via TikTok
As soon as you see the meme, you know you have to share it. The picture of the puppy is adorable, and the caption cracks you up. You quickly repost the image—and you aren’t the only one. Within hours, the dog has been viewed millions of times.
Sure, Fido is cute and all. But the pup’s fame is more about how it was presented—as a meme. Memes are bite-sized pieces of digital content that are copied and shared widely online. They include everything from animated images to TikTok challenges, and their use is growing. Instagram reported that users shared more than 1 million meme-related posts a day on its app in 2020.
Memes have a surprising power: They can influence how you view and respond to the world around you. But the “facts” they contain can sometimes be false or misleading. And knowing exactly who made a meme—and why—can be almost impossible to determine.
That’s why it is important to take a closer look before you repost one, explains Jennifer LaGarde, a