2 ms·
I'm an ancient meme historian. I specialize in memes before memes became dank. The definition transitioned from "viral internet jokes" to "image intended to be
by Nadya 8y ago
I'm an ancient meme historian. I specialize in memes before memes became dank.
The definition transitioned from "viral internet jokes" to "image intended to be funny". Some memes are just edited screenshots of Twitter posts or other viral images. "Text intended to be funny" is a subset of memes referred to as "greentext"; due to 4chan quotes being used for storytelling and the text being green.
The transition period went from Image macro --> Demotivational Posters --> Trollface/Rage Comics --> 4 panel comics --> Memes. This took place over the time period of 2004-2009 and really took off with sharing images over Twitter as the ability to get a viral image became easier.
- 2bitencryption 8y ago> I specialize in memes before memes became dank. Now's my chance to ask a professional: when did memes become "dank"? Mid-2012?
- Nadya 8y agoSometime in 2014 a Reddit post became popular using the gnome child from Runescape [0]. This was likely the first dank meme and a catalyst for what was to come. Using Google Trends [1] you can even identify that late 2013 a few people were already looking for dank memes, but it wasn't until late 2014 when memes started becoming dank. The dankest they ever were was in October and November of 2016 - they've become less dank over time but the economists over in /r/memeeconomy keep their eyes out on /r/dankmemes for the latest and dankest memes to add to their portfolios. It's a thriving industry with lots of karma to be had - it takes experts to identify a dank meme before it is ripe. [0] https://vgy.me/lCZkJ0.png https://vgy.me/lCZkJ0.png [1] https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=%22dank%20meme%22 https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=US&q=%...
- dplgk 8y agoMemes were dank way before that. Even on reddit. Scumbag Steve, etc.