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The way ancient memes "work" has to do with a repetition of some sort and one's memories, similarly to Andy Warhol's art, where the artist shows very familiar daily objects, such as Brillo boxes or Campbell's soup cans, in a new - unexpected - gallery environment and makes people look at these daily objects from a different perspective. Similarly, the scent sparked by 'ancient memes' can blend nostalgia, familiarity, just lightheartedness, and... sheer fun!

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The "Ancient Memes" page has 1.1 million followers on Twitter and serves as a dedicated "memes and posts from the forgotten era of the internet" hub.

For one to participate in the ancient history and the not-so-ancient history of internet memes—i.e. by checking out posts by 'Ancient Memes'—they can (for the most part) simply relax and have a good laugh about the content, which varies from the iconic facial expression of Jordan Belfort's character played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the Wolf of Wall Street to the era of the good old Nokia 3310.

The term "meme" - contrary to what one limiting the term to the rise of social media only might think - was made for broader use. Way back in 1976, Richard Dawkins coined the term "meme" to describe an idea, behavior, or style - some theme, that spreads between people by different means of imitation - writing, speech, gestures, and rituals, among others. He derived the term by shortening the Ancient Greek word "mimeme", which means an imitated thing.

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The Greek root of the word "meme" was also used by R. W. Semon, who was studying memory and emphasized its retrieval element. He was writing about "mnemes", deriving the term from the word "Mneme" - which means the Greek muse of memory. In Ancient Greek mythology, Mneme was one of nine Olympian muses - daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne - the goddess of memory. R. W. Semon was arguing in his study that memes, similarly to genes in biology, evolve via natural selection - the more useful ones live on, while the less successful ones die out.

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However, the term "meme" can be narrowed down to "internet meme", the term proposed by Mike Godwin in 1993, which means a "meme" spread via the internet. Internet memes can take the form of images, videos, GIFs, and various other viral sensations.

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As noted in a BBC article, the functioning of internet memes is similar to the one of language - it goes beyond light entertainment by constructing collective identities between people, serving as tools for self-expression, connection, and social influence. Internet memes "are one of the clearest manifestations of the fact there is such a thing as digital culture," says Paolo Gerbaudo, director of the Centre for Digital Culture at Kings College London.

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B Jones
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can't believe how long it took us all to learn that after decades of playing Mario games. Still impressive feat though.

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Marie Dahme
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Of course turtles are dangerous….just ask those teenage mutant ninja turtles!

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Mickysixxx
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I saved a turtle once. It was on the road so I thought "oh poor little fella, I'll grab you and go put you in the dam". I was only up the road from my old work (big farm). The stinking thing pissed all over me and I stunk like turtle p**s all day. I don't blame Mario for not wanting to touch them

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Anthony Ramirez
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Mario doesn't actually break the blocks with his head. If you look closely he raises his arm and brakes them with his fist. He also socks Yoshi in the back of the head to make him spit out his tongue.

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H G
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Apparently, he hits it with his hand over his head!

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David
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Reptiles are a high risk for (you) catching salmonella you know.

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The question might be asked, what are the factors that make a meme go viral? It can be argued that the quality of the meme's content or its perceived truthfulness is important for the meme's prevalence. However, the importance of the emotional appeal of a meme has been discussed in various studies.

The ability of a meme to arouse a strong emotional reaction was shown to be one of the main factors contributing to its popularity. The study of emotional selection in memes, studying the impact of disgust on memes' popularity, showed that people were more likely to pass along stories that evoked stronger disgust. The stronger the emotional reaction, in this case, disgust, the more willing people were to share it.

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A similar empirical study has shown that the participants of the experiment were likely to share the content that evoked a strong emotional response - funny, angering, or disgusting videos were among the most shared. However, the strong negative emotion-generating content was likely to be shared only when the source of the video was not related to the person sharing it. Lastly, people usually share various content with people who are close to them, which is one of the reasons why it is more common to share memes that evoke positive emotional reactions.

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Stephanie Did It
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I did it but it came up under my diaphragm and knocked my breath out. Almost drowned in 5 feet of water!

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Klondike Penguin
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

True story: “Wake Me Up When September Ends” is based on a tragic personal event in the life of Green Day’s frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. His father died of cancer in September of 1982, when Billie Joe was 10 years old. When he got home from the funeral, he went into his room and cried. Even to this day, this song is therapeutic for the lead singer, but still hard to sing given the true meaning behind it.

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SheamusFanFrom1987
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have been the Dragonborn (Skyrim), I have been the Ashen One (Dark Souls), I have been the Hunter (Monster Hunter) among many things. March with me, Pandas, to the glorious mead hall of Sovngarde! XP

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RagDollLali
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nothing hits when you're sad as a kid quite like being called baby by a sweet older woman with a genuine smile. Actually, I think that could apply to sad adults too.

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Feathered Dinosaur
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nah, more like laying in bed, getting a short heart attack when all the noise starts, then going back to sleep

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Note: this post originally had 40 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.