"As 2026 approaches, some internet users have decided to take matters into their own hands rather than risk yet another year of AI slop and brainrot humor. It's time to take it back to 2016. The Great Meme Reset of 2026 was first proposed by TikTok creator joebro909 in a video from March, according to KnowYourMeme, in the thick of The Great Meme Depression. In the clip, he suggested that all memes be wiped from memory in an effort to rescue TikTok from the drought."
"In September, TikTok creator golden._vr took up the call, proposing a time and a date for what they dubbed, "The Great Meme Reset". "The last resort for memes," the video's caption read. "The Great Meme Reset. December 31st, 2025, 11:59. Memes are rising from the grave." Since then, internet users have been reup0ping classic memes, like Nyan Cat and Harambe, made popular before TikTok was even a glint in millennials' eye, thus wiping clean the last decade of internet culture."
"With Elon Musk threatening to bring back Vine but in AI form and a new six-second app backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey reviving more than 100,000 archived Vine clips, now seems as good a time as ever to introduce such classics as "FRE SH VOCADO" and "Damn Daniel" to the youth of today. Everything old is new again. The appeal of a return to an internet undiluted by AI slop is undeniable,"
Internet users on TikTok initiated a coordinated effort called the Great Meme Reset to revive older memes and wipe recent meme memory. The movement began with creator joebro909 and gained momentum when golden._vr set a date of December 31, 2025, 11:59 for the reset. Users have reuploaded classic memes such as Nyan Cat and Harambe and are reintroducing early-2010s clips as Vine archives resurface. The push reflects nostalgia for a slower meme cycle and resistance to AI-generated 'slop' and rapid algorithm-driven trends. Tensions remain about whether pre-2016 humor holds up in 2025's cultural landscape.
Read at Fast Company
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