What is the history of internet memes? (an overview)

 Let's talk about the history of internet memes and how far they have come and evolved. The term "meme" itself was created by Richard Dawkins in 1976. The original meaning of the word describes an idea that spreads throughout our culture in a "viral" or infectious way.

Early years of memes:

The early years, in the 1990s, saw memes like the "Dancing baby" from Ally McBeal or the "Oh my God, they killed Kenny" from Southpark. I personally remember these very well.

Early 2000s:

This is when memes started spreading on internet forums and sites like 4chan. During this time period, we had ones such as "All your Base are belong to us."

The best years:

From the late 2000's to the early 2010's, memes were kind of in their best years. This is when social media became popular, and so they had a way to spread across the internet at a faster rate. YouTube was also really popular by this time, so viral videos became a huge thing. This is when you had stuff like the hugely popular "RickRolling", Double Rainbow, Trollface, and "LOLcats" emerge. Also, "Epic fail" trends became popular around this time period.

Mid 2010's - Present:

Memes slowly evolved to become more of the "dank" style, and in recent years, we have seen the rise of TikTok memes and what is called "brainrot," such as "The Rizzler"  and "Skibidi Toilet."

Conclusion

As you can see, internet memes have become a part of our culture now, especially with the younger generations. It is largely a part of our language now!