Before you ask, a meme is defined as “any idea or behavior that can pass from one person to another by learning or imitation.”  Simply put, a meme is anything that is spread virally–used and passed on–and makes its way into the mainstream.  The 2.0 world has vastly accelerated the transference of these little nuggets, and you are probably familiar with way more memes than you think.

Dipity user tatercakes has put together an extremely useful timewaster timeline history of memes.  What’s so remarkable about this tool is not just how extensive it is, but how much it says about the way thoughts and ideas are exchanged in the digital world.  The timeline clearly shows a proliferation of memes that corresponds to the rise of the internet and its sharing technologies. It all seems to really start with South Park, which I can recall waiting 4 hours to download on my 56K.

It’s not like we really needed proof to show that the internet has become a huge tastemaker in the mainstream world. Its power to turn the random into the rage is all but proven. So the next time you get a wtf website from your friend, open it and realize you’re part of an important history–a history of the obscure made beautiful.