An Internet meme(表情包), is some kind of idea or piece of information that spreads very quickly across a large number of Internet users. It's a bit like the online equivalent(相当的) of an inside joke, a fashionable, attention-grabbing concept（概念） that a large number of Internet users have known. A meme often takes the form of a hyperlink(超链接), spread through e-mails, blogs, social networking, instant messaging, etc.
A meme might be a joke or quotation(引语), a rumor（传言） or simple fact, an image, piece of video, or even a website ,which can be passed from one person to another through electronic communication. A key facet（面，方面） of a meme is that it is voluntary, a communication which spreads from one place to the next without any kind of compulsion（懊悔）or automation（自动化）.
Memes might stay the same as they transfer from one source to another, but can sometimes 'evolve', modified(改进的) or expanded by each new recipient. They can also fade as fast as they spread, ascending in popularity and then disappearing within a matter of days.
The term Meme was used by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 popular science bestseller, The Selfish Gene. The term may refer to the content that spreads from user to user, the idea behind the content, or the phenomenon of its spread.
