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{{short description|Cultural item spread via the Internet}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2020}}
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An '''Internet meme''', or '''meme''' ({{IPAc-en|m|i:|m}}, [[Help:Pronunciation respelling key|''MEEM'']]), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the [[Internet]], primarily through [[Social media|social media platforms]]. Internet memes manifest in a variety of formats, including [[image]]s, [[video]]s, [[GIF]]s, and other [[Viral phenomenon|viral content]]. Newer internet memes are often defined as [[brain rot]]. Key characteristics of memes include their tendency to be [[Parody|parodied]], their use of [[intertextuality]], their viral dissemination, and their continual evolution. The term ''[[meme]]'' was originally introduced by [[Richard Dawkins]] in 1972 to describe the concept of cultural transmission.

The term ''Internet meme'' was coined by [[Mike Godwin]] in 1993 in reference to the way memes proliferated through early online communities, including message boards, [[Usenet]] groups, and email. The emergence of social media platforms such as [[YouTube]], [[Twitter]], [[Facebook]], and [[Instagram]] further diversified memes and accelerated their spread. Newer meme genres include "dank" and [[Surrealism|surrealist]] memes, as well as short-form videos popularized by platforms like [[Vine (service)|Vine]] and [[TikTok]].

Memes are now recognized as a significant aspect of [[Internet culture]] and are the subject of academic research. They appear across a broad spectrum of contexts, including marketing, economics, finance, politics, social movements, religion, and healthcare. While memes are often viewed as falling under [[fair use]] protection, their incorporation of material from pre-existing works can sometimes result in [[copyright]] disputes.

== Characteristics ==
Internet memes derive from the original concept of "[[meme]]s" as units of cultural transmission, passed from person to person. In the digital realm, this transmission occurs primarily through online platforms, such as [[social media]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Benveniste |first=Alexis |date=2022-01-26 |title=The Meaning and History of Memes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/crosswords/what-is-a-meme.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128093855/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/crosswords/what-is-a-meme.html |archive-date=January 28, 2023 |access-date=2023-01-28 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> Although related, internet memes differ from traditional memes in that they often represent fleeting trends, whereas the success of traditional memes is measured by their endurance over time. Additionally, internet memes tend to be less abstract in nature compared to their traditional counterparts.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shifman |first1=Limor |date=April 2013 |title=Memes in a Digital World: Reconciling with a Conceptual Troublemaker |journal=Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=364 |doi=10.1111/jcc4.12013 |s2cid=28196215 |doi-access=free |hdl-access=free |hdl=11059/14843}}</ref> They are highly versatile in form and purpose, serving as tools for light entertainment, self-expression, social commentary, and even political discourse.<ref name="BBC">{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Helen |date=2022-09-29 |title=The surprising power of internet memes |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220928-the-surprising-power-of-internet-memes |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230128093847/https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220928-the-surprising-power-of-internet-memes |archive-date=January 28, 2023 |access-date=2023-01-28 |website=BBC |language=en}}</ref>

Two fundamental characteristics of internet memes are creative reproduction and [[intertextuality]].<ref name="MIT Press">{{cite book |last1=Shifman |first1=Limor |title=Memes in Digital Culture |date=2013 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-31770-2 |pages=2–4, 20–22}}</ref> Creative reproduction refers to the adaptation and transformation of a meme through imitation or parody, either by reproducing the meme in a new context ("mimicry") or by remixing the original material ("remix"). In mimicry, the meme is recreated in a different setting, as seen when different individuals replicate the viral video "[[Charlie Bit My Finger]]". Remix, on the other hand, involves technological manipulation, such as altering an image with [[Adobe Photoshop|Photoshop]], while retaining elements of the original meme.<ref name="MIT Press" />

Intertextuality in memes involves the blending of different cultural references or contexts. An example of this is the combination of U.S. politician [[Mitt Romney]]'s phrase "[[binders full of women]]" from the 2012 U.S. presidential debate with a scene from the Korean pop song "[[Gangnam Style]]". In this case, the phrase "my binders full of women exploded" is superimposed on a frame from [[Psy]]'s music video, creating a new meaning by merging political and cultural references from distinct contexts.<ref name="MIT Press" />

Internet memes can also function as [[in-joke]]s within specific online communities, where they convey insider knowledge that may be incomprehensible to outsiders. This fosters a sense of collective identity within the group.<ref name="First Monday" /> Conversely, some memes achieve widespread cultural relevance, being understood and appreciated by broader audiences outside of the originating subculture.<ref name="BBC" />

A study by Michele Knobel and Colin Lankshear examined how Richard Dawkins' three characteristics of successful traditional memes—fidelity, fecundity, and longevity—apply to internet memes. It was found that fidelity in the context of internet memes is better described as replicability, as memes are frequently modified through remixing while still maintaining their core message. Fecundity, or the ability of a meme to spread, is promoted by factors such as humor (such as the comically translated video game line "[[All your base are belong to us]]"), intertextuality (as in the various pop culture-referencing renditions of the "[[Star Wars Kid]]" viral video), and juxtaposition of seemingly incongruous elements (exemplified in the "[[Bert is Evil]]" meme). Finally, longevity is essential for a meme's continued circulation and evolution over time.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Knobel |first1=Michele |title=A New Literacies Sampler |last2=Lankshear |first2=Colin |date=2018 |publisher=[[Peter Lang Publishing]] |isbn=9780820495231 |pages=201–202 |chapter=Online memes, affinities, and cultural production. |access-date=March 19, 2023 |orig-date=2007 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Gjs8uT6dxIC&dq=Online+memes,+affinities+and+cultural+production&pg=PA199 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405041905/https://books.google.com/books?id=4Gjs8uT6dxIC&dq=Online+memes,+affinities+and+cultural+production&pg=PA199 |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Evolution and propagation ==
[[File:Graph SIR model without vital dynamics.svg|alt=Internet meme propagation graph|thumb|Internet memes propagate in a similar pattern to infectious disease, as shown by this [[SIR Model|SIR model]]. The pattern, as depicted in red, shows an initial spike in popularity followed by a gradual taper to obscurity.]]

Internet memes can either remain consistent or evolve over time. This evolution may involve changes in meaning while retaining the meme’s structure, or vice versa, with such transformations occurring either by chance or through deliberate efforts like parody.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Castaño Díaz |first1=Carlos Mauricio |date=25 September 2013 |title=Defining and characterizing the concept of Internet Meme |url=https://revistas.ces.edu.co/index.php/psicologia/article/view/2642 |journal=CES Psicología |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=97–98 |id={{ProQuest|1713930915}}}}</ref> A study by Miltner examined the [[lolcat]]s meme, tracing its development from an in-joke within computer and gaming communities on the website [[4chan]] to a broader source of humor and emotional support. As the meme entered mainstream culture, it lost favor with its original creators. Miltner explained that as content moves through different communities, it is reinterpreted to suit the specific needs and desires of those communities, often diverging from the creator’s original intent.<ref name="First Monday">{{cite journal |last1=Miltner |first1=Kate M. |title='There's no place for lulz on LOLCats': The role of genre, gender, and group identity in the interpretation and enjoyment of an Internet meme |journal=First Monday |date=1 August 2014 |doi=10.5210/fm.v19i8.5391 |doi-access= free}}</ref> Modifications to memes can lead them to transcend social and cultural boundaries.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bauckhage |first1=Christian |date=3 August 2021 |title=Insights into Internet Memes |journal=Proceedings of the International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=42–49 |doi=10.1609/icwsm.v5i1.14097 |s2cid=16629837 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Memes spread virally, in a manner similar to the [[SIR model|SIR]] (Susceptible-Infectious-Recovered) model used to describe the transmission of diseases.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Lin |last2=Wood |first2=Brendan C. |date=November 2011 |title=An epidemiological approach to model the viral propagation of memes |journal=Applied Mathematical Modelling |volume=35 |issue=11 |pages=5447 |doi=10.1016/j.apm.2011.04.035 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Once a meme has reached a critical number of individuals, its continued spread becomes inevitable.<ref name="Wired temes">{{Cite news |last=Zetter |first=K. |date=February 29, 2008 |title=Humans Are Just Machines for Propagating Memes |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |url=https://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/02/ted_blackmore?currentPage=all |url-status=live |access-date=March 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202123609/http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/02/ted_blackmore?currentPage=all |archive-date=February 2, 2014}}</ref> Research by Coscia examined the factors contributing to a meme’s propagation and longevity, concluding that while memes compete for attention—often resulting in shorter lifespans—they can also collaborate, enhancing their chances of survival. A meme that experiences an exceptionally high peak in popularity is unlikely to endure unless it is uniquely distinct. Conversely, a meme without such a peak, but that coexists with others, tends to have greater longevity.<ref name="CosciaHarvardCID2013">{{Cite arXiv |eprint=1304.1712 |class=physics.soc-ph |first=Michele |last=Coscia |title=Competition and Success in the Meme Pool: a Case Study on Quickmeme.com |date=April 5, 2013}} Paper explained for laymen by {{Cite web |last=Mims |first=Christopher |date=June 28, 2013 |title=Why you'll share this story: The new science of memes |url=http://qz.com/98677/why-youll-share-this-story-the-new-science-of-memes/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703055640/http://qz.com/98677/why-youll-share-this-story-the-new-science-of-memes/ |archive-date=July 3, 2013 |website=[[Quartz (publication)|Quartz]]}}</ref> In 2013, Dominic Basulto, writing for ''[[The Washington Post]]'', argued that the widespread use of memes, particularly by the marketing and advertising industries, has led to a decline in their original cultural value. Once considered valuable cultural artifacts meant to endure, memes now often convey trivial rather than meaningful ideas.<ref name="WashingtonPost20130705">{{Cite news |last=Basulto |first=Dominic |date=July 5, 2013 |title=Have Internet memes lost their meaning? |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2013/07/05/have-internet-memes-lost-their-meaning/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130705202602/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/wp/2013/07/05/have-internet-memes-lost-their-meaning/ |archive-date=July 5, 2013}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Origins and early memes ===
[[File:CatLolCatExample.jpg|thumb|A lolcat image macro, a meme style especially popular in the mid-and-late 2000s|alt=Image of lolcat meme|upright]]

The word ''meme'' was coined by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book ''[[The Selfish Gene]]'' as an attempt to explain how aspects of culture replicate, mutate, and evolve ([[memetics]]).<ref name="cream">{{cite book |last=Dawkins |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WkHO9HI7koEC&pg=PA192 |title=The Selfish Gene |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-19-286092-7 |edition=2 |page=192 |quote= |author-link=Richard Dawkins |access-date=June 16, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316114026/http://books.google.com/books?id=WkHO9HI7koEC&pg=PA192 |archive-date=March 16, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Emoticon]]s are among the earliest examples of internet memes, specifically the smiley emoticon ":-)", introduced by [[Scott Fahlman]] in 1982.<ref name="Journal of Content, Community & Communication Amity School of Communication">{{cite journal |last1=Kulkarni |first1=Anushka |date=3 June 2017 |title=Internet Meme and Political Discourse: A Study on the Impact of Internet Meme as a Tool in Communicating Political Satire |url=https://www.amity.edu/gwalior/jccc/pdf/jcc-journal-december-2017-13-17.pdf |journal=Journal of Content, Community & Communication Amity School of Communication |volume=6 |pages=13 |ssrn=3501366}}</ref> The concept of memes in an online context was formally proposed by [[Mike Godwin]] in the June 1993 issue of ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]''.<ref name="godwin">{{cite magazine |author=Godwin |first=Mike |date=1994-10-01 |title=Meme, Counter-meme |url=https://www.wired.com/1994/10/godwin-if-2/ |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |access-date=2023-01-31}}</ref> In 2013, Dawkins characterized an Internet meme as being a meme deliberately altered by human creativity—distinguished from biological genes and his own pre-Internet concept of a meme, which involved mutation by random change and spreading through accurate replication as in Darwinian selection. Dawkins explained that Internet memes are thus a "hijacking of the original idea", evolving the very concept of a meme in this new direction.<ref name="Wired20130620">{{Cite magazine|last=Solon|first=Olivia|date=June 20, 2013|title=Richard Dawkins on The Internet's hijacking of the word 'meme'|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-06/20/richard-dawkins-memes|url-status=dead|magazine=Wired UK|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130709152558/http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-06/20/richard-dawkins-memes|archive-date=July 9, 2013}}</ref> Nevertheless, by 2013, Limor Shifman solidified the relationship of memes to internet culture and reworked Dawkins' concept for online contexts.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shifman |first1=Limor |date=April 2013 |title=Memes in a Digital World: Reconciling with a Conceptual Troublemaker |journal=Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=367 |doi=10.1111/jcc4.12013 |doi-access=free|hdl=11059/14843 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Such an association has been shown to be empirically valuable as internet memes carry an additional property that Dawkins' "memes" do not: internet memes leave a footprint in the media through which they propagate (for example, social networks) that renders them traceable and analyzable.<ref name="CosciaHarvardCID2013" />

However, before internet memes were considered truly academic, they were initially a colloquial reference to humorous visual communication online in the mid-late 1990s among internet denizens; examples of these early internet memes include the [[Dancing baby|Dancing Baby]] and [[Hampster Dance]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keep |first=Lennlee |date=2020-10-08 |title=From Kilroy to Pepe: A Brief History of Memes |url=https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/from-kilroy-to-pepe-a-brief-history-of-memes/ |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=Public Broadcasting Service |language=en-US |archive-date=March 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306192623/https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/from-kilroy-to-pepe-a-brief-history-of-memes/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Memes of this time were primarily spread via [[Internet forum|messageboards]], [[Usenet]] groups, and [[email]], and generally lasted for a longer time than modern memes.<ref name="Wired-2018" />

[[File:Doge homemade meme.jpg|thumb|upright|An example of the [[Doge (meme)|Doge]] meme, popular in 2013 and similar in style to earlier lolcats<ref>{{cite news |title=We who spoke LOLcat now speak Doge |url=https://gizmodo.com/we-who-spoke-lolcat-now-speak-doge-1481243678 |access-date=3 January 2024 |work=Gizmodo |date=11 December 2013 |language=en}}</ref>]]

As the Internet protocols evolved, so did memes. [[Lolcat]]s originated from imageboard website [[4chan]], becoming the prototype of the "[[image macro]]" format (an image overlaid by large text).<ref name="Wired-2018" /> Other early forms of image-based memes included demotivators (parodized motivational posters), photoshopped images, [[comics]] (such as [[rage comic]]s),<ref>{{cite news |last=Boutin |first=Paul |date=May 9, 2012 |title=Put Your Rage Into a Cartoon and Exit Laughing |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/technology/personaltech/rage-comics-turn-everyday-stress-into-laughs.html |access-date=2020-11-07 |archive-date=March 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210314141449/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/technology/personaltech/rage-comics-turn-everyday-stress-into-laughs.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Denisova |first=Anastasia |title=Internet Memes and Society: Social, Cultural, and Political Contexts |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2020 |isbn=978-0-429-46940-4 |location=New York, NY |pages=9–11 |oclc=1090540034}}</ref> and [[anime]] [[fan art]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beran |first1=Dale |title=It Came from Something Awful: How a Toxic Troll Army Accidentally Memed Donald Trump into Office |date=2019 |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-250-18974-5 |page=xi}}</ref> sometimes made by {{Lang|ja|[[doujin]]}} circles in various countries. After the release of [[YouTube]] in 2005, video-based memes such as [[Rickrolling]] and [[viral video]]s such as "[[Gangnam Style (music video)|Gangnam Style]]" and [[Harlem shake (dance)|the Harlem shake]] emerged.<ref name="Wired-2018" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Michaels |first=Sean |date=2008-03-19 |title=Taking the Rick |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/mar/19/news |access-date=2023-01-31 |website=[[The Guardian]] |language=en |archive-date=January 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131140850/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/mar/19/news |url-status=live }}</ref> The appearance of social media websites such as [[Twitter]], [[Facebook]], and [[Instagram]] provided additional mediums for the spread of memes,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nieubuurt |first1=Joshua Troy |date=15 January 2021 |title=Internet Memes: Leaflet Propaganda of the Digital Age |journal=Frontiers in Communication |volume=5 |pages=3 |doi=10.3389/fcomm.2020.547065 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and the creation of meme-generating websites made their production more accessible.<ref name="Wired-2018">{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/story/guide-memes/ |title=The WIRED Guide to Memes |magazine=Wired|access-date=November 30, 2018 |first1=Angela |last1=Watercutter |first2=Emma |last2=Grey Ellisby |date=April 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201164321/https://www.wired.com/story/guide-memes/|archive-date=February 1, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Modern memes ===
{{Out of date|date=June 2025}}
"Dank memes" are a more recent phenomenon, the phrase reaching mainstream prominence around 2014 and referring to deliberately zany or odd memes with features such as oversaturated colours, [[compression artifact]]s, crude humour, and overly loud sounds (termed ''ear rape'').<ref name="SAGE">{{cite book |title=The SAGE Handbook of Social Media Marketing |date=2022 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=978-1-5297-4378-4 |editor1-last=Hanlon |editor1-first=Annmarie|pages=10 |editor2-last=Tuten |editor2-first=Tracy L.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dank meme |url=https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/dank-meme/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130071447/https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/dank-meme/ |archive-date=November 30, 2018 |access-date=November 30, 2018 |website=[[Dictionary.com]]}}</ref> The term ''dank'', which refers to cold, damp places, has been adapted as a way to describe memes as "new" or "cool".<ref name="SAGE" /><ref>{{Cite magazine |last1=Hoffman |first1=Ashley |date=February 2, 2018 |title=Donald Trump Jr. Just Became a Dank Meme, Literally |url=https://time.com/5130384/donald-trump-jr-dankness-tweet/ |url-status=live |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501012644/http://time.com/5130384/donald-trump-jr-dankness-tweet/ |archive-date=May 1, 2018 |access-date=May 19, 2018}}</ref> The term may also be used to describe memes that have become overused and stale to the point of paradoxically becoming humorous again.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Griffin |first1=Annaliese |date=March 9, 2018 |title=What does "dank" mean? A definition of everyone's new favourite adjective |url=https://quartzy.qz.com/1221995/dank-is-the-new-umami/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180519121617/https://quartzy.qz.com/1221995/dank-is-the-new-umami/ |archive-date=May 19, 2018 |access-date=May 19, 2018 |website=[[Quartz (magazine)|Quartz]]}}</ref> The phenomenon of dank memes sprouted a subculture called the "meme market", satirising [[Wall Street]] and applying the associated jargon (such as "stocks") to internet memes. Originally started on [[Reddit]] as /r/MemeEconomy, users jokingly "buy" or "sell" shares in a meme reflecting opinion on its potential popularity.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/10/14223264/meme-economy-reddit-stock-market |title=How a group of Redditors is creating a fake stock market to figure out the value of memes |last=Plaugic |first=Lizzie |date=January 10, 2017 |website=The Verge|access-date=December 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181211010109/https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/10/14223264/meme-economy-reddit-stock-market|archive-date=December 11, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Deep fried meme.jpg|thumb|upright|Example of a "deep-fried" meme, featuring distortion and saturated colours|left]]

{{anchor|deep-fried}}"Deep-fried" memes refer to those that have been distorted and run through several filters and/or layers of [[lossy compression]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Günseli |first=Yalcinkaya |date=11 November 2022 |title=Deep-fried memes: what are they and why do they matter? |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/57422/1/deep-fried-memes-surveillance-capitalism-instagram-reddit-censorship |access-date=13 February 2023 |website=[[Dazed]] |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212190723/https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/57422/1/deep-fried-memes-surveillance-capitalism-instagram-reddit-censorship |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Matsakis |first=Louise |date=30 August 2017 |title=How to Deep-Fry a Meme |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/how-to-deep-fry-a-meme/ |access-date=13 February 2023 |website=[[Vice (magazine)#Website|Vice]] |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212190722/https://www.vice.com/en/article/zmm885/how-to-deep-fry-a-meme |url-status=live }}</ref> An example of these is the "E" meme, a picture of YouTuber [[Markiplier]] photoshopped onto [[Lord Farquaad]] from the film ''[[Shrek]]'', in turn photoshopped into a scene from businessman [[Mark Zuckerberg]]'s hearing in Congress and captioned with a lone 'E'.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hathaway |first=Jay |date=November 5, 2018 |title=The 'E' meme shows just how weird memes can get |url=https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/lord-farquaad-e-meme/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326134655/https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/lord-farquaad-e-meme/ |archive-date=March 26, 2019 |access-date=March 26, 2019 |website=[[The Daily Dot]]}}</ref> Elizabeth Bruenig of the ''[[The Washington Post|Washington Post]]'' described this as a "digital update to the surreal and absurd genres of art and literature that characterized the tumultuous early 20th century".<ref>{{cite news |last=Bruenig |first=Elizabeth |date=August 11, 2017 |title=Why is millennial humor so weird? |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/why-is-millennial-humor-so-weird/2017/08/11/64af9cae-7dd5-11e7-83c7-5bd5460f0d7e_story.html |access-date=March 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507081349/https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/why-is-millennial-humor-so-weird/2017/08/11/64af9cae-7dd5-11e7-83c7-5bd5460f0d7e_story.html |archive-date=May 7, 2019}}</ref>
Many modern memes make use of humorously absurd and even [[Surrealism|surrealist]] themes. Examples of the former include "they did surgery on a grape", a video depicting a [[Da Vinci Surgical System]] performing test surgery on a grape,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Bruce Y. |date=2018-12-02 |title=They Did Surgery On A Grape: What Is This New Viral Meme? |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2018/12/02/they-did-surgery-on-a-grape-what-is-this-new-viral-meme/ |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=Forbes |language=en |archive-date=February 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230201134300/https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2018/12/02/they-did-surgery-on-a-grape-what-is-this-new-viral-meme/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and the "moth meme", a close-up picture of a moth with captions humorously conveying the insect's love of [[Electric light|lamps]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ktena |first=Natalie |date=2018-09-28 |title=Why does everybody love moth memes? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/45ce5960-31a2-4223-a426-c3414df5ec79 |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=BBC Three |language=en-GB |archive-date=October 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181021104953/https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/45ce5960-31a2-4223-a426-c3414df5ec79 |url-status=live }}</ref> Surreal memes incorporate layers of irony to make them unique and nonsensical, often as a means of escapism from mainstream meme culture.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bryan |first=Chloe |date=February 6, 2019 |title=Surreal memes deserve their own internet dimension |url=https://mashable.com/article/surreal-memes/#dBMHaD8Josqt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327090359/https://mashable.com/article/surreal-memes/#dBMHaD8Josqt |archive-date=March 27, 2019 |access-date=March 26, 2019 |website=Mashable}}</ref>

[[File:Thomas C. Lea III - That Two-Thousand Yard Stare - Original.jpg|thumb|upright|The "[[Thousand-yard stare|Thousand Yard Stare]] Meme", which was popular in 2023<ref>{{Cite web |last=Andaloro |first=Angela |date=2024-07-22 |title=Origins of the Thousand Yard Stare meme |url=https://www.dailydot.com/memes/thousand-yard-stare-meme/ |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=The Daily Dot |language=en-US}}</ref>]]

After the success of the application [[Vine (service)|Vine]], a format of memes emerged in the form of short videos and scripted sketches. An example is the "What's Nine Plus Ten?" meme, a Vine video depicting a child humorously providing an incorrect answer to a math problem.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bain |first=Ellissa |date=2021-09-10 |title=9/10/21 meme explained: What is happening today? |url=https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/09/10/9-10-21-meme/ |access-date=2023-02-02 |website=[[HITC]] |language=en-GB |archive-date=February 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202140436/https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/09/10/9-10-21-meme/ |url-status=live }}</ref> After the shutdown of Vine in 2017, the de facto replacement became Chinese social network [[TikTok]], which similarly utilises the short video format.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Herrman |first=John |date=2020-02-22 |title=Vine Changed the Internet Forever. How Much Does the Internet Miss It? |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/22/style/byte-vine-short-video-apps.html |access-date=2023-02-02 |archive-date=December 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221226154458/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/22/style/byte-vine-short-video-apps.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The platform has become immensely popular, and is the source of memes such as the "Renegade" dance.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Carman |first=Ashley |date=2020-04-29 |title=TikTok reaches 2 billion downloads |url=https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/29/21241788/tiktok-app-download-numbers-update-2-billion-users |access-date=2023-02-02 |website=[[The Verge]] |language=en-US |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729003408/https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/29/21241788/tiktok-app-download-numbers-update-2-billion-users |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jennings |first=Rebecca |date=2020-02-04 |title=The most popular dances now come from TikTok. What happens to their creators? |url=https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/2/4/21112444/renegade-tiktok-song-dance |access-date=2023-02-02 |website=[[Vox (website)|Vox]] |language=en |archive-date=February 2, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202140435/https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/2/4/21112444/renegade-tiktok-song-dance |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2022, the term ''[[brain rot]]'' became used to reflect a shift in how memes, particularly TikTok videos, were being interacted with. The term describes content lacking in quality and meaning, often associated with slang and trends popular among [[Generation Alpha]], such as "[[Skibidi Toilet|skibidi]]", "[[rizz]]", "[[gyatt]]", and "[[fanum tax]]".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-08-10 |title=Parents and Gen Alpha kids are having unintelligible convos because of 'brainrot' language |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/gen-alpha-kids-parents-brainrot-language-rcna162227 |access-date=2024-09-16 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> The name comes from the perceived negative psychological and cognitive effects caused by exposure to such content.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Roy |first=Jessica |date=2024-06-13 |title=If You Know What 'Brainrot' Means, You Might Already Have It |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/13/style/brainrot-internet-addiction-social-media-tiktok.html |access-date=2024-08-26 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

== By context ==

=== Marketing ===
The practice of using memes to market products or services has been termed "memetic marketing".<ref name="memetic marketing">{{Cite news |last=Flor |first=Nick |date=December 11, 2000 |title=Memetic Marketing |publisher=[[InformIT]] |url=http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=19996 |url-status=live |access-date=July 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114180653/http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=19996 |archive-date=January 14, 2012}}</ref> Internet memes allow brands to circumvent the conception of advertisements as irksome, making them less overt and more tailored to the likes of their target audience. Marketing personnel may choose to utilise an existing meme, or create a new meme from scratch. Fashion house [[Gucci]] employed the former strategy, launching a series of [[Instagram]] ads that reimagined popular memes featuring its watch collection. The image macro "The Most Interesting Man in the World" is an example of the latter, a meme generated from an advertising campaign for the [[Dos Equis]] beer brand.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCrae |first=James |date=May 8, 2017 |title=Meme Marketing: How Brands Are Speaking A New Consumer Language |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2017/05/08/meme-marketing-how-brands-are-speaking-a-new-consumer-language/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315134855/https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2017/05/08/meme-marketing-how-brands-are-speaking-a-new-consumer-language/ |archive-date=March 15, 2018 |access-date=December 10, 2018 |website=Forbes}}</ref> Products may also gain popularity through internet memes without intention by the producer themselves; for instance, the film ''[[Snakes on a Plane]]'' became a [[cult classic]] after creation of the website SnakesOnABlog.com by law student Brian Finkelstein.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Carr |first=David |date=2006-05-29 |title=Hollywood bypassing critics and print as digital gets hotter - Business - International Herald Tribune |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/29/business/worldbusiness/29iht-carr.1839216.html |access-date=2023-02-04 |archive-date=July 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120703071008/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/29/business/worldbusiness/29iht-carr.1839216.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Use of memes by brands, while often advantageous, has been subject to criticism for seemingly forced, unoriginal, or unfunny usage of memes, which can negatively impact a brand's image.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pegolo |first1=Valentina |last2=Carpenter |first2=Lucie |date=February 6, 2021 |title=Why Memes Will Never Be Monetized |url=https://jacobinmag.com/2021/02/memes-never-monetized-corporate-advertising |access-date=February 7, 2021 |website=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |archive-date=February 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225142149/https://jacobinmag.com/2021/02/memes-never-monetized-corporate-advertising |url-status=live }}</ref> For example, the fast food company [[Wendy's]] began a social media-based approach to marketing that was initially met with success (resulting in an almost 50% profit growth that year), but received criticism after sharing a controversial [[Pepe the Frog|Pepe]] meme that was negatively perceived by consumers.<ref>{{cite news |last=Whitten |first=Sarah |date=January 4, 2017 |title=A Wendy's tweet just went viral for all the wrong reasons |publisher=[[CNBC]] |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/04/wendys-saucy-tweets-are-hit-and-miss-on-social-media.html |access-date=August 19, 2020 |archive-date=November 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104214557/https://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/04/wendys-saucy-tweets-are-hit-and-miss-on-social-media.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Economics and finance ===
{{further|Meme stocks}}
Meme [[stock]]s are a phenomenon where stock values for a company rise significantly in a short period due to a surge in interest online and subsequent buying by investors. Video game retailer [[GameStop]] is recognised as the first meme stock.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rossolillo |first=Nicholas |date=2021-09-23 |title=What Are Meme Stocks? |website=[[The Motley Fool]] |url=https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/types-of-stocks/meme-stocks/ |access-date=2021-10-08 |archive-date=November 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113155252/https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/types-of-stocks/meme-stocks/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[/r/WallStreetBets|r/WallStreetBets]], a [[subreddit]] where participants discuss [[Stock trader|stock trading]], and [[Robinhood Markets]], a financial services company, became notable in 2021 for their involvement in the popularisation of meme stocks.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Phillip |first1=Matt |last2=Marcos |first2=Coral M. |date=August 4, 2021 |title=Robinhood's shares jump as much as 65 percent, like the meme stocks it enabled |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/04/business/robinhood-stock-price.html |access-date=2023-02-15 |archive-date=October 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018143905/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/04/business/robinhood-stock-price.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Popper |first1=Nathaniel |last2=Browning |first2=Kellen |date=January 29, 2021 |title=The 'Roaring Kitty' Rally: How a Reddit User and His Friends Roiled the Markets |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/technology/roaring-kitty-reddit-gamestop-markets.html |access-date=2023-02-15 |archive-date=January 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129100713/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/technology/roaring-kitty-reddit-gamestop-markets.html |url-status=live }}</ref> "YOLO investors" are a phenomenon that emerged during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], who are less risk averse in their investments compared to their traditional counterparts.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chohan |first1=Usman W. |title=Activist Retail Investors and the Future of Financial Markets |last2=Van Kerckhoven |first2=Sven |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-00-335108-5 |pages=99–101 |doi=10.4324/9781003351085 |s2cid=257228199}}</ref>

Additionally, memes have developed an association with [[cryptocurrency]] with the development of [[Meme coin|meme currencies]] such as [[Dogecoin]], Shiba Inu Coin, and Pepe Coin. Meme cryptocurrencies have suggested comparisons between meme value and monetary markets.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nani |first1=Albi |date=December 2022 |title=The doge worth 88 billion dollars: A case study of Dogecoin |journal=Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies |volume=28 |issue=6 |pages=1719–1721 |doi=10.1177/13548565211070417 |s2cid=247685455|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|2794896398}} |title=Meme Stock Values Can Persist in Bankruptcy, but Cannot Prevail Without Business Justification |last1=Yozzo |first1=John |journal=American Bankruptcy Institute Journal |volume=42 |issue=4 |date=April 2023 |pages=36–37, 70–71 }}</ref>

=== Politics ===

[[File:Rodrigo rato 55b27964969e5.jpg|thumb|2015 meme of [[Rodrigo Rato]] (former managing director of the IMF and former vice president of the Spanish government) jumping into a shark's mouth as his spouse watches]]

Internet memes are a medium for fast communication to large online audiences, which has led to their use by those seeking to express a political opinion or actively campaign for (or against) a political entity.<ref name="Journal of Content, Community & Communication Amity School of Communication" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Seiffert-Brockmann |first1=Jens |last2=Diehl |first2=Trevor |last3=Dobusch |first3=Leonhard |date=August 2018 |title=Memes as games: The evolution of a digital discourse online |journal=New Media & Society |volume=20 |issue=8 |pages=2862–2863 |doi=10.1177/1461444817735334 |s2cid=206729243}}</ref> In some ways, they can be seen as a modern form of the [[political cartoon]], offering a way to democratize political commentary.<ref>{{cite web |last=Grygiel |first=Jennifer |date=May 17, 2019 |title=Political cartoonists are out of touch – it's time to make way for memes |url=https://theconversation.com/political-cartoonists-are-out-of-touch-its-time-to-make-way-for-memes-116471 |access-date=March 6, 2021 |website=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] |publisher= |archive-date=October 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006222817/https://theconversation.com/political-cartoonists-are-out-of-touch-its-time-to-make-way-for-memes-116471 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Among the earliest political memes were those arising from the viral [[Dean scream]], an excerpt from a speech delivered by [[Vermont]] [[Governor (United States)|governor]] [[Howard Dean]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murray |first=Mark |date=2019-01-18 |title=As the 'Dean scream' turns 15, its impact on American politics lives on |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/howard-dean-s-scream-turns-15-its-impact-american-politics-n959916 |access-date=2023-02-07 |website=[[NBC News]] |language=en |archive-date=May 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519033105/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/howard-dean-s-scream-turns-15-its-impact-american-politics-n959916 |url-status=live }}</ref> Over time, Internet memes have become an increasingly important element in political campaigns, as online communities contribute to broader discourse through the use of memes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=MacLeod |first1=Alan |title=Book review: Kill all normies: Online culture wars from 4chan and Tumblr to Trump and the alt-right |journal=New Media & Society |date=February 2019 |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=535–537 |doi=10.1177/1461444818804143 |s2cid=67774146 }}</ref> For example, [[Ted Cruz]]'s 2016 Republican presidential bid was damaged by [[Ted Cruz–Zodiac Killer meme|a meme]] that jokingly speculated he was the [[Zodiac Killer]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last1=Stuart |first1=Tessa |date=2016-02-26 |title=Is Ted Cruz the Zodiac Killer? Maybe, Say Florida Voters |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/is-ted-cruz-the-zodiac-killer-maybe-say-38-percent-of-florida-voters-89135/ |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |access-date=2020-07-22}}</ref>

Research has shown the use of memes during elections has a role to play in informing the public on political themes. A study explored this in relation to the [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 UK general election]], and concluded that memes acted as a widely shared conduit for basic political information to audiences who would usually not seek it out.<ref name="The British Journal of Politics and International Relations">{{cite journal |last1=McLoughlin |first1=Liam |last2=Southern |first2=Rosalynd |date=February 2021 |title=By any memes necessary? Small political acts, incidental exposure and memes during the 2017 UK general election |journal=The British Journal of Politics and International Relations |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=78–79 |doi=10.1177/1369148120930594 |s2cid=225602095|doi-access=free }}</ref> They also found that memes may play some role in increasing [[voter turnout]].<ref name="The British Journal of Politics and International Relations" />

Some political campaigns have begun to explicitly taken advantage of the increasing influence of memes; as part of the [[2020 United States presidential election|2020 US presidential campaign]], [[Michael Bloomberg]] sponsored a number of Instagram accounts (with over 60&nbsp;million followers collectively) to post memes related to the Bloomberg campaign.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lorenz|first=Taylor|date=February 13, 2020|title=Michael Bloomberg's Campaign Suddenly Drops Memes Everywhere|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/style/michael-bloomberg-memes-jerry-media.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213060905/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/style/michael-bloomberg-memes-jerry-media.html |archive-date=2020-02-13 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=July 30, 2020}}</ref> The campaign was faulted for treating memes as a commodity that can be bought.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Tiffany|first=Kaitlyn|date=February 28, 2020|title=You Can't Buy Memes|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/02/bloomberg-memes-instagram-ads/607219/|access-date=July 30, 2020|work=The Atlantic|archive-date=November 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114232707/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/02/bloomberg-memes-instagram-ads/607219/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Beyond their use in elections, Internet memes can become symbols for various political ideologies. A salient example is Pepe the Frog, which has been used as a symbol for the [[alt-right]] political movement, as well as for [[pro-democracy]] ideologies in the [[2019–2020 Hong Kong protests]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Placido |first=Dani Di |date=2017-05-09 |title=How 'Pepe The Frog' Became A Symbol Of Hatred |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2017/05/09/how-pepe-the-frog-became-a-symbol-of-hatred/ |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=[[Forbes]] |language=en |archive-date=February 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208142119/https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2017/05/09/how-pepe-the-frog-became-a-symbol-of-hatred/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Victor |first=Daniel |date=2019-08-19 |title=Hong Kong Protesters Love Pepe the Frog. No, They're Not Alt-Right. |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/world/asia/hong-kong-protest-pepe-frog.html |access-date=2023-02-08 |archive-date=August 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819145229/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/world/asia/hong-kong-protest-pepe-frog.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Social movements ===
[[File:John Maino performs the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.jpg|thumb|A person performing the Ice Bucket Challenge]]

Internet memes can be powerful tools in social movements, constructing collective identity and providing platform for discourse.<ref name="BBC" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Harbo |first1=Tenna Foustad |date=December 2022 |title=Internet memes as knowledge practice in social movements: Rethinking Economics' delegitimization of economists |journal=Discourse, Context & Media |volume=50 |pages=8 |doi=10.1016/j.dcm.2022.100650 |s2cid=252906293}}</ref> During the 2010 [[It Gets Better Project]] for [[LGBT|LGBTQ+]] empowerment, memes were used to uplift LGBTQ+ youth while negotiating the community's collective identity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gal |first1=Noam |last2=Shifman |first2=Limor |last3=Kampf |first3=Zohar |date=September 2016 |title='It Gets Better': Internet memes and the construction of collective identity |journal=New Media & Society |volume=18 |issue=8 |pages=1698 |doi=10.1177/1461444814568784 |s2cid=206728484}}</ref> In 2014, the viral [[Ice Bucket Challenge]] raised money and awareness for [[Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis|Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/Motor Neurone Disease]] (ALS/MND).<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Sample |first1=Ian |last2=Woolf |first2=Nicky |date=2016-07-27 |title=How the ice bucket challenge led to an ALS research breakthrough |language=en-GB |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jul/27/how-the-ice-bucket-challenge-led-to-an-als-research-breakthrough |access-date=2023-02-11 |archive-date=November 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108035419/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jul/27/how-the-ice-bucket-challenge-led-to-an-als-research-breakthrough |url-status=live }}</ref> Furthermore, internet memes proved an important medium in the discourse surrounding the [[Occupy Wall Street]] (OWS) movement.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Milner |first1=Ryan M. |date=October 2013 |title=Pop polyvocality: internet memes, public participation, and the occupy wall street movement |url=https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/1949 |journal=International Journal of Communication |volume=7 |pages=2357 |id={{Gale|A352494259}}}}</ref>

=== Religion ===
Internet memes have also been used in the context of [[religion]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Haden Church |first1=Scott |last2=Feller |first2=Gavin |date=2 January 2020 |title=Synecdoche, Aesthetics, and the Sublime Online: Or, What's a Religious Internet Meme? |journal=Journal of Media and Religion |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=12 |doi=10.1080/15348423.2020.1728188 |s2cid=213540194}}</ref> They create a participatory culture that enable individuals to collectively make meaning of religious beliefs, reflecting a form of [[lived religion]].<ref name="Information, Communication & Society">{{cite journal |last1=Aguilar |first1=Gabrielle K. |last2=Campbell |first2=Heidi A. |last3=Stanley |first3=Mariah |last4=Taylor |first4=Ellen |date=3 October 2017 |title=Communicating mixed messages about religion through internet memes |journal=Information, Communication & Society |volume=20 |issue=10 |pages=1502–1509 |doi=10.1080/1369118X.2016.1229004 |s2cid=151721706}}</ref> Aguilar ''[[et al.]]'' of [[Texas A&M University]] identified six common genres of religious memes: non-religious image macros with religious themes, image macros featuring religious figures, memes reacting to religion-related news, memes deifying non-religious figures such as [[Celebrity|celebrities]], [[Parody|spoofs]] of religious images, and video-based memes.<ref name="Information, Communication & Society" />

=== Healthcare ===
Social media platforms can increase the speed of dissemination of evidence-based health practices.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cawcutt |first1=Kelly A. |last2=Marcelin |first2=Jasmine R |last3=Silver |first3=Julie K |date=2019-08-27 |title=Using social media to disseminate research in infection prevention, hospital epidemiology, and antimicrobial stewardship |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31452490/ |journal=Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology |volume=40 |issue=11 |pages=969–971 |doi=10.1017/ice.2019.231 |pmid=31452490 |s2cid=201757947 |access-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212112907/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31452490/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A study by Reynolds and Boyd found the majority of participants (who were healthcare staff) felt that memes could be an appropriate means of improving healthcare worker's knowledge of and compliance with infection prevention practices.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Reynolds |first1=Staci |last2=Boyd |first2=Shelby |title=Healthcare worker's perspectives on use of memes as an implementation strategy in infection prevention: An exploratory descriptive analysis |journal=American Journal of Infection Control |date=July 2021 |volume=49 |issue=7 |pages=969–971 |doi=10.1016/j.ajic.2020.11.019 |pmid=33249101 |s2cid=227234896 }}</ref> Internet memes were also used in [[Nigeria]] to raise awareness of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], with healthcare professionals using the medium to disseminate information on the virus and [[COVID-19 vaccine|its vaccine]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Msughter |first1=Aondover Eric |last2=Iman |first2=Maryam Lawal |date=15 March 2020 |title=Internet Meme as a Campaign Tool to the Fight against Covid-19 in Nigeria |url=https://globaljournals.org/GJHSS_Volume20/4-Internet-Meme-as-a-Campaign.pdf |journal=Global Journal of Human-Social Science |volume=20 |issue=A6 |pages=27}}</ref>

== Copyright ==
Since many memes are derived from pre-existing works, it has been contended that memes violate the copyright of the original authors. However, some view memes as falling under the ambit of [[fair use]] in the United States.<ref name="Duke Law & Technology Review">{{Cite journal |last=Scialabba |first=Elena E. |title=A Copy of a Copy of a Copy: Internet Mimesis and the Copyrightability of Memes |url=https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1358&context=dltr |url-status=live |journal=Duke Law & Technology Review |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=340–341, 344–346 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213134645/https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1358&context=dltr |archive-date=February 13, 2023 |access-date=February 13, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schwartz |first1=Benjamin D. |title=Who Owns Memes? |journal=[[The National Law Review]] |date=5 August 2022 |url=https://www.natlawreview.com/article/who-owns-memes |access-date=20 August 2023}}</ref> This dilemma has caused conflict between meme producers and copyright owners: for example, [[Getty Images]]' demand for payment from the blog ''Get Digital'' for publishing the "Socially Awkward Penguin" meme without permission.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Iyer |first1=Aishwaria S. |last2=Mehrotra |first2=Raghav |date=26 February 2017 |title=A critical analysis of memes and fair use |url=https://pure.jgu.edu.in/id/eprint/3233/ |journal=Rostrum's Law Review |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=2–3}}</ref>

=== United States ===
Under United States copyright law, copyright protection subsists in "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device". It is disputed whether the use of memes constitutes copyright infringement.<ref name="Duke Law & Technology Review" />

[[File:Farmer meme with apostrophe.jpg|thumb|This [[image macro]] is in the [[public domain]] in the United States as the background was taken by the [[United States Department of Agriculture|Department of Agriculture]].]]

Fair use is a defence under U.S. copyright law which protects work made using other copyrighted works.<ref name="Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly">{{cite journal |last1=Mielczarek |first1=Natalia |last2=Hopkins |first2=W. Wat |date=March 2021 |title=Copyright, Transformativeness, and Protection for Internet Memes |journal=Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly |volume=98 |issue=1 |pages=53–55 |doi=10.1177/1077699020950492 |s2cid=225023573}}</ref> Section 107 of the [[Copyright Act of 1976|1976 Copyright Act]] outlines four factors for analysis of fair use:

# The purpose and character of the use,
# The nature of the copyrighted work,
# The amount and substantiality of the portion used, and
# The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.<ref name="Duke Law & Technology Review" />

The first factor implies the secondary use of a copyrighted work should be "transformative" (that is, giving novel meaning or expression to the original work); many memes fulfil this criterion, placing pieces of media in a new context to serve a different purpose to that of the original author. The second factor favours copied works drawing from factual sources, which may be problematic for memes derived from fictional works (such as films). Many of these memes, however, only use small portions of such works (such as still images), favouring an argument of fair use per the third factor. With regards to the fourth factor, most memes are non-commercial in nature and thus would not have adverse effects on the potential market for the copyright work.<ref name="Duke Law & Technology Review" /> Given these factors, and the overall reliance of memes on appropriation of other sources, it has been argued that they deserve protection from copyright infringement suits.<ref name="Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly" />

==== Non-fungible tokens ====
Some individuals who are subjects of memes (and thus the copyright holders) have made money through sale of [[non-fungible token]]s (NFTs) in [[auction]]s.<ref name=Wired>{{cite news|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/nft-memes-2010s|title=They were ancient internet memes. Now NFTs are making them rich|last=Pritchard|first=Will|magazine=[[Wired UK]]|date=April 16, 2021|access-date=May 4, 2021|archive-date=November 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114232648/https://www.wired.co.uk/article/nft-memes-2010s|url-status=live}}</ref> Ben Lashes, a manager of numerous memes, stated their sales as NFTs made over US$2&nbsp;million and established memes as serious forms of art.<ref name=Fazio>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/29/arts/disaster-girl-meme-nft.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429155019/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/29/arts/disaster-girl-meme-nft.html |archive-date=2021-04-29 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=The World Knows Her as 'Disaster Girl.' She Just Made $500,000 Off the Meme|last=Fazio|first=Marie|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 29, 2021|access-date=April 30, 2021}}</ref> One example is ''[[Disaster Girl]]'', based on a photo of Zoe Roth at age 4 taken in [[Mebane, North Carolina]], in January 2005.<ref name="Fazio" /> After this photo became famous and was used hundreds of times without permission, Roth decided to sell the original copy as an NFT for US$539,973 ({{Inflation|US|539973|2021|fmt=eq}}),{{Inflation/fn|US}} with an agreement for a further 10 percent share of any future sales.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Howard |first=Jacqueline |date=2021-04-30 |title='Disaster girl', now aged 21, sells original meme photo as an NFT for an eye-watering $650,000 |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-30/disaster-girl-meme-sells-for-500-000/100106366 |access-date=2023-02-14 |archive-date=February 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214133900/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-30/disaster-girl-meme-sells-for-500-000/100106366 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Internet}}
* [[List of Internet phenomena]]
* [[Remix culture]]
* [[Short-form content]]

{{clear}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==

===Books===
* {{cite book |last1=Blackmore |first1=Susan |title=The Meme Machine |date=2000 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-157461-0 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Distin |first1=Kate |title=The Selfish Meme: A Critical Reassessment |date=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-60627-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Mina |first=An Xiao |title=Memes to Movements: How the World's Most Viral Media Is Changing Social Protest and Power  |publisher=Beacon Press |year=2019 |isbn=978-0807056585}}
* {{cite book |last1=Shifman |first1=Limor |title=Memes in Digital Culture |date=2013 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-31770-2 }}

===Articles===
* {{cite news |last1=Wiggins |first1=Bradley |title=How the Russia-Ukraine crisis became a magnet for memes |url=https://theconversation.com/how-the-russia-ukraine-crisis-became-a-magnet-for-memes-31199 |work=The Conversation |date=22 September 2014 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Wiggins |first1=Bradley E |last2=Bowers |first2=G Bret |title=Memes as genre: A structurational analysis of the memescape |journal=New Media & Society |date=December 2015 |volume=17 |issue=11 |pages=1886–1906 |doi=10.1177/1461444814535194 |s2cid=30729349 }}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
{{Appropriation in the arts}}
{{Internet slang}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Internet Meme}}
[[Category:Internet memes| ]]
[[Category:1993 neologisms]]