memetics

/memetiks/ , n. [from meme ] The study of memes. That is, the spread
of ideas and cultural artefacts. Memetics never really got much
traction within formal academia, but it has had a huge impact within
popular culture. From the mid 2000s onwards the "meme" as a photo or
cartoon image with some short text phrases in large ALLCAPS letters
at the top and bottom became the standard format for distribution
of whilmsical content on messaging forums. Photos of cats doing
funny things together with some amusing caption became the most
common type of meme.