Contrary to our generation's belief, the meme came before the Internet. If you look up the definition of the word, you'll find this "an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture." Dig a little deeper (or scroll down the Wikipedia page) and you'll learn that word meme can be traced back to the 70s when evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins published a book called The Selfish Gene wherein he shortened the word "mimeme" which derives from the greek word "mimema" which means "something imitated".
When you take that into account it's makes perfect sense. Depending on how long you've been using the Internet, you've more than likely seen hundreds of funny things that multiple people find amusing enough to copy and reproduce. From “Dancing Baby” in the 90’s to “Tron Guy” in the early 2000’s to “The Honey Badger” in 2011, we’ve reviewed thousands of internet memes—ideas, images, catchphrases and videos that go viral and inspire imitation—to bring you our top 100 online sensations of all time. Read through, reminisce and try to keep a straight face.
100. Recut Movie Trailers
99. Stuff White People Like
98. The Most Interesting Man in the World
97. Fry Squinty Eye
96. Text from Hillary
95. Some eCards
94. The Cinnamon Challenge
93. We Don't Fuck With You Musically
92. Pants on the Ground
91. Crasher Squirrel
90. Planking
89. JK Wedding Entrance
88. Kanye West Interruption
87. Little Super Star
86. Scary Maze Pranks
85. Joseph Ducreux
84. Sneezing Baby Panda
83. Noah Takes a Photo of Himself Everyday for Six Years
82. Rage Comics
81. Charlie Sheen
80. Angry German Kid
79. Ceiling Cat
78. Shit Girls Say
77. Nintendo 64 Kids
76. Lazy Sunday
75. Afro Ninja
74. Christian Bale Rant
73. Jibjab
72. Keyboard Cat
71. Don't Tase Me, Bro!
70. Will It Blend?
69. Philosoraptor
68. Tron Guy
67. This is Sparta!
66. The Flying Spaghetti Monster
65. Hipster Ariel
64. Charlie Bit Me
63. "Bad Romance"
62. Billy Mays
61. Matrix Ping Pong
60. Ask a Ninja
59. Fuck Yeah Ryan Gosling
58. Back Dorm Boys
57. Aussie Party
56. The Hawaii Chair
55. Tom Cruise Kills Oprah
54. Miss South Carolina Answers a Question
53. Trololo Sing Along
52. Haters Gonna Hate
51. I'm Fucking Matt Damon
50. Literal Music Videos
49. Exploding Whale
48. Tebowing
47. Battle at Kruger
46. Boom Goes the Dynamite
45. Leprechaun in Mobile, Alabama
44. Advice Dog
43. Epic Rap Battles
42. Cute Overload
41. Winnebago Man
40. Antoine Dodson
39. Demotivational Posters
38. Bert is Evil
37. Impossible is Nothing
36. Fail
Year: 2008
The winner of two Webby Awards in 2008, FAIL Blog has been profiled in most major publications and popularized “fail” as both a noun and exclamation. The site’s YouTube channel is ranked 15th in subscriptions with nearly two billion views. FAIL Blog now consists of popular sub-sites like Engrish Funny and Ugliest Tattoos.
35. I Can Has Cheeseburger?
34. Skateboarding Dog
33. Condescending Willy Wonka
32. The Rickroll
31. Homestar Runner
30. Yatta
29. Postsecret
28. Based God
27. Where The Hell is Matt?
26. Rebecca Black's "Friday"
25. The Honey Badger
24. NONONO Cat
23. Dramatic Chipmunk
22. Diet Coke and Mentos
21. Hitler's Downfall
20. Double Rainbow
19. All Your Base Are Belong to Us
18. David After the Dentist
28. Jaheim
17. The Evolution of Dance
16. Obama Girl
15. Bros Icing Bros
13. Leave Britney Alone!
12. Lonelygirl15
11. Leeroy Jenkins
10. 2 Girls 1 Cup
9. Numa Numa
8. Star Wars Kid
7. Peanut Butter Jelly Time
6. Dancing Baby
5. I Regret Nothing
Year: 2004/2011
Did you kickstart a backlash by making an unpopular statement on Twitter or Tumblr? This meme is for you. The "I Regret Nothing" meme first popped up on the Internet in 2004 when the phrase was used in the web series Red vs. Blue. However, it's most recent and popular incarnation is the one seen above that features the spinning disco chicken from a Domino's Pizza commercial.