Project overview
Our project is called Memeing: a visual content platform, creative ecosystem and economy built around creativity, ideas, and culture(s).
In the attention economy, creativity is a competition. In reality, creativity is a process. It is this process that Memeing has been designed to facilitate. When developed, Memeing will provide ideas for new work, a universally understood way to distribute and discover that work and a set of tools for curation, customisation, collaboration, and participation.
On Memeing, creators capture interests rather than attention. Attention economy metrics and incentives have no way to account for what gives content creative, cultural, aesthetic, or intellectual value. Our upload process helps creators translate their visual content to a range of searchable information (incl. meaning, subject, format, and emotions). This allows creators to interact with each other and audiences over their shared interests, while allowing for the cross-pollination of ideas needed to inspire new creativity.
Memeing integrates a content indexing and classification system with curation and participation tools. This makes Memeing both systematic and flexible. Memeing is structured like a library, can be configured whatever way the internet wants, and is searchable via a precise visual content search engine. No other platform on the market can boast anything approaching the organisation, accuracy, and versatility.
To give you an idea of our eventual suite of capabilities, here is a Memeing vs Instagram distribution and discovery comparison table:
Of course, we do not expect to compete with Instagram, but we can be a credible alternative. We believe Memeing can be the basis for an equitable, creator-led economy. We are calling this the Interest Economy. This economy will have Web Monetisation at its core, expanding overtime include a mix of existing and emerging revenue streams.
Our vision is of a network-system of content, content-creators, communities and webpages, with creative tools and revenue options at their disposal.
Project team
The team for this project currently consists of four members: Chris Rose (technical lead), Rob Adams (service design lead) Anthony Byrne (software delivery manager) and Patrick McFadden (product owner/ founder).
We have a burgeoning network of creators from different disciplines, who are
What we are doing
We are pre-build but ready to go.
Right now, we are about to begin building traction having spent the last few months developing content and a strategy for building awareness and community. We also have a funding application in with Grant for the Web.
As such we have been preparing for two different scenarios. Both paths lead to the same point.
Scenario 1:
Memeing does not qualify for Grant for the Web funding.
In this scenario, we will spend the Spring, Summer and Autumn raising awareness, developing our community, and generating hype. This begins with in-house content written to generate conversations around digital creativity, culture, community, and the impact of the attention economy. Over time, this will expand to encompass content from creators. This will be used to show how Memeing can function as a means of generating artistic and cultural dialogue through engagement around interesting ideas and concepts. All content will be published to our website, socials, and other relevant channels.
Scenario 2:
Memeing does qualify for grant for the Web funding.
This scenario includes everything I just mentioned with the added benefit that we will be able to develop the platform in parallel with the community building. This will run from now until the end of October when our grant period would end.
In both scenarios, we will be continuously gathering data so that we can decide on which funding route to take. V.C. is antithetical to our mission. We are looking at the following three options (in order of preference): creator subscription, crowdfunding or, potentially, bootstrap funding.
Regardless of which path we take; it is exciting to finally begin getting Memeing out there.
What community support would benefit your project?
Honestly, right now, the best thing anyone can do is help us look lot less awkward during our first days in the digital schoolyard, by following our Twitter and Instagram accounts.
We have also just published our pre-launch landing page. Feel free to sign-up for updates and send to anyone who you think might want to be interested to know what we are building.
There are quite a few projects on here that have a lot of overlap. I look forward to getting in touch when the time is right.
Link Round Up!
Pre-launch landing page
Memeing (@m_emeing) • Instagram photos and videos
(1) M_emeing (@m_emeing) / Twitter
Highlight other projects
We still have plenty to get through but these are the highlights so far:
THE FAITHFUL - Watch Live WORLD PREMIERE 3/18! - Web Monetization Community 🌱 🌱
Memeing has tools in the pipeline for low-to-no budget filmmakers so it is amazing to see WM already being utilised in this way.
Side-note: I really hope that the current Royals zeitgeist helps this project reach a wider audience.
Micropayments for authors of good comments - Web Monetization Community 🌱
We have plans to experiment with WM enabled comments, though had been coming at the issue from a different angle. Love this initiative and will be trying it out in the coming days.
Visual culture monetization! Welcome to DisCO.gallery and Compassion punk aesthetics — DisCO.coop - Web Monetization Community 🌱
Looking forward to exploring this and linked project (New Art City) further.
Widget: a funny website — Fart jokes & anti-capitalism™ - Web Monetization Community 🌱
Came for the WM content, stayed for the fart jokes and anti-capitalism.
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