Memes might stay the same as they transfer from one source to another, but can sometimes 'evolve', modified or expanded by each new recipient. They can also fade as fast as they spread, ascending in popularity and then disappearing within a matter of days.

　　在傳播過程中，迷因的內容可能保持原樣，也有可能會被后來的接收者加以改造或延伸。它們在網絡上消逝的速度可能跟爆紅的速度一樣快，幾天之內就有可能不見蹤跡了。

　　The term Meme was coined by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 popular science bestseller, The Selfish Gene. The term may refer to the content that spreads from user to user, the idea behind the content, or the phenomenon of its spread.

　　“迷因”這個詞最早是由英國進化生物學家理查德-道金斯在他1976年的大眾科學暢銷書《自私的基因》中使用的。這個詞既可以指在用戶間傳播的內容，也可以指隱藏在內容背后的理念或者其轉播的這種現象。