Memes. You either love ‘em or you hate ‘em. Sometimes you just use them because your brain is fried and it’s an easy post. And there are million memes to choose from.
One of the biggest issues with a meme is that you’re usually tagged or asked to tag other bloggers to keep the meme going. (If you’re "tagged" for something, it’s an invitation to play along.) Sometimes, though, you don’t want to tag anyone or you just don’t want to play. Now what do you do?
My opinion is that you are never obligated to play or tag. Trust me: the meme will not die because you did not tag or because you did not participate. Memes never die.
If you are reluctant to play, it would be polite to e-mail the blogger who tagged you and let them know you’ll not be playing this round. You can give them a reason or not. The main thing is to just be polite–like you’re declining an invitation to a Tupperware party or something. Not that there’s anything wrong with Tupperware parties. I’m just making a parallel example. I like Tupperware.
i hate tags, memes and all the like. but, i reallylike the people that tag and meme me. (sigh)
oh and ummm tupperware? what about avon? you like avon? what about arbonne? never mind.
What a timely post.
I don’t dislike all memes – but I post infrequently, and just got ‘tagged’ again even before my next post is up. I don’t want the blog to turn into a bunch of memes and nothing else.
And as tanyetta said above, I do like the bloggers who have tagged me.
I HATE being tagged for a meme. Sometimes I do them just to be polite, but usually I decline. I’ve also tagged people who haven’t done them, and really, it’s no big deal. No one should feel obligated to “meme.”
Thanks for covering this question.
I hate to be tagged, but I hate tagging others even more. When I first started blogging, I felt obligated to continue the meme. Now, I still feel a slight obligation, but I don’t necessarily participate. I only participate if I can weave it into my niche. I try very hard to remain true to my niche.
I never get tagged – apparently, no one loves me. But if I come across a meme on someone else’s blog and it fits in with mine, I’ll steal it (and link back to them, of course) – and NOT tag anyone else. If I got tagged, I’d probably do the meme, but I wouldn’t “tag it forward.”
But I don’t want my posts to become nothing but memes, and that can happen very easily, so I try to be selective.
Tagging for memes is like chain letters to me. If you don’t do it, they’ll probably go on without you anyway.
I never get tagged (apparently, no one loves me), but I will steal memes from other people’s blogs – with a thank-you link back, of course – if they look like fun and they’re not way out of character for my blog.
I see a lot of blogs that look like “all memes, all the time” and that’s not really what I want to do with mine, so I try to be selective about the ones I do.
If I ever did get tagged, I’d probably do the meme unless I really didn’t like it for some reason, but I won’t, and don’t, tag anyone else. I just note that anyone who wants to do the meme should feel free to take it to their own blog.
Uh oh. I don’t like Tupperware any more. I like Gladware.
Excellent answer to this question. I totally agree, being polite about it is what’s important – as with most real life situations, being polite can get you out of a lot of uncomfortable situations.
Very tactful answer Melanie. I never know what to do with memes. Sometimes I’m in the mood, sometimes I’m not.
what is a meme?
blessings, Penny Raine
http://www.pennyraine.com
Good advice for all of those forwarded emails too!
HELP HELP HELP!
I tried to change the template on my blog with blogger with a template from a free site…. now it’s all messed up! I don’t know all the lingo, but this is what has happened. I lost all my links and pictures in my sidebar , but they still appear on my layout! When I tried to remove them on my layout this error appeared bX-hjy7f4. I never even got my template changed so that bums me out too! When I tried to contact blogger and a google support help group I kept getting error messages and to check back in a few minutes… all weekend! HELP HELP HELP HELP!