Are you just a chill guy?
Dressed in a grey sweatshirt, blue jeans and a pair of red trainers, you may have seen the Chill Guy while scrolling on social media, featured in marketing advertisements or even mimicked in Premier League goal celebrations. But we’re not talking about a person – we’re talking about the drawing of a light brown dog that has become the one of 2024’s biggest internet sensations.
The Chill Guy is just one of the many memes that has gone viral over the years. In fact, millions of people consume internet memes as part of their social media feed every day and BBC Bitesize is on hand to answer all the meme-related questions you may have.
1. What is a meme?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a meme can be defined as an image, video or piece of text, typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread by internet users, often with slight variations.
The word was first coined by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene. Dawkins describes memes as “ideas that spread from brain to brain.”
2. Why is the Chill Guy trending?
The first image of Chill Guy was posted by a user called Phillip Banks in October 2023, but it wasn’t until the end of 2024 that it began to grow in popularity. The meme has been the subject of countless posts on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok in just a few weeks, often accompanied by hashtags like #ChillGuy, #ImJustAChillGuy, and #StayCool.
The character, which is a drawing of an dog with its paws in its pockets and a smirk on its face, is often used by users who relate to its cool, calm and collected vibe.
Since its widespread fame it has been embraced by everyone from influencers to brands. AFC Bournemouth’s centre-back Dean Huijsen even mimicked the Chill Guy in a goal celebration, after scoring in a fixture against Tottenham Hotspur.
3. What are the ingredients for a great meme?
There are several elements which can contribute towards the popularity of a meme, whether it that be down to its wit or relatability. But some scholars have taken it one step further and decided to investigate the psychology behind memes.
In a 2024 study led by the University of Oslo and the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, researchers collected data from over 1,150 participants to find out what ingredients are needed to make a great meme. Individuals were asked to rate a selection of randomly generated memes based on a series of different cognitive and emotional qualities.
They found that humour and amusement played a huge role in our response to much-loved memes. Other factors, like understanding and replicability, were also considered part of the winning meme formula.
Image source, THE JUDGE
4. Who created the first meme?
It’s difficult to identify what the first official meme may have been. Some linguists argue that memes weren’t started on the internet, but that they have been used by humans to communicate for centuries.
In 2018, a cartoon from over 100 years ago caused excitement and drew comparisons to modern day ‘Expectations vs. Reality’ memes. The comic was from a 1921 edition of a magazine called The Judge and published by the University of Iowa.
Others believe that the first meme to garner widespread attention on the internet was the Dancing Baby, sometimes known as Baby Cha-Cha. Creators Michael Girard, Robert Lurye and John Chadwick made the animation of the baby dancing in 1996 and it has been remixed and remade ever since.
5. What are the best memes on the internet?
Some memes come and go, but others have an enduring quality that social media users can’t help but keep coming back to.
One stock photo, known as the Distracted Boyfriend meme, became a viral sensation in 2017. The image shows a man looking at another woman while out with his partner. After setting the internet ablaze, photographer Antonio Gulliem, who captured the image, told the Guardian, “I didn’t even know what a meme is until recently.”
Another widely-used meme is a screenshot of a Spider-Man cartoon from a 1967 TV episode called “Double Identity”. It shows the two Spideys pointing at one another and has become a template for online jokes to highlight similarities between just about everything and anything. In 2022, the classic meme was recreated by actors Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire - who have all previously played the superhero.
Other famous memes have featured animals, both real and fictional, including Woman Yelling at a Cat, Doge and Kermit the Frog.
This article was published in December 2024
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