When the internet was first created, few could have predicted the impact it would have on our society. Initially used to send emails, it has developed to this extraordinary platform that allows us to shop, game, even run our homes from. The internet is now ingrained in our society, and if someone tries to take it away, we will have to fight them for it. While it is incredibly useful, there is another thing many people use the internet for. Procrastinating. Sometimes you tell yourself you’re only going to check your social media account for a second and then four hours later you haven’t looked away from your phone, still scrolling through your newsfeed, always scrolling. If that sounds like you, it probably does, then you’ve most likely heard of memes, maybe you’ve even seen a few in your time. We’re going to explain the secrets behind the Doge meme, in case you’d forgotten.
Introducing Doge
So the Doge meme became popular way back in 2013. Sure it was only five years ago, but on the internet that is practically a lifetime ago. For those that don’t remember, Doge was taken from a photograph of a Japanese dog with raised eyebrows. It came from a photo shoot its owner posted online in 2010, but once the images were found in 2013, the whole thing just blew up. The dog was the focus of a Japanese woman’s pet blog and was never intended to be a humorous project.
Much surprise
The dog that kicked off the memes was Kabosu, a Shiba Inu breed, and things really took off for the meme when people added text to the image. This text, written in Comic Sans font, was meant to indicate what the dog was really thinking about in the scenario it was pictured. For instance, a confused looking dog would have comments such as, “such confuse” and “much weird.”
Popularity rising
The meme was really taking off, people across the planet were sharing their versions of the meme with each other, and the best ones were making their way onto the social media feeds of so many people. The craze had become so popular that there was even an Easter egg created for users of YouTube. In 2013, when YouTube users entered ‘dog meme’ in their search bar, all of the text on their page would be changed to Comic Sans. The meme was named Know Your Meme’s top meme in 2013.
Cryptocurrency
The Doge meme had become so popular that it became the first internet meme to have a cryptocurrency named after it. The Dogecoin as it became, featured an image of the original dog to star in the meme, Kabosu. The coin was used as a way for internet users to tip one another, much like tipping a waitress for providing an excellent service.
What now?
The meme lives on and surfaces from time to time on the internet, serving as a throwback to 2013. The impact of the meme meant that the word “Doge” was added to dictionary.com in 2015, the word had been thrown around so much that it had to be added to the dictionary, that’s pretty crazy! Amazingly, the meme didn’t really take off so much in Japan; instead, Kabosu is known for being the star of its owner’s pet blog.
Who knows what the future will hold for the meme. Maybe memes will be like the fashion world, where they go around in cycles every few decades. If internet memes are still important in 30 years time, it might be worth digging out your old Doge memes to be a part of the trend once again.
