![]() ![]() The original Dancing Baby was actually a sample file for a software company called AutoDesk, who used such files to show customers the capabilities of its animation plug-in. Yes, it was that simple: an image, GIF or video of a computer-animated dancing baby. One of the first memes to gain widespread attention in the internet age was the Dancing Baby. Not all memes are made for relatability, though. The famous Dancing Baby, on the left, has been remixed and remade countless times. reality” memes are still very popular - and very relatable - today. “How you really look.” Ha!Įven a century later, it’s still a humdinger, and it exhibits one major reason that memes spread so efficiently: They often capture a humorous shared experience. In one, the left panel shows a very dapper gentleman supposedly out on the town, with the caption “How you think you look when a flashlight is taken.” On the right is a very un-dapper, very goofy looking cartoon version of the same fellow. In terms of a format that bears resemblance to current meme concepts, internet historians have honed in on some two-panel cartoons from early 1920s periodicals as proto-memes of sorts. They’ve always poked fun at relatable situations, written inappropriate things in inappropriate places and adulated cats to distraction (When the Victorians got a hold of photography technology, what did they do? Dressed up their cats. It’s clear memes existed before the internet, which makes sense since people have been doing weird stuff since the dawn of recorded history. People in the 19th century were not above a good cat photo - proof that animals and silliness have always been a human weakness. Depending on who you ask (and how familiar they are with the perpetual stew of internet foolery), things like 2013’s “ Harlem Shake” craze, or bizarre celebrity catchphrases, or even something as simple as a certain outfit could be considered memes - or not. Whatever the context, the idea is the same: A meme is something that is shared among people, often evolving and adapting as it goes. Then, there’s the specific internet concept that describes pictures, phrases, videos or other artifacts that circulate and get remixed among social media platforms and often bleed into real life. It’s also an anthropological concept that describes behaviors or ideas that pass among groups of people. It is a scientific concept, first coined by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in the 1970s. The definition of a meme depends on the context. Indeed, there are several candidates for the honor of “First Meme Ever,” but to understand them, we must do some further excavation. But every time we parrot a TikTok sound or even parody a famous beginning line of literature, we’re engaging in a long and fruitful culture of memes that actually predated our online lives. Today, memes as a social and linguistic currency are so essential to the way we communicate, we may not always notice what we’re doing. Trying to pinpoint the earliest internet meme is like trying to discern the first written word, or the first time someone sliced a loaf of bread a futile effort, but one that unearths fascinating discoveries. ![]()
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