Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language

Memes are ideas or symbols of ideas that spread rapidly across cultures. Memes install themselves in people’s minds and influence their thinking, growing and changing as they spread.

The word “meme” entered into internet culture through Mike Godwin, who in 1990 established Godwin’s Law, which noted that “every Usenet discussion seemed to eventually devolve into hyperbolic comparisons to Hitler” (239). Godwin referred to this phenomenon as a meme, a word he borrowed from biologist Richard Dawkins, and, online, the name caught on.

The next big meme came in 1993. Every September, freshman college students would pour onto the internet and had to be taught how to behave. AOL suddenly added a million new general online users that year, causing frustrated internet adepts to refer to the massive influx as “Eternal September.”

Memes about the internet tend to concern online culture, and many such memes are transmitted visually. As images got easier to send, cat pictures containing text comments became popular. Soon, lots of creatures, surrounded by witty text, caught on, including “Philosoraptor,” “Art Student Owl,” and even a fraternity guy, “Scumbag Steve” (246).

Online stylistic fluency became more important than technical expertise.