Dawkins' issue with basically natural vs. artificial selection of memes seems unnecessary as far as 'killing' the meme. There's interesting information there re

Dawkins' issue with basically natural vs. artificial selection of memes seems unnecessary as far as 'killing' the meme. There's interesting information there regardless of origin and methods of evolution - a shared lexicon is important (tangentially, in part that's what memes - Internet and otherwise - signify), when discussing memes I do try to distinguish via image memes that are passed on the Internet, classical memes, copypasta, etc. It's really interesting research, and I don't think it's dead. Me and others built Danqex (formerly Nasdanq) partially to analyze trends and gather information to figure out the lifecycle of an Internet meme. I still also hold out hope that more formal research will continue in this area, whether academic or commercial.