The internet we know today wouldn’t be the same without memes. Since their initial creation, memes have undergone quite an evolution.
This person on Reddit perfectly categorized this process in the last 20 years. It started with quirky humor back between 2003 and mid-2008. Then, it was followed by 'Impact font' memes until late 2013, which overlapped with dank memes, whose reign ended in mid-2017. They were followed by surrealist humor, which lost its dominance in early 2020 to post-ironic memes, which are still influential nowadays.
Granted, some of you might categorize or name these periods a tad differently, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a pretty good description of the evolution we saw in the last two decades. By being able to constantly change their appeal and adapt to people’s wants and needs, memes were able to become one of the biggest driving forces in the modern online world.
Also, for some folks, memes aren’t hitting the same as they used to. In their eyes, it might be TikTok’s fault, for twisting them into something different than they used to be. Well, we can’t say we disagree; we just talked about how memes are constantly changing, and knowing how influential TikTok is, it’s likely that it changed memes too.
For example, it’s said that avid users of this app might struggle with shortened attention spans. What else got shorter in the last couple of years too? Yes, it’s the longevity of memes. Of course, TikTok isn’t the only one to blame for it, but the correlation is there.
Besides that, what TikTok influenced or at least showed us is how different the internet can be for each of its users. It’s no secret that the app’s algorithm is very intuitive and manages to tailor each user’s FYP according to their activity. In fact, such smartness of the algorithm is one of the keys that led to their success.
The app is so intuitive, it has many sides. At some point, it was known that there were “straight” and “alt” sides on there, but pretty quickly it became apparent that there were many more. From food and books to cleaning and the paranormal – there’s a niche for everyone. The more you use the app, the more your “for you page” will actually be yours.
That means that depending on which side you’re on, your humor, and the memes you consume, can differ. So, for instance, while you might find 'cave divers' jokes funny, other people might not have a clue what it is about.
Plus, algorithms are getting increasingly intuitive even outside of TikTok, meaning that there are more and more niches of the internet opening up almost constantly, leading to niche memes that not all can understand.
At the same time, there are still pages posting rather random memes that hit the spot for many folks, like @sonny5ideup. This Instagram page currently has over 1M followers that they collected with their relatable and amusing posts. We picked out the best of them for you to enjoy here today.
So, upvote the ones you like the best and share what kind of internet side you are on in the comments!
