Format Parody
Since the formats of memes have been so ubiquitous to specific years , there have , of course , been a number of abstractions and parodies .
Bottom Text
As early as 2009 , “ Bottom Text ” is a meme that originated because of the format of “ Advice Animals .” The website ‘ memegenerator . org ’ is a well known site for creating memes because of its easy to use template . With the format of “ Advice Animals ” there is placeholder text . At some point , a user created a meme and forgot to fill in the bottom text . ( Fig . 53 ) This has been removed from its original format and become a punch line to end memes . It is especially popular for memes whose format is commonly appropriated , or for those whose punchline is already known and so the humor is derived from the bait and switch of replacing the known punchline with “ bottom text .”
Coaxed Into a Snafu
“ Rage Comics ” are also a popular avenue for parody and abstraction . Since each “ Rage Face ” and the text associated with them are so specific , it is easy to create new jokes by parodying these . One example of this is “ Coaxed Into a Snafu ” which came about in 2012 and is a parody of “ You mad bro .” ( see page 14 ) Hundreds of memes were created with new line drawings of the popular “ Troll Face ” paired with variations on the phrase “ you mad bro .” ( Fig . 51 ) Other variants of this meme was the intentional misnaming of known memes , such as calling “ Troll Face ” “ Smiling Man .” These memes also allowed for a short resurgence of “ Rage Comics ” since this was popular in 2016 .
fig . 53
fig . 54
Meme Timeline
The internet has always been fascinated with explaining memes and the successes of particular ones . This often becomes a meme in itself . The “ Meme Timeline ” memes first began in 2016 as an attempt to curate the sheer number of memes that rose to popularity in a year . Often formatted like a calendar , the each month boasted a specific meme that was the most popular at the time . This meme adds a layer of nostalgia in that the users are reminiscing about the most popular memes of the year . Interestingly at this time , the lifecycle of memes seemed to be about
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