Book Reviewed: Memes to Movements: How the World's Most Viral Media Is Changing Social Protest and Power, by An Xiao Mina

The Meme machine and the social media

This book looks at media created by users of social media who express their emotions, feelings, thoughts, deeply-held beliefs; social and political, and the highs and lows of their lives. They bring a variety into the online world where they share, laugh and cry. The social media evolve continuously and educates us into socio-political movements. Photo-remixes, selfies, YouTube videos, hashtag-tweets, and all the silliness of meme culture. Sometimes the silly creations lead to social and political revolutions. This book is not about comprehensive history of memes in social movements nor is this a guide book to be creative online. The author explores the digital culture to illuminate broader-side social media. Memes are analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate, and respond to selective pressures. They are a viral phenomenon that may evolve by natural selection in a manner analogous to that of biological evolution. That is through the processes of variation, mutation, competition, and inheritance, each of which influences a meme's reproductive success.

This book is very enjoyable, and the author’s style of writing add an extra-dimension to the meme culture that has evolved. So, what is next? Perhaps a cloud feature where we can upload our thoughts and emotions in place of videos, music, pictures and emojis.