In a world that often feels divided, there’s one thing we can all agree on: memes make everything better. Whether you’reventing about work, sharingcute pet photos, or even debating serious politics, throw a meme into the mix, and suddenly the conversation gets a whole lot more interesting.To add to your meme stash, we’ve put together some funny posts from the Instagram account‘Neat Mom.’Don’t let the name fool you—these aren’t just about parenting. This page has hilarious takes on all sorts of topics. Scroll down to check them out, and don’t forget to upvote your favorites!This post may includeaffiliate links.
In a world that often feels divided, there’s one thing we can all agree on: memes make everything better. Whether you’reventing about work, sharingcute pet photos, or even debating serious politics, throw a meme into the mix, and suddenly the conversation gets a whole lot more interesting.
To add to your meme stash, we’ve put together some funny posts from the Instagram account‘Neat Mom.’Don’t let the name fool you—these aren’t just about parenting. This page has hilarious takes on all sorts of topics. Scroll down to check them out, and don’t forget to upvote your favorites!
This post may includeaffiliate links.
The Instagram page ‘Neat Mom’ has a staggering 1.3 million followers and regularly shares funny images and videos that rack up tens or even hundreds of thousands of likes. It’s no wonder so many people love it—the content is genuinelyhilarious. As I scrolled through their memes, I couldn’t hold back a chuckle either.This got me thinking about why some things go viral. Why do certain memes spread like wildfire across all social platforms and even become part of our everyday conversations, while others just fall flat?
The Instagram page ‘Neat Mom’ has a staggering 1.3 million followers and regularly shares funny images and videos that rack up tens or even hundreds of thousands of likes. It’s no wonder so many people love it—the content is genuinelyhilarious. As I scrolled through their memes, I couldn’t hold back a chuckle either.
This got me thinking about why some things go viral. Why do certain memes spread like wildfire across all social platforms and even become part of our everyday conversations, while others just fall flat?
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The term‘viral’has become such a staple in internet language that we often forget it originally referred to the spread of viruses; now, it describes how quickly information can move online.This idea isn’t entirely new; in 2009, during the ‘25 Things About Me’ trend, Lauren Ancel Meyers, a biology professor at the University of Texas,comparedits popularity to the “classic exponential growth of an epidemic curve.” TheOxford English Dictionaryfirst documented ‘viral’ in the context of spreading information back in 1989, with the phrase ‘go viral’ coming into use around 2004.
The term‘viral’has become such a staple in internet language that we often forget it originally referred to the spread of viruses; now, it describes how quickly information can move online.
This idea isn’t entirely new; in 2009, during the ‘25 Things About Me’ trend, Lauren Ancel Meyers, a biology professor at the University of Texas,comparedits popularity to the “classic exponential growth of an epidemic curve.” TheOxford English Dictionaryfirst documented ‘viral’ in the context of spreading information back in 1989, with the phrase ‘go viral’ coming into use around 2004.
When can something be considered viral? Is there a specific threshold, a sort of ‘magic number’? According toFourthwall, there is. On Instagram, a post with 10,000 to 20,000 likes within the first 24 hours is often deemed viral, while reels generally need around 100,000 views. YouTube sets the bar higher—a video needs to reach at least a million views in a week. On TikTok, a quick 10,000 views in a few hours can rapidly turn into millions.
But coming back to the why—what’s the secret sauce that makes something go viral? While it’s tough to predict, certain common traits tend to make things popular. Marketing agencyDataDabsuggests that viral content resonates because people want to connect with others. When something is funny,interesting, or helpful, we’re likely to share it with friends, wanting them to be part of the experience. This is often how a meme or video starts making the rounds on the web, traveling from person to person.
Memes are also incredibly shareable because they can adapt to different contexts. They often reference other memes or situations, evolving with each iteration. If you’re like me, you might be called “chronically online” for catching all these references.
This works because our brains arewired to recognize patterns, a survival instinct from when spotting a predator was key. Nowadays, this instinct helps us recognize familiar themes in memes.
Sometimes, memes don’t reach global fame but instead find huge popularity within specific communities or niche audiences. They use a unique language that makes perfect sense to those familiar with the topic but can leave outsiders puzzled.Caldwell says memes are like animals thriving in their natural habitats: “If you’re in an African Savannah, a lion does really well in that environment, but a lion wouldn’t do very well in the Arctic.”“The reason I’m using that analogy is that we can think of the African Savannah as Reddit, or something like that. Certain types of memes will do well on Reddit because they suit that environment and they’re able to replicate and spread virally there.”
Sometimes, memes don’t reach global fame but instead find huge popularity within specific communities or niche audiences. They use a unique language that makes perfect sense to those familiar with the topic but can leave outsiders puzzled.
Caldwell says memes are like animals thriving in their natural habitats: “If you’re in an African Savannah, a lion does really well in that environment, but a lion wouldn’t do very well in the Arctic.”
“The reason I’m using that analogy is that we can think of the African Savannah as Reddit, or something like that. Certain types of memes will do well on Reddit because they suit that environment and they’re able to replicate and spread virally there.”
Mary Rice, a Literacy Associate Professor at the College of Education & Human Sciences who advocates for using memes in teaching to engage students, notes that understanding meme culture often requires the right context.“Memes just sort of emerge from the ether. You have to really get into the meme itself and try to figure out how to make sense of it in your own cultural context and your own psyche,” shesays. “It used to be easy when I was younger because like the flow of information would come to me in the same streams that it would come to students. Now I have to be much more proactive.”
Mary Rice, a Literacy Associate Professor at the College of Education & Human Sciences who advocates for using memes in teaching to engage students, notes that understanding meme culture often requires the right context.
“Memes just sort of emerge from the ether. You have to really get into the meme itself and try to figure out how to make sense of it in your own cultural context and your own psyche,” shesays. “It used to be easy when I was younger because like the flow of information would come to me in the same streams that it would come to students. Now I have to be much more proactive.”
But there always comes a point when a meme’s popularity hits its peak. Like any trend, it eventually fades or loses its charm because it’s been everywhere, and people move on to the next big thing. Don Caldwell describes this phenomenon in terms of a ‘meme economy.’“It’s kind of like their memes and inside jokes had a certain value as a cultural currency and if too many people were in on it, it would crash its value. Kind of like inflation: if there’s too many dollars circulating, the value of the dollar goes down.”So, memes will continue to rise and fall. We’re just wrapping up the era of‘Brat Summer’and currently riding the wave of‘very demure, very mindful.’Who knows what’s coming around the corner? One thing’s for sure—we can’t wait to see it!
But there always comes a point when a meme’s popularity hits its peak. Like any trend, it eventually fades or loses its charm because it’s been everywhere, and people move on to the next big thing. Don Caldwell describes this phenomenon in terms of a ‘meme economy.’
“It’s kind of like their memes and inside jokes had a certain value as a cultural currency and if too many people were in on it, it would crash its value. Kind of like inflation: if there’s too many dollars circulating, the value of the dollar goes down.”
So, memes will continue to rise and fall. We’re just wrapping up the era of‘Brat Summer’and currently riding the wave of‘very demure, very mindful.’Who knows what’s coming around the corner? One thing’s for sure—we can’t wait to see it!
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