A Core Memory

About

A Core Memory, also referred to as Core Memories, refers to the concept of deeply impactful memories, ones that are so significant that they altered a person's future and can be remembered years later. Within memes, the concept was first popularized in the 2015 Pixar film Inside Out. A significant plot point in the film involves the collection of "core memories" or major life events stored in the brain and contained in glowing orbs. The term was first used within this exploitable format. In 2022, it was later popularized on TikTok, where creators recreated core memories or made ironic parodies of said memories.

Origin

On May 29th, 2015, the Disney UK YouTube channel published the clip of the character Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) admiring a core memory. The post received more than 816,000 views in less than five years (shown below). Weeks later, on June 19th, 2015, the film debuted in the United States.^[1]

Spread

On August 19th, 2019, Redditor ^[2] EpicRoy13 shared an image macro meme featuring one of the images with the subtitle "A new core memory!" They captioned the image with a joke about the brain's reaction to an embarrassment. The post received more than 11,000 points (9% upvoted) in less than one year (shown below, left).

Over the next year, the meme spread and expanded to other screenshots of Joy. On February 15th, 2020, Redditor^[3] organic_crystal_meth posted a variation about interrupting one's parents during sex. The post received more than 4,000 points (99% upvoted) and 790 comments in less than three months (shown below, center). Two months later, Redditor^[4] AngryAngusBeef posted a version about the death of the gorilla Harambe. The post received more than 34,000 points (96% upvoted) in less than one month (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Templates

Prevalence Outside of Inside Out

Starting most notably in August 2019. "core memories" were mentioned on Twitter. For instance, on August 19th, Twitter^[5] user carlxdantes tweeted, "I think sadness just touched my core memories." On July 10th, 2020, Twitter^[6] user sosejgirl tweeted a YouTube thumbnail from Daniel Howell's channel, known for being half of Dan and Phil. She captioned it, "if were talking core memories i raise you this," earning roughly 12,000 likes over the course of two years (shown below).

The concept of core memories continued to gain traction within meme discourse. On December 29th, 2020, Twitter^[7] user sarahschauer tweeted, "my core memories are so humiliating, eating string cheese on the back porch when i was 7? that’s it?" earning roughly 8,500 likes over the course of a year and a half (shown below).

Core Memories on TikTok

Core memory TikToks started to appear online towards the end of January 2022, where creators on the platform started sharing their core memories as well as recreating them. One of the first to do so was TikToker^[8] moosemaccabee, who posted a video on January 18th that had text overlay reading, "when they make a core memory together," showing a video of her son and dog riding down a snowy hill on a sled. The TikTok (shown below) gained roughly 1.8 million plays and 424,800 likes over the course of three weeks.

More TikTokers started to join the trend going into the rest of January. For instance, on January 30th, TikToker^[9] dabzndawgz posted a video of her dog on her wedding, earning roughly 9.5 million plays and 3.2 million likes in eleven days (shown below, left). On February 1st, TikToker^[10] harrissavanna posted a core memory, earning roughly 3.3 million plays and 588,500 likes in nine days (shown below, right).

Going into the remainder of February, more and more TikToks used the term. The popularity then circled back to Twitter, with people like Twitter^[11] user f0lake tweeting on February 2nd, "the thought of being apart of a stranger’s core memories is so scary," earning 1,200 likes over the course of eight days (shown below, left). Verified brands started to use the phrase as well, like the official Twitter^[12] account of Dunkin' Donuts who tweeted on February 3rd, "my first sip of Dunkin’ is a core memory for me," earning 1,200 likes in seven days (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References