Chuck Norris is a film and television actor that has developed cult status popularity for the B-grade movies and shows he stars in.
In 2005, "Chuck Norris Facts" begun popping up in emails and webages. These "facts" were just exaggerations and funny untruths that were inspired by a popular sketch on the TV show Late Night with Conan O'Brien in which he tolds exaggerations about Chuck Norris, Mr T and Bob Saget.
Examples of Chuck Norris Facts include:
Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open.
Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice.
Chuck Norris doesnt sleep, he waits.
If you have exactly five dollars and Chuck Norris has exactly five dollars, Chuck Norris has more money than you.
Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.
Many, many more can be found at Chucknorrisfacts.com.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Meme #3: Youtube Memes
Unlike the Rick Roll, these memes are spread due to the actual content of the video, not just being tricked into watching. They are posted on the popular video hosting site Youtube.com and become so popular that some videos have over 30million individual views.
Such examples are based on catchy music or funny lyrics (The Badger Song, Dancing Baby), some are based on the humour of people humiliating themselves (Chris Crocker, Numa Numa, Chocolate Rain), others have no point at all (coke and mentos).
These memes originate when they are posted on the popular website, but its difficult to say when they become so popular as to warrent mem status. These memes, however have become so popular in recent years that even TV shows and movies are basing their own comedy on youtube memes.
Such examples are based on catchy music or funny lyrics (The Badger Song, Dancing Baby), some are based on the humour of people humiliating themselves (Chris Crocker, Numa Numa, Chocolate Rain), others have no point at all (coke and mentos).
These memes originate when they are posted on the popular website, but its difficult to say when they become so popular as to warrent mem status. These memes, however have become so popular in recent years that even TV shows and movies are basing their own comedy on youtube memes.
Meme #2: Rick Roll
If you have never seen a "Rick Roll" click here.
Watched the video? Well you just got Rick Rolled.
The activity of Rick Rolling is to link an unsuspecting person to the video of Rick Astley's song Never Gonna Give You Up. The link usually looks harmless or is described as linking to a completely different site or subject.
The actual date this meme began is impossible to determine, but it was preceded by another similar meme called "Duckrolling" which was basically the same principal of Rick Rolling but instead of Rick Astley's video, you were linked to a picture of a Duck with wheels photoshopped on it. 4chan is usually credited with the creation of this meme, but was wrongly attributed by a Fox News report to have started with a scene from the popular animated series Family guy.
Watched the video? Well you just got Rick Rolled.
The activity of Rick Rolling is to link an unsuspecting person to the video of Rick Astley's song Never Gonna Give You Up. The link usually looks harmless or is described as linking to a completely different site or subject.
The actual date this meme began is impossible to determine, but it was preceded by another similar meme called "Duckrolling" which was basically the same principal of Rick Rolling but instead of Rick Astley's video, you were linked to a picture of a Duck with wheels photoshopped on it. 4chan is usually credited with the creation of this meme, but was wrongly attributed by a Fox News report to have started with a scene from the popular animated series Family guy.
Meme #1: Lolcat
A "lolcat" is basically a picture of a cat that is accompanied by a contextually humorous phrase written in broken english, known as "lolspeak".
It began its rise to fame as a meme in 2005 when the popular imagehosting site 4chan.org was flooded with the original and similar anthropomorphic images. It was then spread through word of mouth and email to the masses.
This meme has many different incarnations and has been known to include other animals, such as dogs and rabbits, inanimate objects, as well as babies.
Although lolcats are the most famous incarnation of this meme, the original meme to use this format is the preceding O RLY? owl.
What is a "Meme"?
Coined in 1976 by famous Darwinist Richard Dawkins to label the trend of cultural phenomena and the spread of popular saying, catch-phrases, beliefs etc, a "meme" is basically a thought, behaviour or idea that is spread, adopted and imitated through a society.
This blog will document some internet meme's and discuss how, or how it is thought, the meme originated and what contributed to its success as a meme.
This blog will document some internet meme's and discuss how, or how it is thought, the meme originated and what contributed to its success as a meme.
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