What is Rule 34 and how does it relate to internet culture?

Rule 34 is a prominent internet meme stating that if something exists, there is pornography of it, typically depicted through fan art, writings, or animations. The broader concept of a meme acts as a unit of cultural transmission that spreads via imitation, mirroring evolutionary processes. Specific examples like the NPC meme demonstrate how online symbols can also be weaponized in political discourse.

What we know

• Rule 34 is an internet meme claiming that pornography exists concerning every possible topic. [1, 2]
• The term meme refers to an idea, behavior, or style that spreads through imitation from person to person within a culture. [3]
• In popular language, an internet meme is typically an image that is remixed, copied, and circulated in a shared online cultural experience. [3]
• The word meme was originally coined as a neologism by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene. [3]

Still open

• Some social sciences commentators question whether culture can be meaningfully categorized into discrete units and criticize the biological underpinnings of memetics.

Where to go next

• whoHow did Richard Dawkins coin the word meme?
• a case in pointWhat is the NPC Wojak meme?
• compared withHow do emoticons and emojis differ across cultures?
• the bigger pictureWhat is memetics as a field of study?
• how it workedWhat mechanisms drive internet memes to go viral?
• an unexpected connectionHow are evolutionary biology concepts applied to internet culture?The foundational theory of cultural memes treats them like genes that self-replicate, mutate, and undergo natural selection within human populations.

Sources

• [1]Rule 34 (Wikidata Q13515562) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Rule 34 · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Meme · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]List of emoticons · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]NPC (meme) · CC BY-SA 4.0