Hanshu Zhang
SOC
167
Memes
and Diffusion of Internet
Meme: Nyan Cat
Description:
Nyan
Cat, also known as Pop tart Cat, is an 8-bit GIF depicting a cat with a cherry Pop
tart as its torso, flying through outer space with a rainbow trail behind it.
The figure was inspired by the creator’s own Russian Blue cat.
The
popular video (http://youtu.be/QH2-TGUlwu4) stemming from its likeness had a loop of
the Japanese Vocaloid song Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya
set to its background.
Rise
to popularity:
Nyan
cat was created by the account “PRguitarman” on LOL-Comics on April 2nd,
2011(PRguitarman). The GIFs received over 3,000 notes on
Tumblr after being reblogged on the same day(battosaix2l84u).
Three
days later, the account “saraj00n” posted a video of the Nyan Cat on YouTube,
set to the Japanese song Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya
looping in the background. The video received more than 1 million views in its
first two weeks(battosaix2l84u).
After
the initial wave of attention, various popular blogs and social networking
sites, such as Memebase, Tosh.0 blog and CollegeHumour etc. began reposting the
Nyan Cat video(battosaix2l84u).
Dissemination:
The
meme shot to almost instant, if not ephemeral popularity, as can been seen with
the diagram below. According to Google Trends,
the search interest for “Nyan Cat” reached its peak 3 months after its initial
release, in July 2011, keeping a relatively high search rate up until November
of the same year.
By
April 13th, 2011, the Nyan.cat
website was set up and another single-serving website featuring multiple Nyan
Cats gliding across the webpage, called Slowbro.org
was set up the next day. Subsequently, game developers began to create Nyan Cat
themed games or variations of already available games such as “Nyan Cat Lost in
Space, Snake Nyan Cat, Nyanicorn (Robot Unicorn Attack variant), and Nyan Cat
Fly”. A comprehensive list of such games can be found at nyan-cat.com.
Reason
of popularity:
Before
the Nyan Cat, the Internet has always displayed affection for cats (i.e. Maru
the Cat), other domestic pets, and cuteness in general. The Nyan Cat meme
incorporates the elements of cuteness and 8-bit art, which effectively
addresses a wider audience. The 70’s and 80’s generation can relate to the nostalgic
look of the Cat and younger generations can relate to the surreal humor(battosaix2l84u) and the cuteness of the figure. In addition,
the loop video is also a good way to kill time for all the YouTube “addicts”
online.
Influences
on other memes:
The Nyan Cat meme has inspired a
number of parody memes, the most impactful yet being the taC nayN, which is a
black cat with a Belgian Waffle body, flying with a trail of gray rainbow
behind it. It was created in the same year as the Nyan Cat by SenorGIF blogger Frankie
Crescioni(Crescioni).
While this meme has yet to obtain
consensus on its independent status, another meme inspired by Nyan Cat, called
Catception, has caught on with the online community fairly well. This meme
features videos of cats watching the Nyan Cat video, and has since developed
into a recursive chain of videos of cat watching cats watching the original
video(Brad).
Work Cited
battosaix2l84u.
“Know Your Meme: Nyan Cat.” N. p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
Brad. “Know Your Meme: Catception.” N. p., n.d. Web. 28
Nov. 2013.
Crescioni, Frankie. “TACNYAN: Destroyer of Worlds!” Cheezburger.
N. p., 21 Apr. 2011. Web. 28 Nov. 2013.
PRguitarman. “Nyan Cat!” LOL_COMICS. N. p., n.d.
Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
