The Memes of 2019
Shouting at cats, storming Area 51, and OK, boomer
Feeds and Algorithms, 2016–2020
A Facebook event to raid Area 51 on 20 September drew millions of sign-ups for a joke. In November, “OK boomer” reached the New Zealand Parliament, and a small green alien in a new Star Wars series became the breakout character of the season.
In May, a screenshot of a reality-television argument next to a confused cat gave Tumblr and Twitter a template that lasted for years.
Top memes of 2019
3 memes in the archive peaked this year, and 2 first went viral.
1Woman Yelling at Cat
41/100+2%Classic2019Peaked in 2019
2OK Boomer
14/100−1%Classic2015Peaked in 2019
3Wojak
57/100+9%Rising2009Peaked in 2020
2019, month by month
The leading memes of the year on one scale, 0 to 100. The yellow dot marks each one’s highest month.
Woman Yelling at Cat
Woman Yelling at Cat: May 36, Jun 80, Jul 80, Aug 77, Sep 68, Oct 63, Nov 61, Dec 58 OK Boomer
OK Boomer: Jan 6, Feb 7, Mar 7, Apr 7, May 8, Jun 9, Jul 10, Aug 11, Sep 12, Oct 48, Nov 78, Dec 61 Wojak
Wojak: Jan 58, Feb 63, Mar 63, Apr 67, May 63, Jun 67, Jul 67, Aug 67, Sep 75, Oct 71, Nov 76, Dec 74 This Is Fine
This Is Fine: Jan 49, Feb 49, Mar 52, Apr 58, May 56, Jun 62, Jul 66, Aug 63, Sep 68, Oct 67, Nov 73, Dec 72 Fortnite Dances
Fortnite Dances: Jan 71, Feb 70, Mar 69, Apr 68, May 64, Jun 59, Jul 57, Aug 58, Sep 58, Oct 56, Nov 53, Dec 52 Creeper? Aw Man
Creeper? Aw Man: Jan 23, Feb 25, Mar 26, Apr 33, May 46, Jun 60, Jul 66, Aug 67, Sep 66, Oct 64, Nov 61, Dec 57
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.
All Your Base Are Belong to Us
Shorthand for takeover. Still understood decades later: in January 2019 a member of the US Congress tweets the line while discussing tax policy.
Skinny. A new cat, Skinny, is introduced as the current Keyboard Cat.
A conversation template. Users add accusations on one side and indifference on the other.
Everywhere in a week. The image is on Twitter, Instagram and Reddit within days.
A split image. @MISSINGEGIRL posts a woman shouting beside a cat at a table.
Remembered. Tardar Sauce dies at the age of seven, and fans share memories across the Internet.
Peak argument. Brands, newspapers and parody accounts adopt it.
The group chat revival. Members of group chats type the lyrics in order; the song surges again.
TikTok catches on. A viral video of an older man criticising young people makes the reply popular.
The New York Times. A newspaper article explains the phrase to a general audience.
In Parliament. A New Zealand MP uses the phrase during a debate on climate change.
What kind of memes
Categories across the memes active in 2019.