Here’s something that’s almost too obvious to say: Most of what people do on social media is copy other people. This is particularly apparent if you flip over to a highly algorithmic feed — “For You” on X; Instagram Reels; the entirety of TikTok. Catchy phrases, joke formats, funny audio clips — these repeat over and over and over again. This is obvious to the point of being tautological: The algorithm surfaces what people seem to like; memes are memes only because people like them. And that’s all true, but it also obscures something about their production and maintenance. This work is done by hordes of people who are jostling to be heard. To them the meme is not just an idea, or (more likely) a joke, but also a tool — one that offers legibility and reach, a way to cut through the noise. They are not simply creating it; they are in a symbiotic relationship with it — or possibly a parasitic one…

This is the informational ecosystem we’ve made, without really intending to: one that has reshaped all of culture by privileging the outlook of those who bend their will to the masses; one powerful enough to make a whole generation of kids shout random numbers for a few months; one whose totality is impossible to take in because little can be said to exist outside of it. Everything and everyone is plugged into it so completely that we can’t know if it was a good idea or not.

But it’s fun — everyone’s having fun. And in the end, that’s what’s really important. Right?

- Forget the A.I. Apocalypse. Memes Have Already Nuked Our Culture. by Willy Staley, NY Times, April 6, 2026