know your memes: understanding internet humour

meme an internet information generator, especially of

random or contentless information

(From the Greek mimëma, ‘something imitated’)

source: urbandictionary.com

Grumpy Cat

1.96m views on Know Your Meme (KYM)

Discovered in 2012, now has t-shirts, toys, drinks

(grumppachino) & a film!

One does not simply

walk into Mordor

1.6m KYM views

From 2001 film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship

of the Ring

Google Maps now references this meme between

‘The Shire’ & ‘Mordor’ in the US

Brace yourself/Imminent Ned

600K KYM views

Based on Game of Thrones’ ‘Winter is Coming’

Skeptical African Child

no KYM ranking, but still brilliant

Unflattering Beyoncé

341k KYM views

Went viral when publicist asked Buzzfeed to remove photos,

deemed ‘unflattering’ (goes to show…)

Bonus gif: http://i2.kym-

cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/503/722/0a0.gif

Condescending Wonka

787k KYM views

Based on Gene Wilder’s 70s Willy Wonka…

…meme culture made him condescending

Scumbag Steve

Nearly 4m KYM views

A random picture, taken by Blake Boston’s mother!

Now a global superstar, with music career about to

take off

Overly Attached Girlfriend

3.8m KYM views

From a Justin Beiber fan parody video with creepy,

jealous lyrics - instantly got 1.35m views.

Self-made meme!

Laina Morris is now a star

Trollface and Rage Guy

8.9m & 2.6m KYM views respectively

Originally from super-crude comics

Now two of the most emblematic memes out there

Sad Keanu

2m KYM views

Random paparazzi shot of actor turned into meme

Variants: Happy Keanu, Tai Chi Keanu, Keanu Helmet

Nyan Cat

2m KYM views

Originally a video… which has 114m YouTube views!

A 10-hour version also exists…

Not Japanese! But the music is…

Doge

9.3m KYM views, despite emerging only late 2013

Originally a photo of a Japanese teacher’s Shiba Inu

Augmented with text in comic sans (the most-hated

font on the internets!)

Now has own virtual currency: Dogecoin

www.memegenerator.net

So what?

Cheezburger: a

media empire

built on memes!

- Launched in 2007

- 50 sites

- 400 million

pageviews/month

- Ben Huh regularly

speaks at major

tech/media

conferences

(MIPTV, LeWeb)

Alex from Target: true/fake meme

phenomenon

- Tweeted Nov 2

- #AlexFromTargettrended next day

- 316,000 followers overnight

(now 600,000)

- Marketing company claimed credit

- They were lying!

Grumpy Cat: global megastar

- Starring in own movie, Grumpy Cat’s Worst

Christmas Ever (photo)

- Featured on American Idol

- 214,000 Twitter followers, 1.1m Facebook fans

- Merchandising, etc…

Anything can be funny on the internet(for better or for worse)

Memes can go viral & create stars overnight

Copyright? Schmopyright

Anyone can make a meme… even you!

Like them or not, they are part of our culture…

YES, RLY!

Further reading!

Where memes start: http://www.quickmeme.com

Where memes finish: http://knowyourmeme.com