Memes can influence politics and culture

Memes are 'ready-made language'

Internet memes—groups of texts with shared core content, medium, and stance—are what we, as creators and consumers, make of them. Through their seemingly innocuous and irreverent design, these "bite-sized" transmissions have become vehicles of misinformation, conspiracy, propaganda, activism, and subversive messaging.

How memes create in-groups

Memes can hop offline, inspiring IRL events ranging from planking to shootings. By nature, memes contribute to the formation of in-groups, ones who are privy to meanings that escape content moderators who don't necessarily recognize what's hidden within layers of references.

2025 showed that memes continue to blend politics and pop culture

This list from InsideHook ranks the top 25 memes of 2025. A recurring trend is the thin line between politics and popular culture, with users often using memes to comment on the state of the country. Of course, there was also a fair amount of highly specific and highly bizarre content, something the internet has been known to highlight.

Memes emerged in the 1980s and 1990s

Today's Internet users might think of memes as references spread online through images, videos, and audio clips. But the merger between memes and the internet didn't happen until the 1980s and 1990s—years after the term meme was first coined to describe a different phenomenon.

50 famous memes and what they mean

Memes are one of the most immediate ways to communicate. The 50 most popular ones are found everywhere on the internet. Sources for this article came from Tumblr, Twitter, Know Your Meme, and other online pop culture resources and publications. This piece examines memes from the early 2000s through 2019.

Social media algorithms are shaping real-life language through memes

The evolution of the internet in the early 2000s supercharged the creation and spread of memetic content. Now, highly tuned algorithms on platforms like TikTok and YouTube influence the language, phrasing, and content of creators, which shapes how we use language in the real world.

Meme stocks often have little underlying value but are fueled by crowd funding

"Meme stocks" is a phrase originating in the early 2020s, referring to companies with little underlying value who gain recognition through social media and whose stock price experiences rapid gains.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

How metaphors shape the way we think

A metaphor is often viewed as a form of art, deployed only in special circumstances to help an audience grasp something complex or unique. But metaphors are far more fundamental than that, shaping much of how we think about our relationship to others and the world. This article explores how a focus on the metaphors we use can clarify and strengthen our thinking. Learn more here.

Memecoins are cryptocurrency created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes

Dogecoin is perhaps the most famous "memecoin." While they tend to be more volatile than other types of crypto (after all, they're often created due to ephemeral trends), that doesn't mean they can't be valuable: Dogecoin is currently one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies in the world.

Norman Rockwell's 'Freedom of Speech' has become an internet meme

The famous painting, which portrays a man in work clothes speaking up in a crowd of men in suits, has become a companion image for internet users posting unpopular or controversial opinions. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Memes can turn regular people into unwitting celebrities

When Charles Ramsey heard loud banging from his neighbor's house, he peeked outside and saw a woman trying to escape. After helping the abducted woman get free, he gave an interview that became a viral autotuned meme. This podcast explores the unintended consequences of that relationship and its racial overtones.

Political sloganeering is often downstream of memes

In 2018, #JobsNotMobs morphed from an internet meme into a conservative slogan. A video clip of angry protesters mixed with news anchors discouraging the use of the word "mob" posted on October 11, birthed the phrase. By October 19, it was adapted into a Republican party slogan.

Why cartoons are an ideal form for satire

For decades, TV shows like "The Simpsons" and "South Park" have satirized American culture and politics. Satire thrives on hyperbole, and cartoonists' ability to render the world in any way they choose allows for more elevated critiques.

Social media can reinforce echo chambers that amplify pre-existing sentiments

A 2023 Nature study showed that exposure to diverse content left participants with unchanged core beliefs, suggesting social media alone cannot create hateful viewpoints. However, such platforms allow rhetoric to spread widely, potentially exacerbating geopolitical tensions.

The history of malware includes computer viruses, worms, trojans, and ransomware

Some of the earliest significant pieces of malware—the Creeper worm and the Elk Cloner virus—displayed silly messages to users without causing major harm. As computer science has advanced, malware has become more easily spread, incorporated social engineering to manipulate users, targeted infrastructure systems, and been used by governments for virtual espionage.

The rise of the campaign speech

What compels an audience shifts over time, meaning yesterday's popular speeches might not go over the same way if delivered today. However, impactful campaign speeches across time share some qualities, including taking the audience seriously, inviting listeners to engage with or respond to presented materials, and using everyday, informal language. Additionally, US political candidates typically promote themselves in their speeches, an approach initially considered vulgar in Australia and Britain.

How Eurovision mirrors European politics

Although Eurovision claims to be nonpolitical, historian Dean Vuletic argues that it is inherently political and, in many ways, the only election in which most of Europe participates. In this brief explainer, he unpacks how the song contest's politics extend back to its first broadcast in 1956, which featured Walter Andreas Schwarz, a Jewish West German who signaled a rebuke to Germany's Nazi past.

'Birds Aren't Real' parodies the way memes traffic conspiracy theories

Peter McIndoe claims the US government killed 12 billion birds only to replace them with drones. These statements have powered protests—and McIndoe's fictional campaign that highlights how conspiracies and their theorists are treated.

The Ig Nobel Prizes honor scientific achievements that make people laugh, then think

These prizes show that even seemingly trivial work can gain attention, build momentum, and connect with broader audiences when presented engagingly. Winners include creating a toilet that analyzes your poop and understanding why scientists lick rocks.

There are at least 6 fascinating examples of mind-controlling parasites

Parasitic organisms—including flatworms and barnacles, not just fungi—can modify animal behavior. They can give rise to dancing fish, pulsating snails, suicidal rats, and more. Though some of these pathogens can sicken humans, there is no strong evidence that any can control human behavior.

Tourists are significantly influenced by pop culture

A 2024 study from Expedia Group found that two-thirds of tourists said movies and TV influence where and how they travel.

Dreams have long been used for religious and political power

Classic literature and mythology attests to the crucial role dreams play in narratives, from the Virgin Birth to the prophetic visions of Gilgamesh and Enkidu. The heightened state of dreaming and its analog, hallucinating, have long held special power over the collective imagination.

The true power of being a medieval fool

The stereotypical image of a court jester – their jagged, jingling tunics, donkey-eared hoods, and exaggerated expressions – belies their influence and power in medieval European courts. Jesters mocked their masters and communities through performances that could include witty ripostes, musical instruments, dance, juggling, and more. This gallery offers commentary on the fool’s role and power during the Middle Ages.

Comic books were a major part of American propaganda efforts during WWII

See how US comic books, alongside international counterparts, served as powerful wartime propaganda tools from 1941 to 1945—boosting morale, promoting war bonds, and demonizing Axis powers through the use of iconic heroes and patriotic messaging.

Prediction markets help people bet on almost anything—which can be controversial

Critics point to incidents such as traders placing bets on the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's capture and the two people in Israel who were charged on suspicion of using classified information to place bets about military actions.

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

Elk Cloner, the first computer virus to spread in public, was written as a practical joke by Richard Skrenta, a Pittsburgh high school student.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'