COVID-19 unexpectedly flipped the world, and the internet, completely upside down. Since the creation of the Know Your Meme database back in December 2008, there have been few events that even come close to what this pandemic has wrought. Within just three months, the parent entry for the pandemic accumulated a record-breaking 100 sub-meme entries, while over 6,500 images related to the virus were uploaded to the database.
As social distancing kept people in their homes, people began to seek human connection online to ease feelings of loneliness and anxiety caused by virus. Internet memes came to the forefront as a way to communicate shared experience, helping fill the emotional void left by social isolation.
With such an impactful moment in internet history, there is much to learn about the power memes and internet culture hold during times of crisis.
