LOLcats

LOLcats
I added the text with quickmeme.com. The author of the original photo is slava f · CC BY 2.5 · source
Name	LOLcats
Created	2000s
Origin	Internet
Genre	Image macro

LOLcats are an early 21st-century internet image-macro phenomenon combining photographs of felines with humorous, intentionally ungrammatical captions. The phenomenon arose from intersecting online communities, photographic subcultures, and viral distribution on social media, imageboards, and blogging platforms. Over time the form influenced digital humor, participatory culture, and aspects of intellectual property discourse.

History

The emergence of LOLcats traces to early image-hosting and bulletin-board activity on platforms such as Something Awful, 4chan, Fark, LiveJournal, and Blogger. Key nodes in dissemination included Flickr, Photobucket, Tumblr, Imgur, and Reddit (notably subcommunities like /r/funny and /r/aww). Influential aggregators and projects such as I Can Has Cheezburger?, CollegeHumor, and Memebase formalized the template into a recognizable genre. Coverage and commentary by mainstream outlets, including The New York Times, The Guardian, Wired (magazine), and Time (magazine), documented the phenomenon as it intersected with viral marketing campaigns, academic studies at institutions like MIT and University of California, Berkeley, and retrospectives on early web culture at museums such as the Museum of Modern Art and archives like the Internet Archive.

Format and Characteristics

Typical examples pair a photographic image from sources including Getty Images, Shutterstock, Flickr, or amateur uploads with overlaid text in conspicuous typefaces associated with image macros. The font and layout echo early digital templates used on sites such as Photoshop, GIMP, and Microsoft Paint. Captions frequently mimic idiosyncratic orthography found in online communities like 4chan and LiveJournal, reflecting influences from projects like Urban Dictionary and Know Your Meme. Variants incorporate multilingual adaptations seen across platforms like Facebook, VK (service), Weibo, and LINE sticker ecosystems. Subgenres include advice-animal parallels established on Memebase and mashups circulated via YouTube remixes and Vine clips, with recurring motifs shared across communities including Neopets and DeviantArt.

Notable Examples and Memes

Several exemplars achieved broad recognition through aggregation and media pickup. The image-macro popularized by the I Can Has Cheezburger? network exemplifies the mainstream template; related memes include image series circulated by icanhascheezburger.com contributors, viral posts on Reddit and Tumblr, and compilations featured on The Huffington Post and Gawker Media. Other prominent pieces gained exposure via listicles on BuzzFeed and video montages on YouTube channels such as Smosh and CollegeHumor. Academic and cultural analysis appeared in publications from Oxford University Press, Routledge, and conference proceedings at SIGGRAPH and CHI.

Cultural Impact and Reception

The genre influenced visual language and participatory norms within internet communities exemplified by 4chan, Reddit, Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter. Scholars at Harvard University, Stanford University, and University of Oxford examined LOLcats in studies of memetics, semiotics, and digital vernaculars; journalists at outlets including The Atlantic, Slate, and The New Yorker debated its implications for taste cultures and authorship. Corporations such as Amazon (company), Google, and Apple Inc. adapted meme aesthetics in advertising and user-interface experiments, while galleries and festivals like SXSW and Webby Awards referenced the form in programming. Reception ranged from affectionate nostalgia in collections at Smithsonian Institution-adjacent exhibits to critique from commentators associated with The Times (London) and Le Monde concerned about commodification of amateur content.

Legal and Copyright Issues

Legal discussions concerned ownership of photographs, captions, and derivative works, engaging institutions such as the United States Copyright Office, courts in the United States, and comparative analyses in jurisdictions like United Kingdom and European Union. Disputes surfaced around licensing on marketplaces including eBay and Etsy, takedown notices processed through Digital Millennium Copyright Act procedures, and moderation policies at platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Cases and commentary referenced precedents from copyright litigation involving image reuse, fair use doctrine reviews at federal courts, and policy work by organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Creative Commons.

Related Communities and Platforms

Communities central to the genre include imageboards and forums such as 4chan, Something Awful, and Reddit; blogging and microblogging networks including Tumblr, LiveJournal, and Twitter; and media hosts like YouTube, Imgur, Flickr, and Photobucket. Aggregators and commercial projects connected to the phenomenon include I Can Has Cheezburger?, BuzzFeed, CollegeHumor, and Cheezburger Network affiliates. Academic, archival, and cultural institutions engaging with the topic include MIT Media Lab, Internet Archive, Smithsonian Institution, and publication venues like Wired (magazine) and The Atlantic.

Category:Internet memes