Source: http://www.fastcompany.com/3047536/my-cr...

What does a station (or any company, for that matter) really get out of social traffic based on people memes? Carrell says the answer to that question is far from certain: "You might get lots of views, but are people then going to go and tune into your radio station? Probably not."

Despite this, riding memes is a popular strategy for organizations of all types (as any follower of Brands Saying Bae can attest). So popular, in fact, that Carrell says "it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. On Facebook, if you see a meme or a story or something like that starting to trend, you can get a lot of views and traffic by posting about it, as well. But you have to find ways to stand out in that context. It becomes a ‘who’s fastest, who’s funniest’ competition, and not every organization is equipped to win that."

In many ways, memes are one of the last common touch points in our fractured culture. "David After Dentist," posted on January 30, 2009, has racked up nearly 130 million views, and is still going strong. Ask people who are trapped inside a cubicle all day if they'd like to watch a clip of a dancing raccoon or, say, a chipmunk yawning, or a cat on a trampoline, and the answer will invariably be: Oh, hells yes.

In this sense, talking about memes—reproducing the moment of discovery, of sharing, and of disbelief/delight/disgust—is exactly within a local radio station’s wheelhouse. It’s something you can talk about for two minutes and move on.