Merriam-Webster defines a meme as “an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online especially through social media.” To some, memes are just this: little internet jokes with short life spans. To others, however, they are a way of life. Modern memes starting gaining popularity in 2008 with like the Philosiraptor (a green velociraptor with his claw on his chin, mimicking the stance of a person deep in thought), although they have existed for much longer than a mere eleven years. The word “meme” was coined in 1976 by Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene to describe a unit of cultural transmission or imitation. The word is an abbreviation for the ancient Greek word “mimeme,” literally meaning “imitated thing.” Nowadays, meme lovers (aptly named memelords) rule over the social media meme community. They are the ones who determine which memes live and which ones die. However, it is not just memelords that create memes. Once a meme is approved to be replicated and modified, people from all walks of life create different variations of the same joke. Often times, the parent meme dies off within about a month, and, eventually, all of the variations do too. But sometimes the meme variations actually spark a new meme, and it is at this point that the life cycle starts again.
Click on the images below for their months and descriptions.
