What is an example of a meme?

Many people use the word meme to refer to any image that has text overlaid on it. For example, here's a random image of a guy using a computer with some text I added: The proper term for this is an image macro; this is not a meme. Why not? Because this hasn't spread across the internet. It's just a silly image I made.

When was meme first used?

In fact, author Richard Dawkins first used the word in his 1976 work The Selfish Gene. The book looked at evolution and used meme to describe an idea or behavior that spreads across people in a culture. When someone says meme nowadays, they're probably referring to an internet meme.

What are classic art memes?

Classical art memes prove that some human behaviors transcend the borders of time. Those venerated artists memorialized in museums across the world had a sense of humor too, as their meme-ready work shows. Distracted Boyfriend, AKA Man Looking at Other Woman, is the result of a ridiculous stock photo that took the internet by storm.

What is a'meme' in social media?

Merriam-Webster defines "meme" as "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture" or "an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online, especially through social media."