The dial-up digital pioneers
In 1996, a 3D-rendered Dancing Baby animation became the first viral video hit, even appearing on TV. By 1998, the Hampster Dance website in Canada proved that simple, repetitive loops could attract millions of global visitors.
Chapter 1
How ideas became viruses
Chapter 2
The mind behind the screen
Chapter 3
Memes as political battlegrounds
Chapter 4
The value of digital air
Ch 1 · How ideas became viruses
renaissanceman The Power of Internet Memes
A tiny spark in the mind mutates online, spreading like a virus to change the world.
renaissanceman The late 1990s birthed the first digital memes, spreading through slow dial-up internet and email.
Fun Fact
Meme origin: The word 'meme' was actually coined by an evolutionary biologist in 1976, long before the internet even existed.
renaissanceman Human history is full of physical memes that traveled across empires long before digital screens existed.
Glossary
meme (noun)
An element of a culture or system of behavior passed from one individual to another by non-genetic means. Richard Dawkins coined the term in 1976, comparing the transmission of cultural ideas to viral replication.
An element of a culture or system of behavior passed from one individual to another by non-genetic means. Richard Dawkins coined the term in 1976, comparing the transmission of cultural ideas to viral replication.
Quiz
In which 1976 book did biologist Richard Dawkins first coin the term "meme"?
BETA
renaissanceman Cultivate your meme garden to discover how viral jokes influence real-world society.
Quiz
Which internet forum, founded in 2003, became the primary breeding ground for many early viral image macros and memes?
Quiz
Richard Dawkins derived the word "meme" from which Greek word meaning "that which is imitated"?
Quiz
Which 3D animated character from 1996 is widely considered the internet's first viral video meme?
Quiz
What physical graffiti meme featuring a big-nosed figure peeking over a wall became globally famous during World War II?
Quiz
Which animal-themed internet meme format featuring misspelled captions like "I can has cheezburger?" exploded in popularity in 2007?
Quiz
The "Hampster Dance" website, one of the earliest internet memes, was created in 1998 in which country?
Quiz
What ancient Roman five-word Latin word square is considered one of the earliest physical precursors to modern memes?