How did memes become the dominant form of cultural communication?

The answer

The term 'meme' was coined by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene to describe cultural units that spread like genes. Internet memes began with early viral images on forums like 4chan and Something Awful in the early 2000s - LOLcats (2007) and Rickrolling (2007) were among the first to achieve mainstream recognition. The smartphone era accelerated meme culture exponentially: Instagram meme accounts now command audiences of tens of millions, and platforms like TikTok are built almost entirely on memetic content. A 2023 YPulse survey found that 75% of 13–36-year-olds share memes regularly, with 55% sending them weekly. Memes now drive political campaigns, corporate marketing, and social movements. During COVID-19, memes became a primary coping mechanism. Linguists classify memes as a new form of pictographic communication - the first dominant visual language system since Egyptian hieroglyphics.