A meme is defined as a cultural item spread via the internet in the form of image, video, phrase, etc. Meme’s are often altered in a creative or humorous way, although some instances involve serious matters such as political affairs. There are many types of memes and they have even predated the internet. The word meme was created when figuring out if there was a measurable unit describing how ideas spread and evolve through generations. This shows that memes are more than just a funny image in our age of internet culture, they exist as ideas and element of culture passed from one individual to another. Here is an example of a “meme” that has been discovered in different cultures all over the world, such as France, England, Syria, and Italy.

Art is defined as the expression of human creative skill and imagination, memes are a clear display of human creativity and imagination in a visual form. They are a documentation of our modern lifestyle, our values, and our struggles. They encapsulate so much emotion and ideology that they can undoubtedly be considered art.

Without memes a large portion of our internet culture would go without documentation. They do a unique job of connecting people from all types of culture which is why they are so often shared. Humans are extraordinarily social beings, this makes memes very significant in our development as humans understanding the world around us.

A prime example of memes connecting our understanding of everything around us has been shown when the first picture of a black hole on April 10th, 2019 was taken. This was a breakthrough in our technology that was spread throughout the world through not only media but memes.

This meme shows the magnitude of influence memes has on our social interaction and distribution of information. Without these memes made on the phenomenon of capturing a black hole on camera many people around the world would have not known this revolutionary information.