Feltman 1 Jeremy Feltman Ms.

Caruso ENGL 1102 30 July 2012 Memes: Cats on the Internet Purrrhaps you have heard of Nyan Cat, Lolcats, I Can Haz Cheezburgerz, or of some other particular cat meme. Perhaps you have heard of none of these things, including the word meme. These terms are all part of a modern pop-culture, deviated from a network known as the internet. According to Encarta Dictionary a meme is any characteristic of a culture, e.g. its language, that can be transmitted from one generation to the next in a way analogous to the transmission of genetic information. Using this definition, it makes sense that memes would be a major part of internet societies- places where data can be replicated and shared at previously unimaginable rates. An idea, a new piece of culture, catches footing and then rapidly spreads, virally, across a network of wires and digital space. Cats are a common theme for memes on the internet and can be used to understand how they function. Cats, as an example, can be used to answer: What kind of information can become viral, How, exactly, does internet content become viral, and What are the positive and negative effects sharing potential at a great magnitude? For the less internet literate audience we shall start with What kind of information can become viral? Understanding what makes cat content viral will help us understand what makes a meme, a meme. Cats are both universal and historical. While the domestic cat today most likely either developed from the European wildcat, Felis silvestris silvestris, and the similar small African wildcat Felis silvestris lybica, most parts of the world have at least one native species of
Comment [J3]: I changed the question to fit with the end of the introduction as well as changed a bit of the phrasing on the second sentence. Im not sure how I feel about the change, because it feels a little wordy (not as succinct as I would like) but it also is more accurate of what I want to say, so for now Ill have to keep it. Comment [J2]: Here I rephrased the last part of my intro. Its not a gigantic change, but I think it significantly changes my paper. By asking exact questions and being sure to answer them, I hope to keep to a common thread. Comment [BC1]: I basically rephrased what you (my instructor) suggested for clarity. I think this still sounds sorta clever, but is more clear.

Feltman 2 Felidae. Paintings and mosaics of domestic cats go back as far as 2000 B.C.E (McNeill 5). Since then cats have become a significant part of many varying myths. In America for example, black cats are considered bad luck, but in England this attribution is given to the white cats (McNeill 7). In the German Handwrterbuch des Deutschen Aberglaubens, it states Dann gilt die Katze als grober Wetter-prophet, in English, The cat is also said to be a crude weather-prophet. The Handwrterbuch also claims that when a cat licks her behind, it is going to rain. And, in Hopi legends sorcerers disguise themselves as cats in order to roam about at night without uttering a sound (McNeill 8). These cat beliefs extended practically everywhere, changing slightly from culture to culture. Why are cats so pervasive in mythology? Animal legend expert McNeill suggests that the element most responsible is a cats liminality, the state of being betwixt-and-between (11). This is certainly a factor for cats. Many cats exhibit a duality that is far less pervasive in dogs. Felines parade an independent nature yet they are also needy; they mew for attention, but will only accept this attention at the precise moment they want it. Cats exhibit more contradictory combos: they have soft fur, yet strike with sharp claws, they appear calm, only to dart away frenzied for no apparent reason, and they are awake both at night and at day (13). McNeill supports the idea that because we are unable to label cats with necessarily one attribute over another, we find them perplexing and therefore interesting. Because we find cats interesting, we feel compelled to spread information and stories about them. Cats have always been a shared topic, but how did they end up on the internet? How does anything end up on the internet? In ancient times people would share interesting information and stories via caves walls and via word of mouth. Eventually reading and writing developed in Mesopotamian cultures and more complex ideas could be transmitted from one generation to
Comment [BC5]: Another direct response to your response. This came a little easier since I changed the end of the introduction. I changed the end of the preceding paragraph and added a sentence that I feel lego-connect the two together. Not much else to say. I like it. Comment [J4]: Im keeping this paragraph intact, as it just kind of flows off the last one.

Feltman 3 the next... While cave walls and books allow for preserved expression, all three methods, including word of mouth, are limited by one large factor, geography. An idea can only travel as fast as its source. In the 1960s and the United States Department of Defense funded the development of ARPANET, a connection of wires sending electronic information through various nodes located all over the nation. The intention was to create nuke proof communication, but an unexpected result was the ability to communicate faster and more efficiently than ever before. This means of communication lead to the development of a public sector version, the world-wide-web, now often simply referred to as the internet. While data sent over this medium was originally textual, with the influence of political, economic, technological, and hobbyist forces, the internet has become a tool capable of sending all kinds of media: pictures, music, and video, practically anything imaginable. As advances in digital storage have increased, the ability to send information digitally has increased as well. Now millions of media pieces are being uploaded, daily, and stored in digital warehouses, waiting to be instantly distributed to anyone wanting to view them (Bell 30-32). Imagine all of your favorite artwork, stored in one art gallery. When you ask to see something, an attendant will instantly retrieve it for you. This, albeit grossly simplified, is the internet. This way of sharing is ideal for cat-content. Digital warehouses, databases, can store innumerable pieces of media content. Such databases are owned by sites like Youtube, Facebook, and Tumblr, which then retrieve the content for their users. Even more interestingly, this content is uploaded with relative ease, practically free of charge, by any internet savvy user. Anyone who knows how to jack-in to the internet can publish their work and share with, well, the world (Bell 33). It is no surprise that a low-cost environment facilitates the subject cats, an historical
Comment [J7]: Added this in to remind the reader we havent forgotten about cats. This added sentence also foreshadows the re-introduction of full on cat discussion later in the paragraph. Comment [J6]: Made a couple spelling/grammar fixes. One was pointed out by a peer, the others I caught myself. I must have been tired or something while writing this particular section.

Feltman 4 hot topic in legend and media. Internet platforms allow people to share ideas, no matter the subject's triviality. While there are many different types of internet media platforms for sharing ideas, Youtube is a prime example. Youtube users share media, particularly video. Created in 2005, Youtube has become the site for digital video content. Here are a couple quick facts: 1) value- the internet search giant Google bought Youtube in 2006 for $1.65 billion US dollas, 2) sizeYoutube has hundreds of millions of users from around the world, 3) expansion- 48 hours of video are uploaded every minute, resulting in nearly 8 years of content uploaded every day. Youtube is big. With such large amounts of varying video content, some with one view and the highest with 762,047,372 views, we must next ask ourselves what makes a video viral (an instant hit) (Youtube). Internet content, given proper exposure, becomes viral when it is both interesting and relatable to the greater community. Cats have historically embodied both of these principles (interesting and relatable). While many Americans might not understand German and some Germans may not understand English, both societies can relate to the behavior of cats. Cats on the internet have become a common part of their languages; they have become a common meme (or set of memes). How, exactly, does internet content become viral? Nyan Cat is a prime example of how content becomes viral. Nyan Cat is an 8-bit animation of a cat with the body of a cherry poptart flying through outer space. The animation was created by Chris Torres, of Dallas, Texas, and is based off of his Russian cat. The flying cat was first posted on the website LOL-COMICS for a Red-Cross charity. Then, this content re-blogged (copied and posted elsewhere on the internet) on Tumblr where it received several thousand hits. A Youtube user found the animation and
Comment [J8]: This paragraph still feels out of place. Comment [BC9]: Yay another easy fix! Just added in exactly what you asked for. Not trying to be funny, seemed like the easiest way to clarify your question. I feel like I may be being a little redundant, and your question might not have been necessary, but just in case, I figured it was better to err on the side of you being right and me being wrong, after all, you do the grading and I do the meowing. Comment [BC10]: While the information so far has been interesting and well-written, there doesnt seem to be a strong common thread for the reader to follow. You move from cats in ancient times to the idea of communication, and as you discuss communication, you allow your audience to forget what you mentioned about cats. In this paragraph, you jump back to cats, but without a strong transition. This paragraph can certainly work to make that transition, but youll need to be more specific and tighten the focus so your reader can make that transition with you. As you work to strengthen this section, work also to strengthen the transitions and ties within the previous few pages. Be sure you are allowing your reader to follow your train of thought. You may want to begin your paper with a quick overview of what youll show the reader in your paper. -Ms. Caruso Im keeping this comment because I think it was the most critical in realigning the focus of my paper and I think it is too important to remove at this stage/evolution. I liked to suggestion to go back and look at the beginning of my paper. That really helped. As I continue revising, Ill keep coming back to this comment. Comment [J11]: Added the first sentence to make sure the reader connected the second sentence as a parallel answer to one of the introduction questions.

Feltman 5 posted it as a video with Japanese artist Daniwell-P's Nyanyanyanyan vocaloid song playing repeatedly in the background. (Know Your Meme) The video gained over two million hits within the first two weeks. Nyan Cat currently has over eighty-one millions views on Youtube with hundreds of spin-offs, from Chocolate Cat to Hilter Cat. The newest comment on the original video currently reads mein Lieblingsteil war, als er sagte Nyan Nyan nyan -MiezZGeDiSST which roughly translates from German to English as my favorite part was when it said 'Nyan Nyan nyan (saraj00n). Memes not only cross languages barriers, but they can also link subcultures. Lolcats are pictures of cats caption with, typically, lolspeak (a type of English slang popular on the internet). While this type of meme was popularized circa 2006 via 4chan.org, cat pictures with funny captions have been around since at least the early twentieth century (Know your memes). Currently lolcats can be found across the internet on sites ranging from carforums.net to vogue.com.au. Cats with funny captions serve a communicative purpose whether the topic is automobiles, or high-fashion. Internet content becomes viral because it ties us together, because it has something to say that involves the world. While tying the world together with universal concepts sounds initially a dream come true, there are negative consequences inherent in the power to share with literally everyone. Content that is interesting (or in some cases shocking) and relatable is not necessarily good. Some use the internet to share horrible acts. In 2010 a man from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire placed his cat in a tumbler dryer and turned it on, multiple times. He filmed the event and posted the video on musk-form.co.uk via the alias Nitroazza with the headline Like cats? Check out my cat, the new version of Mr. Tumble. While the video never went viral, it received enough publicity to be featured in the British newspaper, The Daily Mail. One can only speculate the
Comment [J12]: I took out two sentences and replaced it with this one. I really like this change because it says exactly what I want, the way I normally say it, with less words, but serves as a better transition. I.E. effectually succinct.

Feltman 6 reasoning behind such heinous acts, but a possible conclusion is that the perptrator here was seeking attention on a forum where he could hide anonymously. The man has not yet been caught. Sometimes the negative effects of internet sharing are more subtle. In 2011 several biological and computer scientists at the University of Lincoln designed a program called Tagpuss, which allowed participants to assign emotion labels to cats. Concluding the survey, participants were asked several questions including, Do cats display the same emotions as humans. Twenty-two percent strongly agreed and another forty-nine percent somewhat agreed. According to the biological scientists at Lincoln, cats do not display the same emotions as humans(I Can Haz Emoshuns 4). While owners like to attribute human expressions to cats, especially via memes like lolcats, cats are much simpler and do not experience most complex emotions. The potential problem is that cat memes propagate confusion between cat and owner. However, there are also case examples of cat-internet pop-culture having positive effects. Undergraduate Students at a Swarthmore College research seminar were able to use the viral video Kittens Inspired by Kittens (KibK) to apply traditional literacy theory to modern media. They published an paper discussing the each phrase of the one minute, thirty seconds video, using such concepts as Bakhtins theory of intertextuality and Bourdieu's theory of habitus. They even address anthropomorphism. Many of the kittens express human-like identities, but neither kittens nore people can actually be wine bottles. Of course, like many of Maddie's narrations, this is meant to be a playful statement, but the image and description belies an intriguing theory of selfhood. (Narhang 5)
Comment [J13]: I actually liked this transition. Simple and it works.

Feltman 7 The students discussed the importance of using Kittens inspired by Kittens to look at literacy theory. One student proclaimed, KIbK [was] useful because it allowed me to briefly feel that theory was real and applicable to life (Narhang 2). Memes, like KibK, are useful making what might be seen as boring or abstract, real and entertaining. The ability to add something and instantly make it more entertaining has value. Companies like Viral Spiral manage major memes, like Nyan, akin to celebrities. They license memes to brands, like Vitamin Water, for example, to use in advertising. The viral video Charlie Bit My Finger has earned the creators about $500,000 according to ABC's Nightline (Sax). Memes, particularly cat memes, are a major part of today's global society. We use them to communicate, to bond, to learn, to entertain, to sell, and even to spread evil. I like to think of ourselves as the first into an age of instant global exchange; we are explorers of a new world, a world where we can share our ideas and connect to others with unprecedented ease. As long as we are mindful of the power our new vessel contains, we will be able to do things together, never before thought possible. The world is beginning to see, through memes, it has more in-common than it ever thought before. The world is realizing there are cat lovers everywhere and THAT is a future worth pawing for.
Comment [BC15]: Well that wasnt as hard as I thought (knock on wood). Focus check, common thread, check, transitions, check, clarity, check, basic grammar/spelling fixes, check. Things to remember for revisions of future papers. -When in doubt look back on introduction paragraph for ways to make paper flow better. -Dont write papers hastily, writing non-sucky transitions isnt that hard. -Keep checking to make sure in-text citations are correct Comment [J14]: Oops, citation error (I put the citation outside of the parenthesis. I use to do this a lot, and thought I had already fixed that bad habit). Going to give a quick scan through to make sure there arent any more of those.

Feltman 8 Works Cited Bell, David. On the net: Navigating the World Wide Web Ed. Glen Creeber & Royston Martin. Digital Cultures: Understanding New Media. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print. Daily Mail, Reporter. "Daily Mail: Yob puts cat in tumble dryer ...and films it for the internet." Daily Mail, The (London, England) 05 July 2012: NewsBank. Web. 11 July 2012. "Frequently Asked Questions." Youtube. Google Inc, 2012. Web. 29 Jul 2012. Jasmine Narang, et al. "Kittens! Inspired By Kittens! Undergraduate Theorists Inspired By Youtube."Language Arts 88.1 (2010): 32-42. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 July 2012. McNeill, Lynne. Chapter 1: The Waving Ones: Cats, Folklore, and the Experiential Source Hypothesis. Ed. Dave Aftandilian. What are the Animals to Us. Knoxville, Tennessee: The University of Tennessee Press, 2007. Print. n.a. "Nyan Cat / Pop Tart Cat." Know Your Meme, 2011. Web. 29 Jul 2012. I Can Haz Emoshuns? Understanding Anthropomorphosis Of Cats Among Internet Users." (2011): OAIster. Web. 11 July 2012. saraj00n. Nyan Cat [original]. Youtube. 2011. Web. 29 Jul 2012. Sax, David. "Pay Me! I Is A Spokes-Kitteh!!." Bloomberg Businessweek 4284 (2012): 6769. Business Source Complete. Web. 11 July 2012.