Okay, but that doesn't explain your response. What's the goal here?

If you're trying to make people stop imitating each other like chittering gibbons... I'm not sure it's possible. That's pretty core human nature.

Reacting to it negatively is gonna cultivate a lot of negativity. It's everywhere.

My take on meme nonsense:

Engaging with strangers at all is a little risky. You never know what's in someone's head or how they will respond, so I can't really fault anyone for taking the relatively safe path of regurgitating memes in order to connect in some way.

It's wouldn't be a meme if nobody thought it was funny. At least it's generally positive and light-hearted, intended to bring joy. Better than a lot of options.

P.S.

Sorry for the late reply. When your message first came through, I'd been up all night and couldn't read it, and I'm just remembering / summoning the energy to respond.