Know Your Meme is a website and video series which uses wiki software to
document various Internet memes and other online phenomena, such as viral
videos, image macros, catchphrases, internet celebrities and more. It also
investigates new and changing memes through research, as it commercializes
on the culture. Originally produced by Rocketboom, the website was acquired in
March 2011 by Cheezburger Network. Know Your Meme includes sections for
confirmed, submitted, deadpooled, researching, and popular memes.
Website The Know Your Meme project started in
September 2007, as a reoccurring segment inside of the Rocketboom video series
and a wiki destination site to support the documentation of Internet memes.
Created by Kenyatta Cheese and Andrew Baron, "meme experts" in white lab coats
used a scientific laboratory metaphor for analyzing and deconstructing the top
memes of the day; while anyone with an account could use the website to explore
and contribute to meme research. At the end of 2008, after more than a year of
growth, Rocketboom released an expanded database with Jamie Wilkinson as the
lead developer. As of August 2015, the database contained more than 2,300
entries of "confirmed" memes. The administrators have a say on what
gets confirmed and what gets "Deadpooled" or rejected. Some of the
meme entries are graphic and Not Safe For Work. NSFW entries are given
warnings and ads are usually disabled. These warnings may differ from
consequences, such as bans. Know Your Meme also has a forum section, blog, and
shop. Dr. Sean Rintel, who wrote The Automated Identity blog, described Know
Your Meme as “lucrative, self-supporting research that blends the humorous and
the serious.” As of March 2015, the site is maintained by three editorial staff
members and one developer in conjunction with a group of dedicated moderators.
Former staff researchers include Chris Menning, Amanda Brennan and Molly Horan.
The Know Your Meme website and web series were acquired in March 2011 by
Cheezburger Network for an undisclosed seven-figure amount.
Episodes Episodes of the Know Your Meme show
average a few minutes in length each. In a given episode, the KYM staff describe
memes and the history behind them. New episodes appear in irregular intervals
of time. Breaking meme episodes started in 2010. Separated in seasons, the
videos describe the meme using handy images.
= Season 2007= = Season 2008=
= Season 2009= = Season 2010=
= Season 2011= Beginning with the 2011 season, the cast
of the episodes changed from the original cast to Forest Gibson and
Kristina Horner. = Season 2012=
Kristina Horner left the show in early 2012 and starting with the Ermahgerd
episode in August 2012, the cast of internet scientists expanded to Forest
Gibson, Sarah Hiraki, Alison Luhrs and Rob Whitehead.
= Special episodes= Reception
TIME magazine selected Know Your Meme as among the 50 Best Websites of 2009.
New York Times Lens Blog listed "Know Your Meme Autotune Episode" as a
must-see video on November 28, 2009. In late 2009, The Winnipeg Free Press
called Know Your Meme the best website of 2009.
On December 26, 2009 NPR interviewed Kenyatta Cheese of Know Your Meme on the
subject of internet memes. Wired.com mentioned Know Your Meme in an
article about Autotune. The Wall Street Journal's website cited
KnowYourMeme.com when discussing the trend of the Bra Color Status Updates on
Facebook. MSNBC cited Know Your Meme on the
subject of Balloon Boy and called the article "meticulously recorded".
Know Your Meme won a Streamy Award in 2010 for Best Guest Star in a Web
Series. The site was also nominated for Best Hosted Web Series but didn't win.
In May 2012, Know Your Meme won the People's Voice Webby Award for
Blog-Cultural. See also
Encyclopedia Dramatica Internet meme
List of Internet phenomena Lurkmore.ru
Uncyclopedia Urban Dictionary
Viral video References
Further reading Kabir, Omer. "Know Your Meme: מאחורי
הקלעים של אנציקלופדיית תופעות הרשת." Calcalist. 6 March 2013.
External links Know Your Meme
Know Your Meme official YouTube channel Rocketboom