The Memes of 2010
A double rainbow, and a photo app arrives
Forums and Image Boards, 2006–2010
A man filming a double rainbow in Yosemite wept with joy, and his video, uploaded in January, took off in the summer. Old Spice answered fans with more than a hundred personalised videos in July, showing a brand could behave like a person online.
Instagram launched in October. Few noticed, but it would become one of the main places memes were made and shared.
Top memes of 2010
1 meme in the archive peaked this year, and 1 first went viral.
1Double Rainbow
9/1000%Classic2010Peaked in 2010
2Rage Comics
10/1000%Classic2008Peaked in 2011
3Trollface
24/100+1%Classic2008Peaked in 2011
Also circulating
2010, month by month
The leading memes of the year on one scale, 0 to 100. The yellow dot marks each one’s highest month.
Double Rainbow
Double Rainbow: Jan 3, Feb 3, Mar 4, Apr 3, May 6, Jun 8, Jul 54, Aug 72, Sep 70, Oct 57, Nov 50, Dec 40 Rage Comics
Rage Comics: Jan 44, Feb 50, Mar 51, Apr 51, May 54, Jun 56, Jul 59, Aug 60, Sep 62, Oct 65, Nov 67, Dec 68 Trollface
Trollface: Jan 53, Feb 54, Mar 55, Apr 60, May 59, Jun 63, Jul 62, Aug 64, Sep 62, Oct 65, Nov 64, Dec 66 LOLcats
LOLcats: Jan 53, Feb 51, Mar 48, Apr 48, May 46, Jun 44, Jul 43, Aug 41, Sep 41, Oct 39, Nov 38, Dec 36 Rickroll
Rickroll: Jan 51, Feb 51, Mar 50, Apr 51, May 52, Jun 48, Jul 51, Aug 51, Sep 47, Oct 46, Nov 46, Dec 50 Keyboard Cat
Keyboard Cat: Jan 51, Feb 49, Mar 46, Apr 45, May 43, Jun 43, Jul 41, Aug 38, Sep 38, Oct 35, Nov 34, Dec 33
Attention index, 0 to 100 on one scale for the whole archive. Estimated from each meme’s key dates, not measured.
Timeline
Dated moments from the memes above, in order.
A rainbow in Yosemite. Paul Vasquez posts a three-minute video of his reaction to a double rainbow.
Krautchan. A user called Wojak posts the image on a German imageboard.
A photo of Kabosu. Atsuko Sato posts a photo of her Shiba Inu on her blog.
Saturation. Newer formats and platforms take over; cat macros become a cliché, then a fond one.
Everyone is a cartoonist. Free comic makers and Reddit communities turn the format into a mass pastime.
Quiet months. The clip sits with a modest audience for half a year.
Twitter finds it. Shared widely by prominent accounts, the video reaches millions in days.
Remix season. Autotuned songs, parodies and reaction videos multiply.
What kind of memes
Categories across the memes active in 2010.