Memes

Memes are broadly defined as ideas, behaviors, or styles that spread from person to person within a culture,^[1] changing and evolving along the way. Memes can take many forms, but on the Aesthetics Wiki, this category primarily concerns the visual styles and aesthetics associated with specific internet memes.

Internet memes are a type of online content that spreads rapidly through social media, forums, and other online platforms. They often involve humor, social commentary, or shared cultural references. It is not always considered in the same way as traditional art styles or internet aesthetics, but many internet memes have distinct visual aesthetics. Additionally, some internet aesthetics and subcultures were originally not meant to be memes, but ended up gaining such status. Examples include Vaporwave and Gopnik (Hardbass).

With the commercialization of the internet in 1995, modern memes gradually became more strongly associated with internet memes. Internet memes are associated with media, catchphrases, and more general trends that spread throughout various outlets on the World Wide Web like chat clients, blogs, social networking sites, email, forums and image boards. They're often used to point out how trends online evolve and change over time, creating various new derivatives.^[1] Some platforms that played a critical role in the development of meme culture include YouTube, Reddit, 4chan, iFunny, 9GAG, Facebook, Something Awful, Newgrounds, and Tumblr.

Examples[]

Many memes feature distinct distinct visual elements. Here are some examples:

• Old Memes encompass memes from the late-1990s to the early 2010s. Examples include ragecomics, rainbows, and lolcats, as well as fairly simple image macros.
• Major League Gaming or MLG was a core component of the 2010s Internet era, associated with YouTube parodies, gaming culture, bright colors, fast cuts, Dubstep music, and extremely loud sound effects.
• YouTube Poop parodies are similar to MLG and frequently reference specific 90s media.
• Deep-fried Memes originated in Tumblr and quickly expanded to Reddit in the late-2010s, associated with "band kid humor", memes about the Soviet Union, extreme bright filters, and dark humor.
• Surreal Memes employ bizarre imagery and unexpected juxtapositions to create a sense of absurdity.
• OtoMAD is a video-based meme style that originated in the Japanese internet, and samples pre-existing media to create a new unique video.
• Wholesome Memes use cute imagery and convey positive messages.

Origins[]

The word was coined by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene.^[2] The book focused on the importance of self-replication in evolution and pointed to the gene as the unit of biological information that is subject to selection pressures.

"The meme first appeared in Richard Dawkins’ first book, “The Selfish Gene” (1976), and was an attempt to understand why some behaviours, from an evolutionary perspective, seemed to make no sense but, somehow or other, were found to be very common in human societies. As Dawkins emphasised, natural selection is a ruthless judge of its subjects and any frailty, physical or behavioural, is almost inevitably rewarded by a rapid exit from the gene pool. It therefore followed that any widespread behaviour, prevalent in a thriving population, no matter how immediately inexplicable, should give some advantage in terms of gene survival. Continued research aimed to understand the reasons behind animal behaviours has yielded results that are entirely consistent with this thesis." ― What’s in a Meme?

Joke Aesthetics[]

This category is not meant to be confused with the "Joke Aesthetics" category. In the Aesthetics Wiki, this refers to pages that were created as a joke and were allowed to stay as easter eggs, and are supossed to showcase the community's humor. They are not included in the List of Aesthetics and are not meant to be taken seriously. As of 2023, joke pages are no longer allowed, and there now is a separate Joke Aesthetics Wiki.

References[]