According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a “meme” is an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from a person within a culture; or an amusing or interesting item (such as a caption picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online especially through social media. The first “internet meme” is widely considered to have been out in 1996, and since then, internet memes have taken a variety of shapes and forms. Thanks to the ideas of IWSMT user “(:”, we decided to take a look at some of the more memorable or iconic memes of the last decade (give or take a year or two). Enjoy wasting your time with this then & now!
Kyle Craven is the real name of Brian — crazy, right? If you don’t remember this meme, it was first posted to reddit in 2012 — captioned “Takes driving test, gets first DUI”, posted by a friend of Kyle’s. Since then, it exploded in popularity with all sorts of comedic and unfortunate one-liner jokes. Nowadays (as of 2016), he lives with his wife and dog and manages at a commercial construction company!
Michael McGee was photo’d by his friend Matthew Rosero. Matthew explained that during that time ‘booty had me like’ memes were trending and going viral, and knowing his friend had a very pronounced vein when he strained it, and got McGee to bulge his forehead out for a picture. Rosero put it on twitter with #BootyHadMeLike and the rest is history! When the meme was made, he was 16, and should be 25 (depending on which month he was born) during 2023!
Also a meme from 2012, Laina Morris posted a video of herself of a parody of Justin Bieber’s song Boyfriend with clingy lyrics. She did YouTube for some time, but quit in 2019. She turned the image into an NFT and sold it for $411,000.
András Arató received a message from a photographer that wanted him to be in some stock photos, and over two years, hundreds of photos were taken. Some time ago, András did a reverse image search and discovered he was a meme! He created his own Facebook page in 2017 in lieu of pages using his face and pretending to be him, and has since been on TV appearances, flown from place to place, and various pseudo-celebrity things! “I’m not actually a sad guy — I think I’m a rather happy one,” he said to the Guardian.
One day, Sam Griner’s mother (Laney Griner) took a picture of him eating sand. What she couldn’t have expected, is the meme to blow up the way it did! Sam should be about 16 now in 2023, a long way come from being a little toddler on the beach! Laney sold the image as an NFT for $35, 204, which is already a good success story, but it doesn’t end there! In 2015, Laney made a GoFundMe campaign for her husband, Justin, as he was diagnosed with kidney failure not long after Sam’s birth. Tying it in with the meme, she was able to beat the goal she set and got her husband the transplant!
A popular reaction GIF that arose from twitter, Drew Scanlon couldn’t have expected it when he reacted to his co-workers joke during a livestream while working at the gaming website Giant Bomb. Scanlon has been using his fame to raise money for multiple sclerosis research and participating in biking fundraisers, citing two close friends of his (and their families) suffer from the disease as inspiration for his charity. He’s since left Giant Bomb and founded Cloth Map, which lets him explore the world and make documentaries through the eyes of gaming.
On one fateful day, Danielle Bregoli was brought onto reality show Dr. Phil to address her issues acting out. She famously said “Cash me ousside howbadah”, and instantaneously the then-13-year-old and her disrespectful words and actions spread through the internet like wildfire. After her showing on Dr. Phil, she went to Turn-About Ranch, a place for troubled teens. Later, she was arrested and pleaded guilty to multiple charges, from filing a false police report to grand theft. AFTER THAT (yes, it keeps going), she made a video highlighting abuses and issues she saw and experienced at the ranch, and chastised Dr. Phil for advocating for it and directing people there. On top of that, in 2017 she signed a record deal and was worth $200,000 (at the age of 15) — she was even nominated in 2018 for the Billboard Music Awards’ Top Rap Female Artist category. Six days after she turned 18, she made an OnlyFans account, and made $1M in revenue in the first 6 hours, and overall reported more than $50M. Wow. Just…wow.
Zoe Roth, now 23, was watching a controlled burn with her father. He took a photo of his daughter, which won a photography prize in 2008, and it went viral once the photo was posted online. Zoe sold the meme as an NFT for $473,000 and will still receive 10% of the profits from future sales. “I love seeing them because I’d never make any of them myself, but I love seeing how creative people are,” she said to the New York Times. The photo beside the original was taken from one of her more recent Instagram posts.
This meme came into the internet in 2013 and became a favorite as the toddler threw shade at the camera with her iconic side-eye. Chloe has 525k+ followers on Instagram, and her family wants to sell the meme as an NFT as well, following the success of Disaster Girl’s selling.
Gavin made many appearances on Nick Mastodon’s (his uncle) Vine page, capturing his funny facial expressions and reactions to things. His mother runs an Instagram account for him, and has an agent and everything. He’s around 12 now, and is really popular in China!
