Know Your Meme

The Know Your Meme project started in September 2007 as a recurring segment inside of the Rocketboom video series and a wiki destination site to support the documentation of Internet memes. Created by Kenyatta Cheese, Elspeth Rountree, Jamie Wilkinson and Andrew Baron,[4] "meme experts" in white lab coats used a scientific laboratory metaphor for analyzing and deconstructing the top memes of the day; anyone with an account could use the website to explore and contribute to meme research. At the end of 2008, after more than a year of growth, Rocketboom released an expanded database with Jamie Wilkinson as the lead developer.[5] As of January 2017, the database contained more than 2,700 entries of "confirmed" memes.[6]

The administrators have a say on what gets confirmed and what gets "Deadpooled" or rejected.[7] Some of the meme entries are graphic and Not Safe For Work (NSFW).[8] NSFW entries have warnings placed along the top of the entry and ads are usually disabled. These warnings may differ from consequences, such as bans. Know Your Meme also has a forum section, blog, and shop. Dr. Sean Rintel, who wrote The Automated Identity blog, described Know Your Meme as "lucrative, self-supporting research that blends the humorous and the serious."[9] As of March 2019, the site is maintained by seven editorial staff members (Don Caldwell, Adam Downer, Matt Schimkowitz, Briana Milman, Sophie Dickinson and Philipp Kachalin) and one developer (Mike Schwab) in conjunction with a group of dedicated moderators. Former staff researchers include Chris Menning, Amanda Brennan, Molly Horan and Ari Spool.[10]

The Know Your Meme website and web series were acquired in March 2011 by Cheezburger Network for an undisclosed seven-figure amount.[11]

Episodes of the Know Your Meme show average a few minutes in length each. In a given episode, the KYM staff describe memes and the history behind them. New episodes appear in irregular intervals of time. Breaking meme episodes started in 2010. Separated in seasons, the videos describe the meme using handy images.

• In August 2009, TIME magazine selected Know Your Meme as among the 50 Best Websites of 2009.[12]
• In November 2009, New York Times Lens Blog listed "Know Your Meme Autotune Episode" as a must-see video.[13]
• In November 2009, Wired.com mentioned Know Your Meme in an article about Autotune.[14]
• In December 2009, The Winnipeg Free Press called Know Your Meme the best website of 2009.[15]
• In December 2009, NPR interviewed Kenyatta Cheese of Know Your Meme on the subject of Internet memes.[16]
• In December 2009, MSNBC cited Know Your Meme on the subject of Balloon Boy and called the article "meticulously recorded".[17]
• In January 2010, The Wall Street Journal cited Know Your Meme when discussing the trend of the Bra Color Status Updates on Facebook.[18]
• In April 2010, Know Your Meme won a Streamy Award in 2010 for Best Guest Star in a Web Series.
• In May 2012, Know Your Meme won the People's Voice Webby Award in Blog-Cultural category.[19]
• In June 2014, Know Your Meme was inducted into the Web Archiving Program of American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.[20]
• In May 2016, the website was cited as a source for explaining the concept of "dank memes" in regards to the political campaigning in the Australian federal election during a discussion on the ABC television programme Insiders.[21][22]
• In June 2018, Know Your Meme was used as a source for metadata in a large-scale academic study of memes across various social networks.[23]

• Encyclopedia Dramatica
• Internet meme
• List of Internet phenomena
• Lurkmore
• Uncyclopedia
• Urban Dictionary
• Viral video

• Official website