By Reza Murfi, Year 12
The meme culture has become significantly stronger and more prevalent throughout the past decade. It has not only changed how we view the internet, but also how we express our problems, current events, and our moments of joy. The innovation that has happened throughout the past decade were catalysts into shaping memes of today. Platforms such as Vine, Instagram, Twitter, and Reddit have all had a massive impact on many people’s love for memes.
Without further ado, here is a review of the memes of this decade:
2010: Trololol
Kicking off the 2010s is Trololol. The late Eduard Khil, a Russian singer, performs a Soviet era pop song “I am Glad, ’cause I’m Finally Returning Back Home.” Originally uploaded to Youtube on November 26th 2009, it only gained popularity in 2010, and received over 26 million views and 48,500 comments within the next 8 years.
2011: Spitting Cereal Guy
Kicking it back with Rage Comic Cartoons, Spitting Cereal Guy is an acknowledgment to the original Cereal Guy meme. Its use has been abundant over the past decade and it’s widely known across the entire meme culture; it is even still used in some memes today.
2012: Bad Luck Brian
A classic meme, Bad Luck Brian, was the first meme on this list with the Impact typeface. It really kickstarted the first generation of old-school memes and is used today as a sign of the memes of 2012.
2013: Doge
We couldn’t have a memes of the decade list without the inclusion of everyone’s favourite dog of all time: Doge. The dog in question, a Shiba Inu dog, quickly became the internet’s most beloved pet and even had a resurgence in 2019, bringing back great nostalgia.
2014: I’m in my mums car!
The only Vine on this list, titled “I’m in my mums car!” was an iconic meme of 2014 and definitely worthy of this spot. The original British teen who wrote the Vine, Tish Simmonds, quickly became an internet sensation. This video saw the surge of Vine over the internet, and Vine itself quickly became a household name.
2015: Hotline Bling
The iconic Drake song, Hotline Bling, was a massive hit in 2015. The last song on the Canadian rapper’s 2016 album, Views, shot up to No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the same day of the release of its music video. With that, came the iconic Drake meme that gained massive popularity as well.
2016: Harambe
RIP Harambe. The 17 year old gorilla was shot and killed at the Cincinnati Zoo after a child fell into the enclosure. Many believe the gorilla’s intentions were to only keep the child away from harm, however zookeepers couldn’t risk the death of a young child in their zoo and decided to kill the Gorilla instead.
2017: Distracted Boyfriend
The stock photo, originally taken in 2015 by the Spanish photographer Antonio Guillem, didn’t really hit the meme scene until early 2017. It went viral in August 2017 and is still used today, mainly to depict different forms of betrayal or dilemma.
2018: Young Thug on the Computer + Spongebob Panting
Sorry! We couldn’t choose; 2018 comes in at a tie between Young Thug on the Computer and Spongebob Panting. Both memes served greatly and had great significance in 2018. Choosing a winner from the two would be a crime. Young Thug and Lil Durk on the computer provided great relatability to the entire meme audience, and Spongebob Panting was also a great meme to express deserved or undeserved fatigue. (How could we make a meme list without Spongebob!)
2019: Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us
Finally, to round off the decade, a great community meme which brought everyone together: the raid on Area 51. Area 51 is the unofficial name of a highly classified United States Air Force facility within the state of Nevada, 134 km West of Las Vegas. Originally posted on Facebook by Matty Roberts in the summer of 2019, the post was meant as a joke, but as people continued to sign up to the event, it became great meme content for the world to enjoy. The description reads, “We will all meet up at the Area 51 Alien Centre tourist attraction and coordinate our entry. If we naruto run we can move faster than their bullets. Let’s see them aliens.”
The 2010s certainly provided people with plenty of memes to enjoy, most of which made the internet a more fun and enjoyable place to be. Here’s to another great decade of memes.
Special thanks to Anton Rolland, Year 12, for helping create the list.
Young thug does not deserve to be the best meme of 2018. I am upset that the author did not have the courage, or the school did not allow for the Pewdiepie vs T-Series meme to be mentioned. Also, although the music video for “Hotline Bling” may have been uploaded in 2015, the meme itself was not popular in 2015.
Young thug does not deserve to be the best meme of 2018. I am upset that the author did not have the courage, or the school did not allow for the Pewdiepie vs T-Series meme to be mentioned. Also, although the music video for “Hotline Bling” may have been uploaded in 2015, the meme itself was not popular in 2015.