A meme is an idea, joke, image, or behavior that spreads rapidly from person to person, especially through the internet. The word was coined by scientist Richard Dawkins in 1976 to describe how ideas spread through culture the same way genes spread through biology.

Today, when people say “meme,” they usually mean funny pictures, videos, or phrases that people share and remix online. A popular meme might start when someone posts a funny photo with a caption, then thousands of others create their own versions with new captions, each adding their own twist.

What makes something a true meme is that it spreads and changes as it goes. Unlike just sharing a funny video, memes get modified and adapted by each person who uses them. A meme template provides the basic structure, but people fill in their own jokes, making it relevant to whatever's happening in their lives. Students might create memes about homework, gamers might create memes about their favorite games, and scientists might create memes about their research.

Internet memes have become a major part of how people communicate humor and ideas online, creating a shared language of inside jokes that can travel around the world in hours.