The Archaeology of Internet Memes: What Memes Can Tell Us About Modern Culture

By Ashlea Cromby

Archaeology is the study of past human activity using material remains called artefacts, excavated from where people lived. Studies of artefacts, like Ancient Greek pots for instance, are important because they tell us so much about how life was in Athens and other ancient Greek cities. In fact, most of what we know about the Ancient Greeks is from artefacts that have been discovered. 

Thinking about the study of artefacts, I often think: what about today, in the ‘digital world’? What would we leave behind?  

People often describe social media as not just a technology for communicating or entertainment, but instead that social media is now somewhere they live. And they’re not wrong. In this post-pandemic life, social media is now a place where we spend most of our time. For some people, such as those living away from their family, it can become the primary place they live. 

So, if we ‘live’ online on social media … what would we leave behind?

The answer? Internet memes.

An internet meme is an idea, behaviour, image, or style spread via the internet, often through social media platforms. There is academic writing published on the impact of internet memes on the modern social world – in these circles, they’re described as ‘digital units of culture’ or ‘digital artefacts’.

The thing about internet memes is that they require insider knowledge to be understood and fully appreciated. Have you ever shown your mum a meme and had her ask, ‘why’s that funny?’ The truth is, you don’t know why it’s funny, and you can’t explain it to someone who doesn’t already know. They just need to ‘get’ it. 

One of the key things we human beings enjoy about memes, according to experts, is that they make us feel like we're part of an exclusive community. Memes give us the thrill of comprehending something slightly unusual and non-obvious. People also say that internet memes are a means for them to put their feelings about things into something comprehendible when they can't find the right words.

And so, internet memes are no longer just funny pictures to send to your mates when you should be working. They’re special to us in a way we didn’t realise initially. When we take memes seriously, they work by transferring small units of culture from person to person that can tell us a lot about what those people are experiencing and how they’re feeling, much like our Greek pots did for Ancient Greece. 

I take memes seriously, so much so that I’m doing a Doctorate in Internet Memes (yes, it’s a real thing). I’m using semiotic analysis to analyse the memes we share every day online. 

Semiotics is a way to investigate how meaning is formed and communicated from images and symbols – think images on objects like Greek pots and tarot cards, think palm reading and hieroglyphs. Semiotics can help us understand cultures, languages and human life – past and present. I believe we can learn about people’s cultures, values and feelings from the study of internet memes. They are the modern-day Greek pot, if you like. 

If I was to perform a digital archaeological excavation of your Instagram story archive, who would you be identified as by your ‘Greek pot’ internet meme in years to come? Next time you share that internet meme, try imagining it painted on your pot and the impressions it would leave.