399
What's the OLDEST surviving meme that YOU still use today, regardless of format, either with or without an image? (knowyourmeme.com)
submitted 1 week ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
460 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I can't imagine It's over 9000 ever dying.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 17 points 1 week ago (17 children)

Honestly, a lot of the old memes stick around. They were actual memes that had a lifespan. Today's memes are here and gone in a week or two.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 17 child comments
    •
  • [–] [S] 3 points 1 week ago (16 children)

    Any cultural analysis or thoughts on why that is?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 16 child comments
    •
  • [–] 33 points 1 week ago (10 children)

    survivorship bias. We don't remember the fleeting memes from 20 years ago.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 10 child comments
    •
  • [–] 7 points 1 week ago* (4 children)

    Not all of them, but there's definitely a very large category of "forgotten" memes that if anybody from that era saved and saw pop back up on the screen, a lot of people would go "woah"

    Like one of my favorites is courage wolf. VERY few of those from the first or second waves have survived, most are from the later waves, where even the spinoff memes with the blue pinguin or the rainbow hat dog were old. I have a folder around here with some that I saved, but it's sparse and some of the greatest, most actually inspiring ones were lost among the dumber, more sexist ones and remakes from memory.

    I'd argue that courage wolf was one of the most popular memes, and it's weird to wonder what is still out there, yet to be remembered.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    I could never choose courage over chaos.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    Ooo... chaos wolf was pretty good.... I don't have any of those, but looking back, I should have saved those too, because they were ridiculous.

    I wonder if there's a better archive/repository of memes like this stuff out there somewhere...

    It's kinda weird, looking back, at all the shit like this that we took for granted. We just sorta let it pass by without valuing it, and now most of it only exists in our memories. The age old wisdom says that's as it should be, as the fleeting nature is what makes it special, and I definitely at least partially agree.

    But I still can't help but doubt the should be part, and wonder if or when there will be an age of people that live in infinity, able to relive any past moment in neutral-link perfection, almost like that braindance tech in cyberpunk 2077, but less voyeuristic omnispace playback and more recording the exact thoughts, feelings, and focus, perfectly as they originally were.

    Uhhh, yeah. Courage wolf chaos wolf. I don't have adhd, you have adhd.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    Even some that lasted quite a while, like rage faces, are no longer around, though wojack superceded them

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 5 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    the site/social structure. partly it's that there's so much more content now, but also everyone would see the same posts on the frontpages of /b/ or sa or ytmnd or r/all and they'd often stick around for a day or more with further edits in response. on an algorithmically driven platform, there aren't any posts that everyone who logs in on a given day will see. the more diluted their exposure, the less they're able to spread and maintain a second life outside of their primary point of exposure.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 3 points 1 week ago

    Pop culture references, lack of social application, lack of brainworms weirdness. Also, possibly meme oversaturation and meme culture fragmentation making a meme not universally known to all at the time of its popularity, people live in little isolated social bubbles.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent