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The thesis reviews historical and economic dynamics behind social-media attention economies, focusing on AI algorithms and blockchain as disruptive forces that alter monetization models. Legal and ethical considerations are addressed through copyright and ownership of human- and AI-created memes. Using Economic Constructivism and Participatory Speculation, the study builds interactive documentary futures, combining optimistic and dark scenarios shaped with cross-disciplinary experts and workshop participants.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/unpredictable-memes-speculative-futures-of-meme-creators-ownership-through-the-lens-of-disruptive-technologies/146484/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/unpredictable-memes-speculative-futures-of-meme-creators-ownership-through-the-lens-of-disruptive-technologies/146484.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Liam","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-16","2026-08-26",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How does the thesis connect AI algorithms to changes in meme monetization and ownership?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It reviews how AI algorithmic systems can disrupt monetization pathways, which in turn affects how meme creators’ ownership is understood and valued. The thesis frames these shifts as part of broader attention-economy dynamics.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What role does blockchain play in the future scenarios proposed for meme creators?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Blockchain technologies are presented as opening possibilities for emerging communities, enabling creators to reshape ownership structures and reconfigure scarcity around creativity. The thesis treats this as a potential mechanism for valuing creators’ work.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Which methodologies does the thesis use to imagine optimistic and dark futures?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The study applies Economic Constructivism and Participatory Speculation. These approaches support collaborative imagination with cross-disciplinary experts and workshop participants to develop an interactive documentary of evolving meme creators.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},146484,1787743633,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":129,"read_time":144},8796095461564,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","UNPREDICTABLE MEMES:  \nSpeculative Futures of Meme Creators'Ownership through the Lens of Disruptive Technologies  \nby  \nWinter Yan  \nA thesis exhibition presented to OCAD University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Design (MDes) in Digital Futures. Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2023.  \nABSTRACT  \nUnpredictable Memes explores the impact of technological change on the creation and propagation of memes in contemporary digital culture and envisions a possible future for the meme creator’s ownership. In this thesis, I begin with a historical and economic review to delve into technological movements and trends on social media in the attention economy, highlighting how Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms and Blockchain technologies disrupt the monetization of memes in ways that affect the ownership. Considering the legal and ethical segments of the potential future of meme monetization, the review of copyright and ownership of human and AI-created memes. I employ Economic Constructivism and Participatory Speculation as methodologies to collaboratively imagine both optimistic and dark future scenarios with experts from different fields related to memes, to create an interactive documentary that depicts the evolution of meme creators and the proposed vision of their future. Through this study, I speculate that in the future, AI algorithms will present new opportunities to catalyze human creativity for meme creators and to think of what creators should do to avoid homogenization of creativity, while Blockchain technologies will open up possibilities for emerging communities where meme creators can reshape ownership and scarcity in valuing creativity.  \nACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  \nI would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisors, Dr. Sara Diamond and Dr. Michelle Miller for their continuing guidance, support, as well as insightful thoughts and advice throughout the entire process of this thesis. Your feedback and critiques have greatly helped me to refine my ideas and develop my thesis into its final form.  \nI am also grateful to my two tutors of Thesis 3, Dr. Cindy Poremba and Dr. Emma Westecott, for providing me with excellent academic suggestions and recommending effective methods for this research.  \nTo my family, I wish to thank my mum and my grandmother for their constant emotional support, encouragement, and patience throughout my academic journey. My love and gratitude are beyond what memes can express.  \nMy gratitude also goes to all the participants of the workshop, especially Alex, Joanne, Len and Ludy for their time and enthusiasm toward the project, and for making this research more interesting by sharing their experiences and imagination.  \nFinally, I would like to say I consider myself very fortunate to be part of the Digital Futures Graduate Program at OCAD. I have learnt not only from the courses but also from my friends in this exceptional academic community. Their creativity, passion, and dedication to creative work have inspired me to strive for excellence and continue pushing the boundaries. I thank you all for being so cool!  \nTABLE OF THE CONTENTS  \nABSTRACT 2  \nACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3  \nTABLE OF THE CONTENTS 4  \nLIST OF APPENDICES 6  \nLIST OF FIGURES 6  \nCHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 8  \nABOUT THE PROJECT 8  \nPROJECT MOTIVATION 11  \nRESEARCH QUESTIONS 13  \nCHAPTER OVERVIEW 14  \nCHAPTER 2: LITERATURE AND CONTEXTUAL REVIEW 15  \nHISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF MEMES 15  \nFROM CULTURAL UNIT TO DIGITAL ARTIFACTS 15  \nCONTEMPORARY CASE STUDIES ON SOCIAL MEDIA 21  \nAI-CREATED MEMES 29  \nMEME ECONOMY 34  \nHISTORY OF MEME MONETIZATION 34  \nCREATOR OWNERSHIP 43  \nCOPYRIGHT OF HUMAN-CREATED MEMES 43  \nCOPYRIGHT OF AI-CREATED MEMES 47  \nCOPYRIGHT OF NFT MEMES 53  \nCONTEXTUAL WORKS 57  \nINTERACTIVE DOCUMENTARY 57  \nCHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGIES AND METHODS 63  \nMETHODOLOGIES 63  \nECONOMIC CONSTRUCTIVISM 63  \nPARTICIPATORY SPECULATION 65  \nMETHODS 67  \nHISTORICAL ANALYSIS 68  \nAPPLYING Participatory Speculation","cbCaiufPnNoxw68H","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiufPnNoxw68H","pdf",22258858,141,"English","# Abstract\n# Acknowledgements\n# Table of the Contents\n# List of Appendices\n# List of Figures\n# Chapter 1: Introduction\n## About the Project\n## Project Motivation\n## Research Questions\n## Chapter Overview\n# Chapter 2: Literature and Contextual Review\n## Historical Evolution of Memes\n## From Cultural Unit to Digital Artifacts\n## Contemporary Case Studies on Social Media\n## AI-Created Memes\n## Meme Economy\n## History of Meme Monetization\n## Creator Ownership\n## Copyright of Human-Created Memes\n## Copyright of AI-Created Memes\n## Copyright of NFT Memes\n## Contextual Works\n## Interactive Documentary\n# Chapter 3: Methodologies and Methods\n## Methodologies\n## Economic Constructivism\n## Participatory Speculation\n## Methods\n## Historical Analysis\n## Applying Participatory Speculation: Workshop\n## Participants Recruitment\n## Workshops\n## Data Collection\n## Data Analysis\n# Chapter 4: Voyage to the Edge of Imagination\n## Study Findings\n## Individual Speculation\n## Group Speculation\n## Thesis Output\n## Timeline Jumping\n## Meme Creator Timeline\n## Collective Futures\n# Chapter 5: Conclusions and Future Work\n## Summary of the Research\n## Reflection on Methodologies and Methods\n## Reflection on the Thesis Project\n## Time Jumping\n## Meme Creator Timeline\n## Collective Futures\n## Significance and Future Work\n## Conclusion\n# Bibliography\n# Appendices","[{\"question\":\"How does the thesis connect AI algorithms to changes in meme monetization and ownership?\",\"answer\":\"It reviews how AI algorithmic systems can disrupt monetization pathways, which in turn affects how meme creators’ ownership is understood and valued. The thesis frames these shifts as part of broader attention-economy dynamics.\"},{\"question\":\"What role does blockchain play in the future scenarios proposed for meme creators?\",\"answer\":\"Blockchain technologies are presented as opening possibilities for emerging communities, enabling creators to reshape ownership structures and reconfigure scarcity around creativity. The thesis treats this as a potential mechanism for valuing creators’ work.\"},{\"question\":\"Which methodologies does the thesis use to imagine optimistic and dark futures?\",\"answer\":\"The study applies Economic Constructivism and Participatory Speculation. These approaches support collaborative imagination with cross-disciplinary experts and workshop participants to develop an interactive documentary of evolving meme creators.\"}]","Unpredictable Memes - Speculative Futures of Meme Creators' Ownership through the Lens of Disruptive Technologies | PDF",355]