We all probably think the internet started memes. After all, we always think of memes as the pixelated images of something or someone with text on top that makes them even funnier or more relatable, right? Well, I have some information that may shock you: the first cat memes didn't actually start on the screens right in front of us.
In fact, historians actually trace what we'd consider the first cat memes back to the 1870s, when a British photographer named Harry Pointer decided to photograph his cats. He then realized the photos would be even more successful if he posed them mimicking human behavior, doing things like riding tricycles, roller skating, posing with cameras, or resting in tiny beds.
Pointer also realized that adding text to the photographs would make them even funnier, and he was right. And so, the first cat memes were born. In fact, these photos were pioneers of the "image macro," which later became the staple of our modern idea of memes — images with funny text on top.
However, experts argue that while cats pioneered the image macro, the first meme we would claim as a true meme was actually a comic strip published in a 1921 satirical magazine called The Judge. It was a side-by-side comparison of "how you think you look" versus "how you actually look" in flash photographs. Needless to say, they were ahead of their time.
But for cat memes in the modern sense, we can give credit to old forums like 4chan. That’s right, researchers actually trace these digital memes back to forums, and 4chan in particular used Saturdays (or “Caturdays,” as they called them) as the day when people would share only cat photos as their daily dose of jokes.
This slowly became a phenomenon among cat lovers and animal lovers alike, since we all enjoy seeing funny and cute pictures of our furry friends while browsing the depths of the internet. And it’s no wonder that we now have “catfluencers” we’ve come to know and love, who keep creating even more memes and jokes as time goes on.
To our surprise, this phenomenon is actually on many people’s minds. In fact, researchers have conducted studies to understand why we, as humans, seem to seek out cat and dog content online, since it appears to be one of the largest collective online behaviors. And to be honest, their conclusions weren’t all that surprising.
According to media researcher Dr. Jessica Gall Myrick, there are two main reasons people are drawn specifically to cat content: the emotional payoff it brings (boosted energy and reduced feelings of anxiety and sadness) and, of course, the “procrastination paradox,” where people seek out cat content and actually end up becoming more productive afterward. Interesting.
It also goes without saying that looking at these funny memes is an unofficial source of digital therapy. If we’re feeling sad, nervous, or even bored, very few things in life cheer us up quite like our own furry friends that we share our space with, so it’s no surprise we feel just as content seeing them online as well.
And obviously, this extends to all animals in the kingdom — birds, amphibians, turtles, elephants, you name it. But we may be a little biased when it comes to cat memes. With that in mind, which one was your favorite cat meme in this list? Let us know!
