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Yahoo has introduced their own version of Twitter. For now, at least, you can only use it in Portuguese. It’s called Meme—borrowed from a word coined by Richard Dawkins (he used the word to describe a human gene that causes selfishness).

Critics have compared it to the less popular Tumblr or Posterous—both Twitter wannabes. However, contrary to critics’ allegations, Yahoo’s Meme is not just another Twitter clone. It is a cousin, in that it offers similar features, but a distant cousin, in that it offers a few unique features that Twitter users won’t find.

 Meme users will find the main Meme page to exhibit many of Twitter’s standard features. Users create a name and can follow other users and gain followers, much like Twitter. They can also share photos, videos (currently only via YouTube), and music, in addition to sharing text updates (limited to 140 characters.)

A feature unique to Meme that many believe will enhance its popularity is the “repost” button, which appears next to every feed. Other users can click the repost button and the story will appear in their own feed (similar to Facebook’s friend feed in their most recent update), which is required for commenting on a story. Meme also contains a sidebar indicator that displays how many times a story has been reposted. The repost feature adds a dimension to networking potential that could be particularly useful in viral marketing.

Also like Twitter, Meme uses an animal for its mascot. But this animal doesn’t tweet! It barks! On the current front page, there are three individual dogs. If Twitterers tweet, what will Meme users do?

Meme is currently still in its testing phase, but based on its logo and URL, it’s likely that Yahoo has the vision to expand Meme beyond the Portuguese language.

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