About
Ironic Memes are memes that are used satirically, usually by being deliberately humorless, crude, or overused, as a way to both criticize meme culture, which has been considered by some to have become overused and unfunny with time, usually due to The Family Guy Effect, as well as to catch those with less Internet experience off guard. The use of ironic memes often includes intentional overuse of older Internet phenomena, such as 1337 speak or rage comics, as well as the use of the word “meme” as a replacement for some parts of speech, usually nouns or verbs.
Origin
[Researching]
Spread
On April 1st, 2013, the online imageboard 4chan launched the /s4s/[1] (shit 4chan says) board, an April Fool’s Day joke imageboard created entirely for nonsensical shitposting. Despite this original purpose, the board was kept online after April Fool’s Day. The board, besides hosting said nonsensical posts, also focuses on making “memes” out of things that otherwise would not be considered memetic material.
Joke Fandoms
Joke fandoms refer to fandoms that have spawned to ironically over-praise material that others would see as humorless, crude and dull. These fandoms were created as a satire of several Internet fandoms that are commonly marked by over-obsession and zealous devotion, as well as a large Internet presence on sites such as Tumblr. Popular joke fandoms include the Shrek and Cory in The House fandoms.
Montage Parodies
Montage Parodies are a series of ironic video remixes that parody actual montage videos made by gamers to show off skill. These videos often rely on generally unexciting footage as a basis, and purposefully overuse dubstep music, special effects, outdated Internet meme references, gamer culture, and stoner culture to remix the video.
Dank Memes
Dank Memes is a phrase usually used in a condescending manner to refer to in-jokes that, to the one who posts it, have lost their comedic value, yet continue to be posted. The use of the word “dank” has its origins in drug culture as synonym for “cool”. [2]
Coaxed Into A Snafu
“Coaxed Into a Snafu” refers to a series of poorly drawn rage comic and advice animal character parodies captioned with variations of their associated catchphrases. The illustrations typically mock the percieved incorrect usage of Internet memes, as seen on sites such as 9gag and Reddit.
Meta Usage
Throughout the ironic subculture, it is worth noting that the word “meme” is commonly used to replace parts of speech such as nouns, adjectives and verbs, giving it an universal purpose. Another use of meta ironic memes includes the ironic praise of memes as the highest form of comedy, a way of life, or the answer to philosophical questions.
Search Interest
Note: Because the “ironic meme” subculture is based in the popularity of other memes, a search interest chart on the term or its subsets does not accurately reflect its popularity.