Know Your Meme
| Know Your Meme | |
|---|---|
 Know Your Meme logo | |
| Genre | Internet documentary |
| Starring | Joanne Colan (Former) Kenyatta Cheese (Yatta) (Former) Greg Leuch (Former) Elspeth Jane Rountree (Ellie) (Former) Jamie Wilkinson (Former) Patrick Davidson (Former) Mike Rugnetta (Former) Forest Gibson (Current) Kristina Horner (Former) |
| Country of origin | United States of America |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 62 |
| Production | |
| Running time | Varies |
| Production companies | Rocketboom (2007-2011), Cheezburger Network (2011-) |
| Original release | |
| Release | December 17, 2007 |
Know Your Meme is a web site and video series which documents various Internet memes and other online phenomena, such as viral videos, image macros, catchphrases, web celebs and more. It also investigates new and changing memes through research, as it commercializes on the culture. Originally produced by Rocketboom, the website was acquired in March 2011 by Cheezburger Network. Know Your Meme includes sections for confirmed, submitted, deadpooled (rejected), researching and popular memes.
Website
The website, named Know Your Meme: Internet Meme Database, currently contains more than 500 what are called "confirmed" meme entries.[1] The Know Your Meme project started in December 2007 as a limited-run video series created by Kenyatta Cheese, Elspeth Rountree, Jamie Wilkinson, and Andrew Baron.[2] In a manner similar to Wikipedia, anybody with an account can submit meme entries to the website and submit relevant images that help further document the memes.[3] The administrators have say over what gets confirmed and what gets "Deadpooled" or rejected.[4] Some of the meme entries are graphic and Not Safe For Work. NSFW entries are given warnings and ads are usually disabled. These warning may differ from consequences, such as bans. Know Your Meme also has a forum section, along with a blog and a shop. Dr. Sean Rintel, who writes The Automated Identity blog, describes Know Your Meme as “lucrative, self-supporting research that blends the humorous and the serious.” [5]
The Know Your Meme web site and web series were acquired in March 2011 by Cheezburger Network for an undisclosed seven-figure amount.[6]
Episodes
Episodes of the Know Your Meme show average a few minutes in length. In a given episode, the KYM staff describes memes and the history behind them. New episodes appear sporadically. Starting in 2010, breaking meme episodes have begun. Separated in seasons, the Meme videos are set to describe what the meme is using handy images.
Season 2007
| Episode | Meme Covered | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | One Take (This is unconfirmed and needs a source, visiting their website and YouTube page ended up in both no and/or invalid results) | December 17, 2007 |
| 2 | The Rickroll | December 18, 2007 |
| 3 | I Like Turtles | December 19, 2007 |
| 4 | Miss Teen South Carolina | December 20, 2007 |
| 5 | LOLCats | December 21, 2007 |
| 6 | Technoviking | December 24, 2007 |
| 7 | Dramatic Chipmunk | December 26, 2007 |
| 8 | Reaction Videos & Piggyback Memes | December 27, 2007 |
| 9 | Tay Zonday | December 28, 2007 |
| 10 | Crank That (Soulja Boy) | December 31, 2007 |
Season 2008
| Episode | Meme Covered | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cory's Sunglasses | February 6, 2008 |
| 2 | tinaecmusic | August 1, 2008 |
| 3 | All Your Base | August 15, 2008 |
| 4 | Edgar's fall | September 5, 2008 |
| 5 | O RLY? | September 10, 2008 |
| 6 | FAIL | September 24, 2008 |
| 7 | Boom Goes the Dynamite | December 22, 2008 |
| 8 | The Iraqi Shoe Toss | December 23, 2008 |
| 9 | Magibon | December 24, 2008 |
| 10 | The Lipdub | December 26, 2008 |
| 11 | Disaster Girl | December 29, 2008 |
| 12 | Political Memes of 2008 | December 30, 2008 |
| 13 | Project Chanology | December 31, 2008 |
| 14 | Shiba Inu Puppy Cam | December 31, 2008 |
Season 2009
| Episode | Meme Covered | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Star Wars Kid | January 2, 2009 |
| 2 | Boxxy | March 10, 2009 |
| 3 | Numa Numa | March 31, 2009 |
| 4 | Yo Dawg | April 13, 2009 |
| 5 | Christian Bale Rant | April 16, 2009 |
| 6 | Single Serving Sites | April 23, 2009 |
| 7 | Peanut Butter Jelly Time | May 8, 2009 |
| 8 | Creepy Chan | May 28, 2009 |
| 9 | Keyboard Cat | July 7, 2009 |
| 10 | Three Wolf Moon | July 30, 2009 |
| 11 | Weegee | August 7, 2009 |
| 12 | Bubb Rubb | August 17, 2009 |
| 13 | David After Dentist | September 2, 2009 |
| 14 | Geddan / Get Down | October 1, 2009 |
| 15 | Where the Hell is Matt? | October 8, 2009 |
| 16 | Auto Tune (with special guest "Weird Al" Yankovic) | November 10, 2009 |
| 17 | Balloon Boy | November 18, 2009 |
| 18 | Om Nom Nom | December 18, 2009 |
Season 2010
| Episode | Subject | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Advice Dog | January 29, 2010 |
| 2 | Phonetic Translations | March 4, 2010 |
| 3 | Epic Beard Man | April 6, 2010 |
| 4 | Joseph Ducreux / Archaic Rap | April 13, 2010 |
| 5 | Breaking Meme: Standing Cat | April 23, 2010 |
| 6 | Breaking Meme: The Downfall of Downfall? | April 29, 2010 |
| 7 | My New Haircut | May 25, 2010 |
| 8 | Magnets, How Do They Work? | June 12, 2010 |
| 9 | Troll Bait | July 1, 2010 |
| 10 | Breaking Meme: Double Rainbow | July 9, 2010 |
| 11 | Lying Down Game / Playing Dead | August 3, 2010 |
| 12 | Antoine Dodson (Bed Intruder) | August 27, 2010 |
| 13 | Leeroy Jenkins | September 2, 2010 |
| 14 | Over 9000! | October 1, 2010 |
| 15 | Brother Sharp | October 12, 2010 |
| 16 | Creepypasta | October 29, 2010 |
| 17 | Tenso | November 16, 2010 |
| 18 | GI Joe PSAs | November 23, 2010 |
Season 2011
Beginning with 2011, the cast of the episodes changed from the original cast (Jamie, Yatta, Elsephjane, Patrick, Mike) to the current new cast (Forest and Kristina).
| Episode | Subject | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rage Comics | June 14, 2011 |
| 2 | Philosoraptor | July 6, 2011 |
| 3 | My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic | August 10, 2011 |
| 4 | Breaking Meme: Chuck Testa | September 29, 2011 |
| 5 | Hipster Memes | October 11, 2011 |
| 6 | Occupy Wall Street | October 18, 2011 |
| 7 | Minecraft | November 2, 2011 |
| 8 | 60's spider man | November 15, 2011 |
| 9 | Pedobear | November 22, 2011 |
| 10 | Casually Pepper Spray Everything Cop | October 18, 2011 |
| 11 | Skyrim Catchphrases | December 15, 2011 |
| 12 | First World Problems | December 22, 2011 |
Season 2012
| Episode | Subject | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Supercuts | January 12, 2012 |
| 2 | Protest PIPA/SOPA | January 18, 2012 |
| 3 | Friend-Zoned | January 26, 2012 |
| 4 | Shit People Say | February 3, 2012 |
| 5 | Guile's Theme Goes With Everything | February 10, 2012 |
| 6 | The Cinnamon Challenge | February 17, 2012 |
| 7 | What People Think I Do | March 12, 2012 |
| 8 | Derp | March 19, 2012 |
| 9 | Slender Man | March 27, 2012 |
| 10 | Nyan Cat | April 3, 2012 |
| 11 | Ancient Aliens | April 10, 2012 |
| 12 | Socially Awkward Penguin | April 17, 2012 |
| 13 | Ridiculously Photogenic Guy | April 28, 2012 |
Special episodes
| Episode | Subject | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | The Game Show! Pwn, Win, or Fail! | March 25, 2009 |
| N/A | KYM Meme Week: Geddan / Get Down | December 21, 2009 |
| N/A | KYM Meme Week: Yo Dawg | December 22, 2009 |
| N/A | KYM Meme Week: Auto Tune | December 23, 2009 |
| N/A | KYM Meme Week: Boxxy | December 24, 2009 |
| N/A | KYM Meme Week: Keyboard Cat | December 26, 2009 |
Recognition
- TIME magazine selected Know Your Meme among the 50 Best Websites of 2009.[7]
- New York Times Lens Blog listed "Know Your Meme Autotune Episode" as a must-see video on November 28, 2009.[8]
- In late 2009, The Winnipeg Free Press called Know Your Meme the best website of 2009.[9]
- On December 26, 2009 NPR interviewed Kenyatta Cheese of Know Your Meme on the subject of internet memes.[10]
- Wired.com mentioned Know Your Meme in an article about Autotune.[11]
- The Wall Street Journal's website cited KnowYourMeme.com when discussing the trend of the Bra Color Status Updates on Facebook.[12]
- MSNBC cited Know Your Meme on the subject of Balloon Boy and called the article "meticulously recorded".[13]
- Know Your Meme won a Streamy Award in 2010 for Best Guest Star in a Web Series. The site was also nominated for Best Hosted Web Series but didn't win.
Criticism
Despite its mainstream success, Know Your Meme receives considerable negative reception inside the internet community. This mainly comes from imageboards and internet forums, where the memes originate.[14] Its critics accuse Know Your Meme of shamelessly commercializing the internet culture it takes no part in. Besides this, Know Your Meme is sometimes accused of astroturfing memes or rather playing a role in the creation of astroturfed and forced memes.
See also
- Encyclopedia Dramatica
- Uncyclopedia
- Internet meme
- Lurkmore.ru
- List of Internet phenomena
- Urban Dictionary
- Viral video
References
- ^ Internet Meme Database | Know Your Meme
- ^ Know Your Meme credits
- ^ Submitted Memes | Know Your Meme
- ^ Deadpooled Memes | Know Your Meme
- ^ http://seanrintel.com/2011/09/24/know-your-meme/
- ^ Hustvedt, Marc. "'Know Your Meme' Acquired By Cheezburger in Seven-Figure Deal". Tubefilter News. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
- ^ Know Your Meme - 50 Best Websites 2009, by Adam Fisher. TIME magazine, August 24, 2009.
- ^ Olsen, Erik; Bracken, Kassie (November 13, 2009). "Must See: Pakistan's Anti-Yankee Rock". The New York Times.
- ^ Siteseeing - Winnipeg Free Press
- ^ Internet Memes Spread Viral Amusement: NPR
- ^ Thill, Scott (November 16, 2009). "Will Auto-Tune Die? Ask Know Your Meme and 'Weird Al' – Underwire – Wired.com". Wired.
- ^ Valentino-DeVries, Jennifer (January 11, 2010). "The Mystery of the Facebook Bra-Color Meme". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ 'Ima let you finish' — top Net memes of '09 - Technology & science - Tech and gadgets - Technotica - msnbc.com
- ^ "Anon declares war on Know Your Meme".