7 ms·

'internet memes' as we know them today were not around in the 80s or 90s

by june_twenty 3y ago

sokoloff 3y ago
Dancing baby and "All your base are belong to us" are definitely from the 90s.
Sharlin 3y ago
It's very appropriate that the concept of "meme" itself is an example of memetic drift.
chrisco255 3y ago
We had memes in the 90s. But you had to use Photoshop like a grownup not some cheap meme generator site. It only cost $1200 for a license, and most of us were broke kids (not actual grownups) so you had to join a WAREZ chat room on AOL and beg for a crack, then you'd spend a week downloading it on your 28k modem. Then you'd skillfully construct a meme from scratch based on some images you collected off personal home pages on Geocities because Google image search didn't even exist back then.
- m463 3y ago
  Before that you had to create a chain letter, with a strongly worded section to forward the letter to 10 friends, and detailing the penalties for breaking the chain.
addaon 3y ago
Other replies have given examples of "current-style" memes from the 90s. The term itself was also in popular use, as evidenced in e.g. the website memepool.com.
fit2rule 3y ago
[dead]
dkjaudyeqooe 3y ago
They most definitely were, just text based. Pictures took too long to download and were reserved for important things like porn.
dredmorbius 3y ago
Usenet had what were effectively memes. "Make Money Fast" comes to mind. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_Money_Fast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_Money_Fast> Kibo: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Parry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Parry> And elephant jokes.
scrame 3y ago
'internet memees' aren't what you're describing. Do you mean "i can haz cheezburger" or rage comics, or that thing from the walking dead of the older dude yelling at the kid? or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VrCCpaEoxI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VrCCpaEoxI Or natalie portman hot grits.
scrame 3y ago
'internet memees' aren't what you're describing. Do you mean "i can haz cheezburger" or rage comics, or that thing from the walking dead of the older dude yelling at the kid? or "yo quiero taco bell?" or "YEEeeaaahhhh baby" Or "i just poured hot grits down my pants" ?

'internet memes' as we know them today were not around in the 80s or 90s

sokoloff 3y ago

Dancing baby and "All your base are belong to us" are definitely from the 90s.

Sharlin 3y ago

It's very appropriate that the concept of "meme" itself is an example of memetic drift.

chrisco255 3y ago

We had memes in the 90s. But you had to use Photoshop like a grownup not some cheap meme generator site. It only cost $1200 for a license, and most of us were broke kids (not actual grownups) so you had to join a WAREZ chat room on AOL and beg for a crack, then you'd spend a week downloading it on your 28k modem. Then you'd skillfully construct a meme from scratch based on some images you collected off personal home pages on Geocities because Google image search didn't even exist back then.

m463 3y ago
Before that you had to create a chain letter, with a strongly worded section to forward the letter to 10 friends, and detailing the penalties for breaking the chain.

addaon 3y ago

Other replies have given examples of "current-style" memes from the 90s. The term itself was also in popular use, as evidenced in e.g. the website memepool.com.

fit2rule 3y ago

[dead]

dkjaudyeqooe 3y ago

They most definitely were, just text based. Pictures took too long to download and were reserved for important things like porn.

dredmorbius 3y ago

Usenet had what were effectively memes. "Make Money Fast" comes to mind. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_Money_Fast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_Money_Fast> Kibo: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Parry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Parry> And elephant jokes.

scrame 3y ago

'internet memees' aren't what you're describing. Do you mean "i can haz cheezburger" or rage comics, or that thing from the walking dead of the older dude yelling at the kid? or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VrCCpaEoxI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VrCCpaEoxI Or natalie portman hot grits.

scrame 3y ago

'internet memees' aren't what you're describing. Do you mean "i can haz cheezburger" or rage comics, or that thing from the walking dead of the older dude yelling at the kid? or "yo quiero taco bell?" or "YEEeeaaahhhh baby" Or "i just poured hot grits down my pants" ?