Internet meme
Image, video, or phrase copied and remixed online
Meaning
An Internet meme is an image, video, GIF, phrase, or behavior passed from person to person online. It is copied with small changes, parody, and reference to other media. The tone is informal and users are mainly social media participants.
Origin
The word meme comes from Richard Dawkins and his 1976 book The Selfish Gene. It meant a unit of cultural transmission like a gene. The Internet sense developed in the 1990s with email, forums, and early websites. It spread further after 2005 with YouTube and social media. The first Internet meme is disputed.
How it's used
People post a meme to joke, react, or comment on news. It appears as image, short video, GIF, or catchphrase. It works as a countable noun, with the verb to meme also in use.
Example
She sent an Internet meme of a cat to reply to the group chat.
Variants & related
Forms include meme and Internet meme. Derived terms are meme page and to meme someone. Related forms are viral video, copypasta, and image macro.
Common misunderstandings
Outsiders call every viral video a meme, but a meme requires copying and change. The pronunciation is meem, not me-me. Formal use sounds off because the register is ironic, and it is not inherently a slur.