An extension of Godwin’
s Law, Merritt’
s Law states that as an online argument grows longer and more heated, it becomes increasingly likely that a participant will stop discussing things and just throw up a series of “memes” (see below). When such an event occurs, the person guilty of
running afoul of Merritt'
s Law has effectively forfeited the argument.
Properly used, the term “
meme” refers broadly to “an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from one person to another in a culture” but as used above, the term “
meme” refers to an image with words typed onto it spread
via social media. The words are not searchable and, as it turns out, when the words are intended to be a quote, it very frequently turns out to be a misquote.
