Meme Overload

About

Meme Overload is internet slang which indicates that multiple internet meme references have been made. It often refers to images and videos, but can also be seen as a subgenre of online remix culture largely driven by the hyperinflation of online media and in-jokes in general.

Origin

The earliest known use of the phrase comes from a Gamespot^[1] forum thread titled "Raptor Jesus" Vs Barrel Roll" from October 15th, 2007. After forum user JRL749 replied to the thread with several meme references in the same paragraph, forum user MattUD1 replied with "Meme overload! M-Me-e-e-m-m-me overload!"

Spread

The phrase was first used on Reddit^[2] on October 23rd, 2008, by user lukeydukey in reference to a meme-filled comment thread. An xkcd comic with a meme overloaded joke was published on March 2nd, 2009.

On September 4th, 2010, Redditor micah1_8 submitted a meme overloaded image that reached the front page titled “The Meme Team rolls out” and accumulated 4,118 up votes prior to being archived. The same day, The Daily What published a post declared that “meme overloading is now a meme.”

A game filled with various meme references titled "Reimagine :TheGame:" was uploaded to the flash social media site Newgrounds^[7] on May 7th, 2011. In September, the Cartoon Network television channel aired a promotional animation for the show Mad in which characters from the 1980s television show Thundercats are attacked by Internet memes (shown below, left).

On October 27th, a Reddit thread titled "Halloween Meme Overload"^[3] was submitted to the r/funny subreddit. It featured a long vertical image that used 19 different advice animal derivatives to recite a Halloween version of the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas."

On November 9th, YouTuber Sugar Zaza uploaded a video titled "The GAG Quartet," in which over 40 Internet memes are referenced during a medley performed by a rock band (shown below, left). In the first two years, the video gained upwards of 25.8 million views and 196,000 comments. On December 11th, the Crazy Monkey Studio Vimeo channel uploaded footage of a man proposing to a woman using printed out Internet memes (shown below, right), garnering more than 2.6 million plays and 150 comments in the next two years.

On January 29th, 2012, YouTuber LazyPillow uploaded an animation in which a television producer pitches a show titled "Meme City." On December 27th, YouTuber LaughPong uploaded a parody of the "Nations of the World" song from the cartoon television show Animaniacs in which 101 memes are listed (shown below, right).

Criticisms

A number of original content productions featuring multiple references to internet memes have been met with criticism, mostly concerning their indiscriminate or excessive use of popular icons and visual imagery as the main draw.

In addition, selfies of individuals sporting meme-themed clothes and fashion accessories are often ridiculed as prime examples of cringe humor.

Notable Examples

Images

Search Interest

Search queries for "meme overload" spiked in October of 2011, the same month the "Halloween Meme Overload" Reddit thread was submitted.

External References