The First Memes
It is unknown what the actual first internet
meme is. However, many credit “Godwin’s Law”
as the first. (Fig. 22) This meme first appeared
in 1990 and was the simple rule that if Nazis
or Hitler were brought into a discussion, that
conversation is effectively over. This was widely
used on websites like 4chan and Reddit where
discussions and arguments are common.
Hampster Dance
Hampster Dance is another of the first inter-
net memes, and became popular in 1998. It
was a single-serving website, meaning a site
with only one page and a singular purpose. In
this case, it was rows of dancing hamster GIFs
and a sped-up sample of the song “Whistle
Stop” by Roger Miller. (Fig. 23) It was often
used as a bait and switch. (see page 22)
fig. 22
All Your Base
In 1989, the 16-bit shooter game Zero Wing
was released. The game was originally released
in Japanese and the English version had noti-
cably bad grammar. In an opening cut scene, a
character’s line intended to say “all of your bases
are now under our control” reads, “All Your
Base Are Belong to Us.” (Fig. 24) In 1998, this
phrase became widespread, with parodies on the
phrasing, replacing the character for other popu-
lar culture characters, etc. In 2006, YouTube was
taken down temporarily for maintenance. The
phrase “ALL YOUR VIDEO ARE BELONG
TO US” appeared below the YouTube logo
as a placeholder while the site was down.
fig. 23
fig. 24
14 | Part One: Early Memes