The Evolution of Memes
MEMES ARE IMPORTANT!!!
Memes may seem like simple internet jokes, but there’s more to them than meets the eye. Behind the funny images and viral videos lies a powerful form of communication, one that spreads ideas, shapes culture, and connects people across the world. From lighthearted humor to social commentary, memes have become a modern language for self-expression, identity, and influence.
What is a meme?
Why are memes important?
Memes are important because they’ve become one of the main ways people communicate and share ideas online. They’re short, funny, and easy to understand, which makes them spread quickly and reach huge audiences. Memes serve deeper purposes than just humor, they capture the mood, opinions, and trends of society at a given moment. Because they rely on images and simple text, memes can cross language and cultural barriers.
Memes are a form of modern storytelling that spreads ideas, emotions, and values faster and more casually than traditional media ever could.
The Emergence of Memes: A Timeline
This likely is not the first "meme", but this us the earliest documented instance of the "Expectation vs. Reality" meme format being used.
Salad Fingers is a British adult animated series that first came out in 2004. The videos quickly gained popularity and had many memeable quotes like "i like rusty spoons".
Chuck Norris facts originally appeared on the Internet in early 2005. Initially distributed in the Something Awful forums, the "facts" centered on Vin Diesel, in response to his film The Pacifier. After a few months, forum members chose Chuck Norris to be the new subject. Conan O'Brien's Chuck Norris jokes on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (which generally center on Walker, Texas Ranger) have been seen as an inspiration for the fad. The exaggerated style of these claims is similar to a recurring Saturday Night Live sketch called "Bill Brasky". Due to the popularity of this phenomenon, similar jokes have been created for various other celebrities, as well as fictional characters.
The original Pepe the Frog from Matt Furie’s Boys Club comic in 2005 was known for the catchphrase “Feels good man”.
Success Kid is one of the most famous internet memes of all time.
On internet forums such as 4chan and Reddit, users started creating their own variations of Pepe the Frog.
This image was originally taken in 2004 but gained popularity in 2008. Disaster Girl spread as an internet meme, with many editing the photo to depict Roth overlooking historic disasters, such as the extinction of the dinosaurs or the sinking of the Titanic.
This meme is still extremely relevant today.
Slenderman is a fictional supernatural character that originated as a creepypasta Internet meme created by Something Awful forum user Eric Knudsen in 2009.
The character is often portrayed as a supernatural being that stalks and abducts people, particularly children, though some lore suggests he manipulates others into committing violent acts rather than acting directly. The mythos exploded in popularity, leading to the viral "creepypasta" story format and numerous creative works.
In a tragic real-life event, two 12-year-old girls in 2014 attacked their friend, claiming they were influenced by Slender Man to "please" him. This incident highlighted the dark potential consequences of misinterpreted online fiction and fueled public debate about internet culture and its influence.
"Banana for scale" refers to an internet meme involving using a banana as a fiducial marker. The meme began in August 2010, where a man posted to Facebook a picture of a safe with a banana beside it.
This style of meme spread rapidly throughout reddit, where users would try to one up each other with ridiculous items and a "banana for scale" next to it.
Overly Attached Girlfriend is a character created by Laina Morris as an entry for a Justin Bieber fan contest, in which she wrote parody lyrics to his song "Boyfriend" from the perspective of an obsessive girlfriend and maintained an intense, wide-eyed stare at the camera.
A screenshot of Morris's face quickly went viral on Reddit and other platforms, becoming an image macro used with various captions describing comically extreme acts of devotion, jealousy, or surveillance.
Meme Man, sometimes also referred to as Mr. Succ or the Stonks guy, is a character often featured in internet memes. He is depicted as a 3D render of a smooth, bald, and often disembodied blue-eyed male head.
Memes involving Meme Man have an extremely idiotic nature.
Honorable Memtions
