Lifecycle of the Internet Meme
Above: Charlie Sheen strikes out in Detroit.
Well, it looks like Charlie Sheen's days of painting the Internet red with his tiger blood are over. The debut of Charlie's one-man show in Detroit started with him entering to a standing ovation, but as the 70-minute act dragged on, the crowd began booing and walking out. Maybe his act was lousy (certainly sounds like it), but I think perhaps the American public has grown tired of Charlie Sheen. We've gotten our fill of the guy after a few weeks of winning and Adonis DNA, just like we turn Saturday Night Live off before the last 30 minutes (or like we loved Seinfeld, but couldn't stand The Michael Richards Show or Bob Patterson).
If Sheen's Detroit bomb is any indication, I think his days of being an Internet Celebrity are numbered, and he'll go back to being washed up (again). You'll notice how long his popularity lasted: about three weeks, from his appearance on the Alex Jones radio show on February 24 to his replacement with other, sexier memes sometime around the middle of March. This Google Trends chart pretty much nails it.
What's interesting, though, is how prevalent this cycle is in American memetics. Whenever we become fascinated with something in pop culture, it seems to hold our attention for about three or four weeks, with rare exceptions. March Madness lasts a little under three weeks. Pop songs tend to stay in the Top 5 for about three weeks. The December holiday shopping season lasts a little more than three weeks, and attempts by retailers to start it any earlier have been met with accusations of "Christmas creep." "Dick in a Box" mania lasted for about three weeks at the end of 2006.Â
Perhaps this means that the Internet Age finally has its counterpart to Andy Warhol's 15 minutes--an indication, maybe, of how long "viral" status actually lasts. I think I'll call this unit of virality a "sheen."  A more resilient meme, the Bed Intruder song, stayed around for about six sheens (with a one-sheen resurgence around the end of the year, when the top-10 lists come out). The infamous Rickroll had one-sheen reigns of megapopularity in May 2007 and April 2008, but managed to retain above-average popularity for a total of about 17 sheens.
What's the implication here? I think it's that if you go viral, you can expect your fame to last approximately one sheen (related: would Americans be more motivated to vote if political campaigns lasted one or two sheens, rather than the current election cycle that lasts over 20-plus sheens?) It's bad news for Rebecca Black--her video exploded onto the Internet on March 11, just a little more than three weeks ago. By next Friday, almost certainly, she'll be shoved aside in favor of the Next Big Thing, not to rear her head again until top-10 list season in December.
...but she'll be back, of course, in 2020, as a presenter on VH1's I Love the '10s*. Just you wait and see.
*That is, of course, assuming VH1 and live television (as opposed to "content you stream on your computer/tablet/smartphone") still exist in 2020. My bet is that they won't.
