Welcome to CNET Top 5, where each time we meet, we count down another hot CNET list. I'm Tom
Merritt.
Even before Mahir kissed you, the Internet has been good at spreading
ideas. Some of them change the world, others are just weirdly
entertaining. We loosely call these memes. Whether it's Dramatic
Chipmunk, Keyboard Cat, or the Lololo guy, they all share the fast-
moving viral features that spread them at the speed of em-ail and the
weirdness that insures you'd only find them in the Internet age.
Let's count down the Top 5 Internet memes.
At No. 5, the Dancing Baby. Created in 1995 as a demonstration of 3D
graphics, it gained a big boost when it was featured on Ally McBeal.
It's frightening that there are still people just discovering and
chuckling at this odd gyrating infant.
Coming in at No. 4, All Your Base Are belong to us. An unfortunate
Japanese game translation of Zero Wing led to a dance remix and
hilarity for all. It really helped us all make our time.
Up to No. 3, LOLCats. Their origins are shrouded in mystery. Did they
arise from 4Chan's Caturday pictures. Why was lolcats.com registered on
June 14, 2006? Were the SomethingAwful forums at fault? Whoever is
responsible we're grateful cat.
Sliding in at No. 2, the Rickroll. A variant on the practice of
Duckrolling, according to Wikipedia, the first known instance of the
Rickroll occurred on the 4Chan video game board in May 2007. A link to
the new GTA IV trailer instead led to a Rick Astley video. A meme was
born, and the Internet will never give it up.
Before we get to No. 1, it's time for another lame prize.
This week, you compete for the Tatooine Accessory Kit? Why? Maybe it
will become a meme.
Here's the question
Who coined the term meme and in what book?
Be one of the first 10 people to answer correctly on the post for the
Top 5 at blog.cnettv.com and you could win the Tatooine Accessory Set.
All right. Let's get to our No. 1. The top Internet Meme of all time.
One that hasn't lost steam yet and has become an alternate definition
int he dictionary.
The greatest most dominant meme of all time
At No. 1, it's...
Spam.
Yeah. You forgot that was a meme didn't you? It started in BBS's and
MUDs in the 1980s when referring to the Monty Python Spam sketch,
jokesters would type Spam repeatedly to scroll everyone else off the
screen.
Later on Usenet it came to refer to excessive multiple posting of one
message to several groups at once. Many examples of this spamming were
"Make Money Fast" messages. Eventually it came to refer to e-mail
being sent to multiple addresses at once without approval.
And we still fight it today.
Well That's it for this edition of CNET Top 5.
Don't forget to answer the lame prize question at blog.cnettv.com for a
chance to win the Tatooine Accessory Set.
Make that meme happen!
I'm Tom Merritt. See you next time.
