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History of Internet Memes
An internet meme is defined as an activity, concept, catchphrase, or piece of media which spreads, often as mimicry, from person to person via the internet. It can be a picture, video, website, phrase, joke, or parody. Internet memes have been around since the internet started to become widely used in the turn of the century. With today’s culture having such a strong social media presence, meme’s have become an important fad. Internet memes are often very short-lived, but during the peak of its fame they’re known and used by almost all social media users.

The internet is often seen as one of the greatest inventions to man. The strong impact and importance that the internet has on our everyday lives is something that could not have been foreshadowed 20 years ago. According to Oxford Dictionary, cyberculture is defined as, “The social conditions brought about by the widespread use of computer networks for communication, entertainment, and business.” The internet is giant platform for sharing information that has the capacity to rapidly spread across the world to be seen by all kinds of people from different countries and cultures.

The most popular form of an internet meme includes an image with a witty caption, usually describing an action that matches the mood the image portrays. Internet memes typically are at the height of their fame for about 1-2 months. However, they are continued to be used for the years following. According to Scientific Reports, the most popular memes grab your attention and thrive on social media networks if their characteristics make them unique. To be a successful meme, it needs to be easily distinguishable from other memes and it has to either create a new cultural niche, or occupy a new one (Scientific Reports).