The older the internet gets, the more it's like a city that keeps building on top of its own ruins. What's is your favorite bit of internet archeology if memes are like artifacts and relics?

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[–] 7 points 1 week ago (11 children)

They weren’t called memes back then, but probably fgsfds, Mr T Ate my Balls, “for dinner,” is duck, bring back snacks

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  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago* (5 children)

    The concept of memes predates the web actually. Might be older than the Internet too, I forget when it was coined.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago (3 children)

    Correct, the concept existed academically since 1976. However the term didn't enter common usage until a little later into internet culture being a thing.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago (3 children)
  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago (2 children)

    Those were just image macros, I believe! Before “memes” it was “fads”, around YTMND and SA times.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    "viral" is an old term too, easy to forget

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago*

    “Viral” didn’t really blow up until smartphones became commonplace, as well!

    Quick edit: I’m wrong, that one started getting bigger in the 90s/2000s. I feel like I didn’t see it much until normal people stated being online more and news stories started reflecting that.

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