A meme is a social idea or element of culture that is copied and spread by others, typically for humorous reasons. The word meme was coined by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. He wanted a word to describe a “unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation.” and found the greek root “mimeme” to be rather fitting. Dawkins decided to combine “mimeme” with the word “gene” to make “meme” a shorter and more practical word. Dawkins’ popularization of the word “meme” was a key step in their popularity. Many people today even consider the word “meme” to be a meme because of how often it is used to describe things today.

Memes today are found throughout our society and very commonly on the internet, however they do have a history even before the internet. For example, in World War 2, many soldiers began spreading the meme, “Kilroy was here”, featuring a man peeking over a ledge with the quote “Kilroy was here”. It is believed that the meme originated from inspector James J. Kilroy, whose job it was to inspect equipment that soldiers would be using. He began to approve the equipment he inspected with the phrase “Kilroy was here” which was so prolific to the soldiers that it went viral amongst the soldiers to tag the phrase wherever they could. “Kilroy was here” was tagged in graffiti all over the world, and many people had no idea who he was. People all over the world began to wonder who “Kilroy” was and how he could have graffitied their continents as well as so many others.

Memes today are still very similar to the iconic “Kilroy was here”, conveying ideas or jokes that had been made by a small community, and making them go viral. It is also much easier for memes to go viral because of the use of the internet and websites such as Reddit and 4Chan. These sites allow people to post threads about whatever they like, be it a story, question, or a funny joke they heard for the first time. These sites are very popular with frequent internet users, allowing memes to spread amongst them like a wildfire. There are even boards for the sole purpose of posting or using memes.

Memes today are very similar to inside jokes, mainly shared amongst internet users to portray ideas in a humorous way. These ideas can range from exaggerated relatable experiences to political views or satire. A common meme today is, “Can’t stump the Trump” referring to Donald Trump’s confidence as a presidential candidate and implying that he cannot be stopped. As Donald Trump is a highly controversial president, many people find humor in making jokes about him, making him a common target for memes. The faces that Trump makes as well as the way that he acts, lead to many people finding humor even in politics, and with someone that could be the face of their country.

A common meme started on image board 4Chan was the ‘rickroll’. The rickroll was created when a user of the site posted a link to the trailer of a game, but instead the link went to a video of Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”. The idea of ‘duckrolling’ and other forms of misleading links were popular at the time, however nothing caught on as well as the rickroll. The rickroll was so iconic because of its sheer popularity. The bait and switch method made each encounter by the user a surprise, and by May of 2011 the video had 48 million views on Youtube.

Memes today are diverse and can be found nearly anywhere on the internet. Although they are hardly ever serious, and often include overly exaggerated themes, they are still a part of today’s culture that will most likely be analyzed later in history to better understand how we think and act. A meme can say a lot, such as what “Can’t stump the Trump” says about today’s politicians having questionable policies. Or they can be solely for the purpose of entertainment, such as how the rickroll frustrated and confused millions of people through deception for the entertainment of the producer. However they are used, memes are a modern medium to sharing ideas that was made simple with the use of the internet. Memes can be “dank”, or “sick”, “or altogether poor, but they portray a part of us and let us express ourselves in ways that may not have been thought of years before.