This theoretical paper explores the significance of Internet memes to the field of information research. Adopting a constructivist framework, it conceptualizes memes as documents that undermine popular assumptions about people’s engagements with information. In particular, it argues that Internet memes are conceptual tools through which people can negotiate different representations of reality and the logics that underlie them. Through a close reading of several memetic examples, I propose that memes are a means through which Internet users document and test their values against those of others, thereby allowing them to explore the different courses of action associated with situations they encounter. Memetic communication is thus presented as an important new information literacy practice that has critical implications for the following research areas: education, freedom of expression, ethics and policy, and the preservation of cultural heritage.

中文翻译：

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模因的终结：为什么互联网模因对信息研究很重要

这篇理论论文探讨了互联网模因对信息研究领域的意义。它采用建构主义框架，将模因概念化为破坏人们与信息互动的流行假设的文件。特别是，它认为互联网模因是概念工具，人们可以通过它来协商现实的不同表示及其背后的逻辑。通过仔细阅读几个模因示例，我认为模因是互联网用户记录和测试自己价值观与他人价值观的一种手段，从而使他们能够探索与他们遇到的情况相关的不同行动方针。因此，模因传播被认为是一种重要的新信息素养实践，对以下研究领域具有重要影响：教育、言论自由、道德和政策以及文化遗产保护。