The Rise and Fall of Meme Culture: A Journey Through Humor and Offensiveness

In the early 2000s, the internet was a wild west of creativity and humor, where memes were born and spread like wildfire. The concept of meme culture was simple: to create humorous content that would make others laugh and share it with the world. But as time went on, this innocent creation turned into something much darker.

The early days of meme culture were marked by a sense of community and shared understanding. People 'got it' - they knew who was being satirized and what was funny. However, with the increasing popularity of memes came a blizzard of content that didn't allow for any distinction between what was cute and what was offensive.

Whitney Phillips, a digital anthropologist, attended a live show called Meme Factory in 2009, which aimed to explain this new language of the internet. She witnessed a disclaimer about offensive content being delivered before a picture of a white cat with a popular phrase captioned 'Internet.' The show featured three young men talking fast and occasionally projecting pictures onto a screen, making fun of people who were the butt of the joke.

As meme culture evolved, it became clear that sexism, racism, and other forms of hatred were being used for shock value. The casual sadism of trolling was just seen as 'lulz' or harmless joking. This was partly due to the founders of social networks, primarily young, carefree, middle-class white Americans, who agreed that this outpouring of creativity had its darker elements but was still part of its countercultural charm.

In the 2000s and early 2010s, Phillips was part of a group of academics, activists, and intellectuals who studied memes and promoted the idea of the web as a space for unfettered creation. They saw meme culture as a form of folk art that gushed out of sites like 4chan, Reddit, and Tumblr.

However, as time went on, this innocent creation turned into something much darker. A thread began with a lighthearted meme about Hitler, but quickly descended into dehumanizing mockery of people with disabilities and others who were targeted for ridicule. The first comment described the era as 'a more simple time,' and indeed, the pictures were weird, silly, and creative.

Today, we can look back on the early days of meme culture with nostalgia, remembering when the internet used to be fun. But we must also acknowledge that this innocent creation turned into something much darker, a reflection of our society's darker elements.

Funny meme against malist