the meme index

I’m developing a map of meme culture and creating a system to decode memes.

Most of the existing work on memes is trapped in academic jargon. You’ll read about ‘intertextual polysemy’ or ‘semiotic drift,’ but you won’t get a usable way to understand why Distracted Boyfriend became global while Chewbacca Mom vanished. The medium has become too pervasive and too central to leave locked in academic footnotes. 

We need a new lens that works outside the seminar room.

Memes are no longer fringe cultural oddities. They are the dominant content form of the internet. They move elections, can crash stock markets and sell products. Yet the main frameworks we’ve been given are either taxonomies that feel too descriptive or semiotics that feel too abstract. Neither helps us measure, compare, or act. It’s like trying to understand television by only talking about cathode rays and ideology. Academia has treated memes as signs, as myths, as rhetorical artifacts but almost never as protocols.

And that’s the blind spot. 

Memes set the rules of participation. That’s why people remix, share, and build them into movements. Without acknowledging the protocol logic, previous work keeps missing the very thing that makes memes work.

We don’t need more metaphors about memes as genes, or endless debates over whether Pepe is ironic or sincere. We need a system, perhaps a field guide, that treats memes as what they are: the operating system of digital culture. Just as McLuhan gave us the tetrad for media, we need a meme taxonomy and measurement scale that anyone can use, not just academics, but marketers, cultural analysts, degens and communities.

Memes are as central to digital communication as the newspaper editorial or the television commercial once were. Understanding this lineage is critical: it shows how memes transitioned from sub-cultural artifacts to the dominant grammar of digital expression.

Each meme is analyzed across six proposed dimensions.

Protocol Logic (Closed → Open)

Definition
The degree of structure or freedom in how a meme operates. Protocol logic = the rule or grammar of participation.

Spectrum
Closed: Fixed format; joke comes from swapping variables into a rigid template.
Open: Flexible format; rule is loose, encourages wide variations.

Examples
Closed → Distracted Boyfriend, Drake Yes/No.
Open → How it started / How it’s going, “-core” aesthetics, TikTok duets.

Ideological Charge (Neutral → Political)

Definition
The extent to which a meme encodes or amplifies a worldview, ideology, or political message.

Spectrum
Neutral: Inside jokes, humor with no ideological weight.
Political: Weaponized memes, culture-war symbols, propaganda.

Examples
Neutral → Doge, Shrek memes.
Political → NPC, politicized Pepe.

Iterability (Low → High)

Definition
How easily a meme can be remixed, mutated, or adapted into new versions.

Spectrum
Low: One-off, not easily repurposed.
High: Infinitely remixable, template-like, character-based.

Examples
Low → Chewbacca Mom video, Harambe.
High → Wojak variants, Doge (→ Dogecoin, NFT).

Temporal Dynamics (Burst → Persistent)

Definition
A meme’s lifespan and durability in culture.

Spectrum
Burst: Sudden viral spike, then disappears.
Persistent: Endures for years, resurfacing across contexts.

Examples
Burst → Harlem Shake, Ice Bucket Challenge.
Persistent → Distracted Boyfriend, Pepe, Doge, Wojak.

Affective Register (Ironic → Sincere)

Definition
The emotional stance a meme embodies or invites.

Spectrum
Ironic: Detached, absurd, mocking, layered.
Sincere: Earnest, nostalgic, wholesome, emotive.

Examples
Ironic → Loss meme, absurd shitposting, NPC.
Sincere → wholesome Doge, heartwarming memes, nostalgia aesthetics (weirdcore).

Servitude (Community → Platform/Institution)

Definition
Who ultimately benefits from the meme’s circulation.

Spectrum
Community: Strengthens group identity, shared humor, in-jokes.
Platform/Institution: Drives engagement for platforms or serves brands, politics, ideology.

Examples
Community → Crypto/web3 Twitter, Tumblr meme aesthetics,
Platform/Institution → TikTok challenges, branded memes, political propaganda.

Aligned Takeaway

Together, these six dimensions create a complete index:

Form = Protocol Logic

Content = Ideological Charge

Process = Iterability + Temporal Dynamics

Affect = Affective Register

Power = Servitude

Every meme can be mapped not only descriptively but structurally, emotionally, and politically.