There will be a spaceship, a pet unicorn, and a lot of memes in the future. Or at least, the Internet is part of how we imagine the future to be. And that’s because of the great creation of memes.
We post things that range from strange to completely unbelievable. We often add a small visual element to our posts on social media to make them more interesting. Memes have grown up because of this.
What are memes, and what started this trend? Read on to learn everything you need to know about the history of memes.
The History of Memes
In 1976, in Richard Dawkins’ book The Selfish Gene the first time the word “meme” was used. In that book, Dawkins defined the word as “a unit of cultural transmission.”
He said that anyone who sees a meme is a replicator. But since humans can’t copy something exactly the same, we tend to change internet memes or make new ones.
In the middle of the 2000s, the first memes were the classic top text/bottom text on the picture. Back then, there weren’t that many meme maker app to use to make it, so these were the simplest ones.
People also liked rage comics back then. They had a three-panel comic with the famous troll face reacting to a situation, like playing a game. At first, the troll face would act normally.
But if they lost or something bad happened, the troll face would get angry and throw the controller. Since they were made in Microsoft Paint, more people were able to change or copy them.
Then, in 2007, YouTube made the video meme format more well-known. YouTube videos helped spread the meme culture and several viral content. Vine, another video meme site was only around for a short time.
It was a very popular social media app that helped make short meme videos even more popular. Platforms like TikTok have combined Vine and YouTube to make a new way to share funny videos.
The Evolution of Memes
While the concept and history of memes has been around for centuries, the internet has played a key role in their popularity. In the early days of the World Wide Web, memes were primarily spread through email chain letters.
Then, as social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter became more popular, memes began to spread more quickly and widely.
Today, memes are more popular than ever. With the help of the internet, memes have taken on a life of their own. Evolving and changing as they are passed along from person to person.
How Memes Have Impacted Pop Culture
Memes have had an impact on both popular culture and academic discussions. In the 2010s, both the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary added the word “meme.”
People say that the rise of online communication and the rise of social media sites are to blame for the popularity of memes.
Memes have been used to spread political messages, political commentary, and social advocacy. They have also been used to make inside jokes among groups of friends.
The Future of Memes
Here you found the brief history of memes. As social media continues to evolve, so do memes. It’s hard to predict what the future of memes will be, but one thing is for sure – they’re not going anywhere anytime soon.
What started as internet culture has now become mainstream culture. Memes have taken over the internet and show no signs of slowing down.
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