The Best Internet Memes Of The Decade: Chuck Norris, Rickroll, Lolcats And More From 2001-2010

The New York Times describes an Internet meme as "an idea, image, catchphrase or video that goes viral, mutating via amateur remixes into unexpected forms." Over the past ten years, as we've seen the rise of new means of sharing content, like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, the outpouring of memes has been staggering.

From pranks and parodies, to pithy one-liners and oddball photographs, netizens have dished up and passed around a fair share of hilarity over the last decade.

We've patched together a slideshow of the very best memes from 2001 through 2010. Take a look through the collection of fails, kittehs, tossed shoes, Jedi moves, lip-synching, teen angst and enough angry Hitler to make you ROFL into next week. Did we miss one? Send us your favorite meme from the decade by clicking "Add a slide." Then, watch a compilation of the best viral videos of 2010.

 

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All Your Base Are Belong To Us (2001)

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It started as a translation mistake in a Japanese-made video game from 1989, became a geeky catchphrase and entered pop culture in 2001. "All your base are belong to us" turned into a craze that briefly gripped society both online and off.

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It started as a translation mistake in a Japanese-made video game from 1989, became a geeky catchphrase and entered pop culture in 2001. "All your base are belong to us" turned into a craze that briefly gripped society both online and off.

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This Meme

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Comments

[Chip W]

08:24 AM on 01/05/2011

The quote of the decade: "Is this real life?"

[guitarguy22]

08:16 PM on 01/04/2011

Double Rainbow had to be one of the dumbest things people thought was funny this decade.

[DumpsterBaby]

01:24 PM on 01/04/2011

LOLCats 2007!? WTF!?!!11!!!1!!1234567890

David After Dentist wasn't a meme but a eally popula video. And my key just died!!

[pocketofconflict]

11:25 AM on 01/04/2011

Me and my friends were saying FAIL in the late 90's... way to FAIL HP.

[tbone2001]

09:14 AM on 01/04/2011

The 'tourist guy' (from 9/11) should be included.

[J0E1]

03:48 PM on 01/03/2011

FAIL was at it's peak awhile ago and has since diminished.  That's about when out of touch news sites like HP try to become hip and cool by including it in half their comedy articles.
 
Oh and half of these are not Memes, let alone the best of the decade.

[Sans Octavian]

05:47 AM on 01/03/2011

Who throws a shoe?

[General Public]

05:38 AM on 01/03/2011

My favorite Internet meme is J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, the figurehead of the Church of the SubGenius, online at http://www.subgenius.com to give you back your Slack! Do you recognize my profile picture? It is a DobbsHead, a graven image of J.R. "Bob" Dobbs, who is a cartoon image and threatens no one, yet is still worshiped as the Messiah in a satirical fashion by millions, maybe even hundreds of misguided people who call themselves SubGenii. Yes, the DobbsHead is commonly seen all across America, as graffiti, by people such as Rachel Maddow, and it is such an old Internet meme that the Church of the SubGenius was on USENET years before there even was a World Wide Web, has been on IRC almost as long, and was one of the first websites on the World Wide Web. Many celebrities are actually members of this disorganization, like for instance Paul Reubens, the guy who plays Pee Wee Herman, and Penn Jillette, from Penn & Teller. It could be called the oldest Internet meme, since it was on the Internet decades earlier than the 2000s; allegedly some people claim it has been on the Internet since 1953, but that is probably inaccurate. However, it was definitely on the Internet during the late 1980s and early 1990s. And it has its own official operating system, Slackware Linux, named after the SubGenius concept of Slack. But all you need to know is "Bob" has a grin and a pipe! That's all!

[Lawrence0123]

06:40 PM on 01/02/2011

lol - my favorite is Sad Keanu

[mollygos]

12:48 PM on 01/02/2011

Hitler's Downfall meme actually started in 2006. It only became popular again in 2010 when Constantin Films started requesting that Youtube take the videos down.
The year of origin is right there on the Know Your Meme page, which is apparently where you're getting all of your info anyway.

Just saying.

[curiousasheck]

12:06 PM on 01/02/2011

"Gripped Society" . . which society the 1/100% that doesn't have anything else to contribute other then wasting their life away on this kind of stuff?

[Meg Noir]

08:29 PM on 01/02/2011

I can't tell if you're being self-righteous or ironic...

[preclose]

11:39 AM on 01/02/2011

The 'All Your Base' thing cracks me up. I remember when somebody wrote it in chalk on the exterior wall of the Class of '50 lecture hall at Purdue. I nearly wet myself I was laughing so hard.

Of course, Michigan wasn't too fond of it. Some kids got busted for making terrorist threats when they put signs all over town. About as pathetic as the Boston ATHF bomb scare.

[Babele]

10:54 AM on 01/02/2011

You forgot Techno Viking!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fvLs5KXWYI&feature=&p=8FC7AC4EE5DF9582&index=0&playnext=1

[MightyMeno]

08:19 AM on 01/02/2011

They are diabolical.
http://icanhascheezburger.com/2009/04/23/funny-pictures-cute-for-teh-camera/

[joelaf]

07:33 AM on 01/02/2011

"some people need to the heck".

[Al in Madison]

01:04 PM on 01/04/2011

I agree with joelaf, some people just need to the heck.

[blckgrlwhtegrl]

01:03 AM on 01/07/2011

I agree with Al in Madison on agreeing with joelaf, some people just need to the heck.