You've probably seen one today. It might have been a picture of a cat with a funny caption, a short video clip, or a relatable tweet that's been screenshotted and shared thousands of times. These are all examples of internet memes.

While we associate them with the internet, the concept is actually older than the web itself. The term was coined long before the first dial-up modem connected to the network.

Biologist Richard Dawkins first used the word "meme" in his 1976 book, The Selfish Gene. He needed a term for a unit of cultural transmission, similar to how a gene is a unit of biological transmission. He combined the Greek word mimeme (meaning "imitated thing") with "gene," and "meme" was born.

For Dawkins, memes weren't just funny images. They were melodies, catchphrases, fashion trends, and architectural styles. Any idea that replicates itself by jumping from brain to brain is a meme. Think of a simple tune you can't get out of your head. That tune is a successful meme, surviving and spreading through the population of human minds.

Just like genes, memes compete for survival. Some catch on and spread widely, while others die out quickly. The ones that stick around are often simple, memorable, and easy to share.

The internet turned out to be the perfect environment for memes to thrive. It allows ideas to replicate and spread faster and farther than ever before. Early internet culture had its own memes, like text-based jokes in email chains, ASCII art on message boards, and the infamous "Dancing Baby" animation from the 1990s.

As technology evolved, so did memes. The rise of image-sharing sites and social media platforms caused a shift from simple text to multimedia formats. The classic "image macro" format—a picture with bold text at the top and bottom—became a dominant form. Soon, GIFs and short video clips followed, adding motion and sound to the mix.

This evolution turned memes from simple inside jokes into a core part of digital communication. They became a shared language, allowing people to express complex ideas and emotions quickly and humorously. The core principle remains the same as Dawkins's original idea: a unit of culture, transmitted from person to person.

Now that you know what memes are and where they came from, let's test your understanding.