

Show HN: MemeKit, meme your Facebook friends - slewis
http://memekit.com

======
scoot
Can we get one thing clear - a photo with (dubiously humorous) words on it is
not a meme, even (generally speaking) in the unlikely event it has "gone
viral".

The _act_ of putting words on a photo in an attempt to be funny on the other
hand _is_ an example of a meme.

~~~
slewis
Semantics.

:)

~~~
scoot
Not exactly - the definition of meme as originally coined by Richard Dawkins
[1], and as has been adopted to describe internet memes [2] is pretty well
understood (outsite of 4chan ;-)

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme> [2]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_meme>

~~~
nightpool
Actually, you'd be surprised. 4chan pretty well understands the difference
here, as a lot of their memes are the non-image-macro types. They were the
ones that invented the concept of the "forced meme" and other meta-meme
terminology.

~~~
scoot
Fair point: :%s/4chan/reddit/g

------
slewis
Here's my newest creation. A fun little app that's really my first attempt to
make something viral.

I'd love to hear feedback from anyone who knows how to drive FB app traffic.
For example one thing I learned is that I probably should have made it a
Facebook canvas app. True?

Any other feedback is much appreciated as well.

------
dustywusty
This, according to 4chan kids, is "cancer". However, that generally means that
it'll be spectacularly successful. Nice work and good luck.

~~~
tawm
I thought about posting the "cancer" part, but I was, and rightfully so,
afraid of the downvotes.

The whole concept of the website seems to be especially cancerous because of
the use of the word "meme". A meme isn't a picture with text slapped on, but
rather a quite complex concept of the development and evolution of an idea.

~~~
slewis
A meme has to start somewhere.

I actually love how divisive this is. Folks on reddit told me I'm a terrible
person:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/facebook/comments/syov0/i_made_memek...](http://www.reddit.com/r/facebook/comments/syov0/i_made_memekit_make_meme_pics_of_your_fb_friends/).

Honestly, why does it matter if people use a term differently than you if
they're just having some fun?

~~~
gailees
I totally agree. The overall concept and definition of "meme" is something
that diffuses through a culture, but that's pretty broad within itself.

Sure, internet memes at first began as popular images that were spread across
the entire internet, but what's wrong with taking a picture of your friends
and slapping some text on it to joke around with them on Facebook?

I don't think there's a problem with calling these internet memes; I just
think that the term "internet meme" has evolved to consist of the macro memes
that you see used all over the internet and the micro memes you will soon see
created of you and your friends.

Memekit.com and BuddyMeme.com sure sound better than
Slapfunnyinsidejokesonpicturesofyourfriends.com

------
farmdawgnation
Brilliant idea.

I do think that the memetrain has been overused. I saw it used for Student
Government Association promotions at my university. HOWEVER, it is a true
statement that plenty of memeworthy moments are documented in my photos.

------
ecto
Hey, good work! I did this like a year ago.
<https://github.com/ecto/memify.me>

~~~
slewis
What was your experience?

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_pius
This could be really huge, nice job.

~~~
slewis
Thanks! I think so too.

But... From what I've seen so far initial users will create a few images of
their friends and then post them back to Facebook. But the incoming traffic
from those Facebook links doesn't seem to get people signing up. So in
marketing speak the viral coefficient is too low.

Here's an example of the landing page:
[http://www.memekit.com/im/d1bbe86c-3333-4d0e-bcf0-d0641c57b2...](http://www.memekit.com/im/d1bbe86c-3333-4d0e-bcf0-d0641c57b2e1.png)

I need to get more people clicking through to it from Facebook, and more
people clicking "Start Meming" on that page. So I'd really love to here from
HNers who have ideas.

~~~
rjvir
I created a very similar app called BuddyMeme (<http://buddymeme.com>) and we
ran into the exact same problem - images posted to Facebook would often get
50+ likes, but it was tough to convert those impressions into signups onto
BuddyMeme.

~~~
slewis
Awesome. I'll shoot you an email.

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bedspax
cool

