I make memes and share them, some of them are a combination of various images into one then i comment over the composite picture, sometimes its just a comment over a picture. The way i put them together can differ also, from a thought needing an image or an image that makes me think of something comical, thoughtful, etc.
I think memes get a bad wrap because they are easily copy and pasted, but they are an art form to put together, one i may not be that good at, but still an art form, lol. Im not really concerned if the go viral or not, they are generaly made for a particular audience of my friends so as long as they get a kick out of it im cool with it.
I hear you... maybe we need a new word, for the none viral ones, maybe semantics is the answer for the first time! hahahah a
lol, i think it comes down to if they are rip offs, plagiarizing someones work with a copy and paste is hella different from making a meme from scratch using pictures and writing to convey a message.
To compare, if someone makes a collage with pictures, letters and words cut out of magazines and news papers its is an art work (or a ransom letter, lol), this is a similar thing, but in a digital medium. This does not mean i take it as serious as that, but i could understand that for some people it would be seen that way... oh and before anyone states "collage is not art" feel free to explain that to my year 9-12 school programs as i had to do a bunch of them for art class.... lol.