Protomemes

Protomeme is an abbreviation of prototype meme. It refers to a meme which is under construction.

Before memes become fully-fledged memes they are protomemes. The definition of a meme involves social sharing - but before memes can be shared they must first be created - and often the creation takes place in a single mind. When a meme is under construction it is called a protomeme.

Protomemes are usually part of what I have called intracranial memetics - the area of memetics that deals with memes when they are inside human brains.

Not all memes make it into the annals of history. Some protomemes go on to become failed memes.

As far as I know, the term "protomeme" was first used by Liane Gabora in 1997.

References

• Gabora, Liane M. (1997) The Origin and Evolution of Culture and Creativity - Journal of Memetics: Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission, 1(1).