Memes are the perfect microcosm for the cycle of pop culture, beginning as some underground hit, rising in popularity, and then finally reaching its chilling demise in the vast exosphere of your parent's social circle.

Entertainment Weekly

R.I.P.

And in the short years they've become popular -- the broad concept of memes have also evolved. Only not in the fun "monkey learns to brain other monkey with a femur" kind of way ... more like a "computer goes bananas and murders everyone" kind of way. Allow me to take you on a harrowing journey, starting in a quaint era known as "the late 2000s."

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Cue the Daughtry...

2007-2008: The Definition Of A "Meme" Drastically Changes

Oh, sweet 2007. The world was a simpler, more innocent time devoid of Cinematic Universes and the Twilight Saga. We were saying adieu to both Harry Potter and the housing market. The first iPhone had just hit it stupid huge ... and it looked like we were entering a crispy, bright dawn for the internet age. Little did we know of the cancerous seed which lurked deep in society's soil like a Chernobyl time capsule, one that would lead to horrendous acts of political maleficence and social upheaval. The darkness in which I speak was manifested in a budding blog called "I Can Has Cheezburger."