When The Internet Chooses You - Memes, Viral Videos, & Internet Subculture

Below are links to resources mentioned and shared during my presentation.  The purpose of this session is to inform educators about the history of memes, viral videos, and Internet subculture.  As with any topic that explore such communities, there are positive and negative elements.  Please note that you should explore these at your own risk.  The “Interwebs” can be a strange place.  Each community (Reddit, 9gag, 4chan, Facebook, Youtube, Imgur, etc.) has its own norms and expectations.  Some of the resources linked below contain bad language or material that may be inappropriate for minors.

Session Links

Internet Meme Timeline – http://www.dipity.com/tatercakes/Internet_Memes/

Know Your Meme – http://knowyourmeme.com

Before the Web:

List of Emoticons – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emoticons

The Internet Oracle – http://cgi.cs.indiana.edu/~oracle/index.cgi

The Trojan Room Coffee Pot (first web cam?) – http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/coffee/coffee.html

Early Days of the Web:

The Oracle of Bacon – http://oracleofbacon.org/

Rise of The Viral Videos:

The Dancing Baby – http://youtu.be/-5x5OXfe9KY

The Spirit of Christmas – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_of_Christmas_(short_film)

Flash Animations Attack!

Frog in a Blender – http://www.joecartoon.com/index.php/episodes/frog-in-a-blender/

JibJab – http://www.jibjab.com/

Homestar Runner – http://www.homestarrunner.com (especially StrongBad Emails!)

Sponge Monkeys – “We Like The Moon” – http://youtu.be/I9MZNEXrElw

Zombocom – http://www.zombo.com

Xiao Xiao – http://youtu.be/O3sexvJM5Go

Badger, Badger – http://youtu.be/EIyixC9NsLI 

The Pressure Builds

All Your Base Are Belong To Us – http://youtu.be/qItugh-fFgg

Tron Guy – http://youtu.be/3609OtM138c

Numa Numa – http://youtu.be/60og9gwKh1o

The “Internets” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internets

Trunk Monkey – http://youtu.be/8avOiTUcD4Y

O RLY? – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_rly

Meme “Breeding Grounds”

4chan – http://www.4chan.org

RickRolling – http://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ 

Anonymous – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group)

“Chocolate Rain” – http://youtu.be/EwTZ2xpQwpA

2005 – Youtube Launches

Early YouTube Stars

Ask A Ninja (Channel) – http://www.youtube.com/channel/SWOBtIk84EJWU

Leeroy Jenkins – http://youtu.be/LkCNJRfSZBU

Leeroy Jenkins on Jeopardy – http://youtu.be/iJT20WxfHss

Charlie the Unicorn – http://youtu.be/CsGYh8AacgY

Evolution of Dance – http://youtu.be/dMH0bHeiRNg

Charlie Bit My Finger – http://youtu.be/_OBlgSz8sSM

David After The Dentist – http://youtu.be/txqiwrbYGrs

Benny Lava – http://youtu.be/sdyC1BrQd6g

 Viral for Profit

Subservient Chicken (Burger King) (Flash Required) – http://www.subservientchicken.com/pre_bk_skinned.swf

Old Spice Man Internet Responses  – (responses to Twitter comments/questions) – http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL484F058C3EAF7FA6

History – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Your_Man_Could_Smell_Like

“Me” Tube

Leave Britney Alone (LANGUAGE) – http://youtu.be/kHmvkRoEowc

Boxxy – http://youtu.be/VcydqSpYN00

Keenan Cahill (Teenage Dream) – http://youtu.be/lm_n3hg-Gbg

Double Rainbow – http://youtu.be/OQSNhk5ICTI

Viral Backfire

Rebecca Black’s Friday – http://youtu.be/kfVsfOSbJY0

“We” Tube

Filipino Prisoners – Thriller – http://youtu.be/hMnk7lh9M3o

Harlem Shake – http://youtu.be/384IUU43bfQ

The News Goes Viral

Whistle Tips – http://youtu.be/Nnzw_i4YmKk

Antoine Dodson – http://youtu.be/EzNhaLUT520

I Like Turtles – http://youtu.be/CMNry4PE93Y

Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That (Sweet Brown) – http://youtu.be/udS-OcNtSWo

The Re-Mix 

Star Wars Friday (Parody) – http://youtu.be/BCmi5loEBUk

Charlie Bit My Finger – Remix – http://youtu.be/lCuhTppsCXM

Image-Based Memes

LOLCats – http://icanhas.cheezburger.com/lolcats

LOLCats (Wikipedia) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolcat

Rage Comics – http://memebase.cheezburger.com/ragecomics

Create Your Own Rage Comics – http://builder.cheezburger.com/builder/rage

The Internet Anthropologists Guide to “Rage Faces” – http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/03/the-internet-anthropologists-field-guide-to-rage-faces/

Rage Comics (Wikipedia) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rage_comic

All The Things – http://memebase.cheezburger.com/tag/all-the-things

Futurama Fry – “Not Sure If…” – http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/futurama-fry-not-sure-if-x

The Most Interesting Man In The World – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Interesting_Man_in_the_World

Ermahgerd – http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ermahgerd

What My Friends Think I Do – http://www.webpronews.com/what-my-friends-think-i-do-meme-popular-on-facebook-2012-02

Grumpy Cat (“Tard”) – http://www.reddit.com/r/tardcat

Demotivators – http://www.despair.com/demotivators.html

Hijacked Product Reviews

Funniest Product Reviews – http://www.amazon.com/Funniest-Amazon-Product-Reviews/lm/RM0256CJKINZJ

Hutzler Banana Slicer – http://www.amazon.com/Hutzler-5717-571-Banana-Slicer/dp/B0047E0EII

Where Memes Come From Today

Reddit.com – http://www.reddit.com

9gag.com – http://9gag.com

Tumblr – http://www.tumblr.com

Recent Memes and Viral Videos

#TheDress – Blue and Black or White and Gold?

Pawpaw and His Burgers

Angry Splash Mountain Lady

Just for Teachers

Let’s face it.  Folks on the outside (non-teachers) don’t get that #thestruggleisreal.  They don’t get the day-to-day challenges educators face.  Fortunately, the Internet feels our pain.  In fact, there’s a fantastic collection of education-related memes to be found online.

Here’s a sample – The 61 Best Teacher Memes on the Internet


Dig Deeper

Make Your Own!

Sometimes, the best classrooms have their own inside jokes that only the members of that community understand.  To celebrate and immortalize, sometimes it’s good to create your own memes or have your students create them.  Here are some resources that will help.

The Meme Generator – http://memegenerator.net/

ImgFlip Meme Generator – https://imgflip.com/memegenerator

Meme Generator App for iOS

Meme Generator – Free – for Android

Have a favorite meme or viral video?  Add it to our list here:

Educators’ Favorite Memes and Viral Videos GDoc