Follow the meme
: I hope some journalism/sociology/communications student is studying the birth and spread of political memes — formerly known as party lines and spin — in the era of citizens’ media.
Case in point: After the election in Iraq, we first heard silence from the anti-war crew and the left and then, as if they’d all gotten the fax, we heard an echo of a line something like this: an election does not a democracy make.
The similarity was striking. Somebody started that line. Somebody thought it was good and picked it up. And it spread quickly, in both big media and citizens’ media.
Of course, this happens on the right and the left. This is merely a current example.
I’d love to know who first said it and how it spread. How is spin spun now?
