by tbuddy · · Score: 1

    He had a meme, but he ated it.

  12. Memes = Politics? by xdor · · Score: 1

    What better cause than redirecting $919,917 to help market a high-profile congressional campaign.

    1. Re:Memes = Politics? by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The odd part of this story is when it says:

      some are engineered by the shady machinery of high-profile congressional campaigns

      yet I'm failing to think of even one example of a viral meme that fits into that category. I mean, yeah, trigger words for government funding and all that, but even one?

      If somebody wants to tell me that Nanci Pelosi's people came up with Doge, OK, fine, I'd believe it, but I've never heard any such insinuations.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    2. Re:Memes = Politics? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Death panels. Obamacare. Birthers. The memes don't have to be jokes.

    3. Re:Memes = Politics? by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      Death panels. Obamacare. Birthers. The memes don't have to be jokes.

      You might be able to argue that "Death panels" was "engineered by the shady machinery of high-profile congressional campaigns" (Sarah Palin is credited with coining the term), but definitely not "Obamacare" (the media promoted that one), or "Birthers", which was certainly an organic meme, to describe people questioning Obama's origins. It's also a form of the "something-ers" form of describing a group (deniers, anti-vacciners, etc.), which as I recall sprang out of calling the 9/11 conspiracy theorists "truthers".

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    4. Re:Memes = Politics? by xdor · · Score: 2

      Which is why I suggest the grant money to study memes is really to fund a high-profile congressional campaign's viral marketing budget, using this pretense of "testing" political memes. Especially, if by some coincidence, the memes tested are for said high-profile congressional campaign.

      Either that or the article is just trolling...

    5. Re:Memes = Politics? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      You might be able to argue that "Death panels" was "engineered by the shady machinery of high-profile congressional campaigns" (Sarah Palin is credited with coining the term), but definitely not "Obamacare" (the media promoted that one),

      A quick glance around the internets suggests that it was promoted by the Romney campaign, including his self, but has a history going back reps calling single-payer health care "Hillarycare". So no, definitely "Obamacare" as well.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    6. Re:Memes = Politics? by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      You might be able to argue that "Death panels" was "engineered by the shady machinery of high-profile congressional campaigns" (Sarah Palin is credited with coining the term), but definitely not "Obamacare" (the media promoted that one),

      A quick glance around the internets suggests that it was promoted by the Romney campaign, including his self, but has a history going back reps calling single-payer health care "Hillarycare". So no, definitely "Obamacare" as well.

      No doubt Romney's campaign used the term, but it was in widespread use long before then. Everything that I've read indicates that Hillary's primary campaign actually coined the term, so you might have a point that it was a campaign that promoted, but both of those were presidential campaigns, not "shady machinery of high-profile congressional campaigns."

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    7. Re:Memes = Politics? by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      ...and the most likely contender for a Presidential run in 2016.

      Pft. Not if we can get Elizabeth Warren to run!

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
  13. Re:facepalm by SpzToid · · Score: 1

    Or it didn't happen.

    --
    You can't be ahead of the curve, if you're stuck in a loop.
  14. YOU DON'T SAY? by advid.net · · Score: 1

    I love memes.

    I make sure to catch up with memes twice a month on specialized web sites, but they often come to me while browsing around.

    I think they are now a good 33% of what really make me laugh on the web.

    The Botched Christ meme and its parodies is a major meme to me, I hope they won't forget this one

  15. Why just internet memes? by gmuslera · · Score: 1

    Complex ones are still relevant, like language, religion and moral, even if the internet ones are more documented and have a more delimited life cycle. And they are risk to get their funds cut when they find the truth behind the ice bucket challenge,

    1. Re:Why just internet memes? by i+kan+reed · · Score: 1

      Because the Internet acts like a convenient system of record. More traditional memes, while going through many of the same spreads/transformations do so in a way that only leaves behind secondary evidence.

      That stupid 2008 era lolcat, on the otherhand, has an upload date, comments, viewcounts, and a directly trackable spread path.

      It's almost certain, knowing humanities academia, that any models that arise from this study will be used as a "template" in an attempt to understand more serious non-internet memes like those you mention.

  16. Re:Let me help them by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    1)

    First post, hot gritz, car analogy, robotic overlords, Beowulf cluster.

    2)

    Natalie Portman naked and petrified, karma whoring, ASCII Goatse/Penis Bird, only old Koreans use that anymore, BSD is dying, GNAA, The Lone Gunmen Are Dead, OMG Ponies, Twitter sockpuppets, nobody wants an HTPC, hosts file, Buck Feta...

    Any more?

    3) Profit!!!

  17. Re:Let me help them by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 1

    All your base belong us! How would you forgotten this one :-)?

    --
    Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
  18. What happened to serious research? by rs1n · · Score: 1

    A million dollars? Really? It took us two years to finally get a little over half a million from the NSF for a program to help women and underprivileged kids get a foot hold into math, science, and engineering programs at our university. At least the money is going toward a good cause. I fail to see how the fruits of the Indiana University grant is going to benefit anyone other than the PI and CoPIs getting funding from this grant.

    1. Re:What happened to serious research? by makq · · Score: 1

      If you cannot see how it would benefit anyone, you do not have much of an imagination. It could benefit marketers or anyone who wants to spread a message. This could include public service announcements or charity groups.

    2. Re:What happened to serious research? by charronia · · Score: 1

      If artificial memes can be used to sway public opinion in a significant way, I would say finding a way to identify them is sufficiently important.

    3. Re:What happened to serious research? by Bloke+down+the+pub · · Score: 1

      I agree. Purely for defensive & preventive purposes, of course.

      --
      It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
  19. Real Reason for funding this by Perl-Pusher · · Score: 5, Interesting

    From the extract:
    "This service could mitigate the diffusion of false and misleading ideas, detect hate speech and subversive propaganda, and assist in the preservation of open debate. "
    Or more aptly:
    "This service could mitigate free speech, detect anything we don't agree with and allow us to control the message"

    1. Re:Real Reason for funding this by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 2

      Or maybe they do just want to do what they say, and they don't have a shadowy agenda.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    2. Re:Real Reason for funding this by radtea · · Score: 1

      Or both. Any new understanding of the world will be used in as many ways as people can think of using it. I wrote a novel that speculates on precisely the topic of what might happen with exactly this kind of technology, and part of the fun was thinking about how different groups might use it for good or ill: http://www.amazon.com/Darwins-...

      --
      Blasphemy is a human right. Blasphemophobia kills.
    3. Re:Real Reason for funding this by dkman · · Score: 1

      The university kids do just want to do what they say [the study], and the government does have a shadowy agenda.

      Did I clear that up? I'm not necessarily saying they do, but history would dictate that it's likely.

      --
      I refuse to sign
  20. Re:Let me help them by timrod · · Score: 1

    Plenty of them from 4chan:

    Cockmongler
    Happy Negro
    Reidick ("She is cute, that is why she is called Rei-chan!")
    Nigra Cell (before it was sanitized and turned into "SHOOP DA WOOP")
    Bix Nood
    Milhouse is not a meme (is a meme)
    Longcat (again, before Reddit got their filthy hands on it)
    Divided by Zero
    SAFETY CAR
    Hoodpins
    Pool's Closed, AIDS, etc.
    Dio Brando (and his cry of "WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY")
    DUWANG
    PROMOTIONS
    W.T. Snacks (Around Snacks, CP was lax)
    Ondore ("Don't believe Ondore's lies! I'm Captain Basch fon Ronsenburg of Dalmasca!")
    Has anyone ever gone so far
    Hanyuu (really the entirety of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
    PROVE THE EXISTENCE OF CAKE (and really, the entirety of Umineko no Naku Koro ni)
    I'm going to post this every day until you like it ("How does a polar bear know what apples is?")
    That fucking cat

    I'm sure I forgot some.

  21. As a guy whose worked in marketing... by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    >> It could benefit marketers or anyone who wants to spread a message.

    The multi-billion dollar marketing industry is WAY ahead of you. We are well aware of memes (as self-perpetuating brands or slogans) and have been successful launching quite a few of our own on behalf of our well-heeled customers for the past 80 or so years, e.g.,

    "Bud" "Wise" "Er"
    "So easy a caveman could do it."
    "... Burma Shave"
    "War on Women"

    So...we're good over here. Why don't you just send that $1M back to the taxpayers?

    1. Re:As a guy whose worked in marketing... by makq · · Score: 1

      As someone who does not work in marketing, it seems like ad development is more like a crap shoot than a science. There are some major successes, but it seems there are 100's of failures for each of those.

    2. Re:As a guy whose worked in marketing... by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

      >> ad development is more like a crap shoot than a science

      Crap shoots (e.g., deterministic systems) can be science too. Think of particle physics. Or today's story about the "one in decades" chance to film moving stones.

      The "science" in marketing (focus groups, crowdsourcing, testing, brand affinity, etc.) can be used to take a pile of ".00001% successful" ideas to (let's say) "2-3% successful" ideas...which can still be valuable if each idea takes $10K to try but could bring in millions if successful.

  22. Re:Let me help them by Bloke+down+the+pub · · Score: 1

    In Soviet Russia, you are belong to our base!

    --
    It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
  23. $1 million grant? by PPH · · Score: 1

    Shut up and take my money!

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  24. Re: What's needed by Bloke+down+the+pub · · Score: 1

    Explained joke is explained.

    --
    It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
  25. Nice by xdor · · Score: 1

    assist in the preservation of open debate

    That has got to be the most beautiful characterization of censorship I have ever read.

  26. Aren't they effectively astroturfing themselves? by hsthompson69 · · Score: 1

    Spend a million dollars, and astroturf the meme "evil republican congress people are trying to influence you with memes".

    Back in reality-world:

    http://www.freedomworks.org/co...‘one-nation’-just-liberal-astroturfing

    http://mashable.com/2008/08/08...

    http://lonelyconservative.com/...

    http://dailycaller.com/2013/02...

  27. Politics... by Ramley · · Score: 1

    It seems to me that whatever political party can effectively use this data first, has a great weapon in its arsenal.

  28. Who invented the neologism meme? by lippydude · · Score: 2

    Richard Dawkins invented meme specifically in relation to religion, in his book The Selfish Gene.

  29. Re: Let me help them by JWW · · Score: 1

    The year of the Linux Desktop.

  30. That was in 2011 by davids-world.com · · Score: 1

    This was in 2011, if you look at NSF's award page. And just to put things in perspective.. This sort of money is enough to pay for four graduate students (50% effort), some very limited summer time of two professors over the course of four years, and a modest amount of travel to conferences. It's a very good grant from a great source that allows you to get some good work done, but it doesn't go as far as the uninitiated might think.

  31. I'd love to mock this grant... by guevera · · Score: 1

    ...but I'm finding it hard to really get too worked up about.

    We are planning to buy almost F-35s at a price of approx. $188 million per. This is a plane that in the words of Rand corp (hardly an anti-military outfit) "can't turn, can't climb, can't run" well enough to dogfight.

    We are planning to buy a total of 10 Ford class aircraft carriers, at a cost of more than $11 billion per ship. The Chinese seem to think they can neutralize our carriers with cheap ballistic missiles and attack subs. Lots of experts think they may be right. But even if they aren't that will leave us with twice as many fleet carriers as the rest of the world combined.

    Compared to that, I think a million bucks to study the life cycle of memes is a bargain.

  32. Re:Let me help them by rogoshen1 · · Score: 1

    Do *NOT* mention hosts files! You'll summon..him.

  33. What happens when people stop going to church by ThomasKwiatkowski · · Score: 1

    All the memes are NSF work.

  34. Re:Let me help them by fisted · · Score: 1

    All your base are belong us!

    You're doing it wrong.

    --
    CLI paste? paste.pr0.tips!
  35. For the humorless gits out there... by denzacar · · Score: 1

    The main topic is memes, not the Federal deficit.
    "TLDR", being a meme, many of which were quoted here, is actually ON TOPIC.

    Which is funny all on its own, being that it is probably one of the few times that a reply such as TLDR is actually ON TOPIC, and it is funny as a reply to trolls who are trolling the topic with idiotic insinuations of "useless research causes Federal budget to collapse".

    And it's triple funny cause though THEY are aware of being off-topic, moderators are not.
    There...

    Now...
    Place your right forefinger on your right cheek, just above the right corner of your mouth, and your left forefinger at your left cheek, just above the left corner of your mouth.
    With fingers in that position push the cheeks of your face gently upward.
    While holding your cheeks in that position, open your mouth slightly, take a deep breath, and say "Ha!" rapidly three times while breading out with each "Ha!"
    It may take a little practice to get it right first couple of years.
    Observing how other humanoids perform the laughing ritual may help.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  36. Re:Let me help them by tepples · · Score: 1

    Except I respect..him. When Flash ads first came around, before there was Flashblock, I would block resolution of Flash ad servers in my hosts file.