History of Internet Memes: The Rise and Fall of Boxxy
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The first in a series.
I’ve found there aren’t enough resources on the internet for the cataloguing and explaining of Memes. We’re currently in the Golden Age of the Internet and unless we do something to preserve it, much of this early (irrelevant) history will be forgotten.
The latest (and one of the shortest) memes to spread across the internet is Boxxy.
A year ago, a young sixteen girl who liked to hang around the social friend website, Gaionline, made a few videos for her friends and put them up on youtube. Like most of the thousands of videos uploaded everyday it was lost amongst the crowd and forgotten. That was until sometime in late December when someone stumbled across her videos and started posting them on the big image board sites like 4chan (4chan, if you don’t know is the birthplace of many of the internet’s more endearing fads).
The subsequent reaction to Boxxy seemed to surprise even the internet, (which is used to the unusual). There was an explosion of controversy, splitting the male residents of 4chan into two groups: the lovers of Boxxy and the haters. Some wanted to name her queen of the internet. Some just madly wanted her to go away and stop clogging up their forums. (The female forum residents, the nerd girls, were just perplexed) In a matter of days, Boxxy went from being nowhere to being everywhere. But it doesn’t stop there.
What is Boxxy?
Due to internet detective work, we now know that Boxxy’s real name is Catie and that she lives somewhere in California. Boxxy’s popularity/unpopularity stems from her youtube videos, which are, at times, strange, frantic and above all sweet. She's just a young girl with a lot of energy, eyeliner, a surreal black background and a truckload of interesting facial expressions telling the internet how much she loves her friends.
Boxxy is an inadvertent celebrity. She didn't want to be queen of the internet, but she was made one against her will and then she was removed as one just as quickly by those who disapproved
Reprisal
Many of the most virulent haters, who saw the Boxxy meme spreading across the internet like a plague, the ones who found the situation intolerable, formed a coalition called the Center for Boxxy Control and Restriction (CBRC).
They declared war on the Boxxy meme and vowed to expose her identity and use it as blackmail to get her to leave the internet forever. Through some tough detective work, they managed to find an older youtube account of Boxxy and later to get an email and to hack into her video accounts. With control over her youtube, they sent Boxxy a video telling her never to post again or they’d release her contact info to the world. Boxxy has so far abided by their rules. The Boxxy lovers were defeated.
This is seemingly the end of the Boxxy meme. It lasted roughly twenty days, but in that brief time, Boxxy scored almost a million google searches.
The internet is full of thousands of cases like this, they come and go and diseappear and most people are completely unaware that they ever happened. See below for other prominent and sometimes outrageous examples.
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Learn more about Internet memes here:
- Internet Memes: Get Rickroll’d
Rickrolling is the internet's favourite naughty little prank. It's fun and easy to use, you can do it too - Internet Memes: The lol cat
A bit on the history and pride of the internet's greatest export, the "lol cat" - Internet Memes: Don't let your child become an hero
How a child's suicide was exploited for maximum laughs - Millhouse is not a meme is a meme
A history of the world's first meta-meme - Internet Memes: Shoop Da Woop Imma firin Mah Lazer
How a blackface cell took over the internet
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That's a good point, but, and this is a terrible analogy, wouldn't you want to know if millions of people in Darfur were dying of plague? Just because it doesn't affect you, personally, doesn't mean it isn't important, I feel.
Also, a million youtube hits isn't something to just brush off.
Thanks for your comment,
I think these things are so transient, they don't necessarily need to be remembered forever.
Perhaps. But they do teach us quite a lot about internet culture and group thinking, and even human nature. By the very speed that this all played out, we see how fast things happen on the internet. How quickly celebrities are made and how quickly "problems" are dealt with. It's very interesting, at least to me.
fair enough - I was interested to read the above example, so I guess I'm playing devil's advocate!
While hacking accounts is a horrible thing to be practicing, I'm so happy some one took care of Boxxy. I rarely go outside of my sxephil subscription for fear of running into another teenager that makes me want to rip my skin off.
I also think a series on the history of internet memes is awesome. It's strange how I can recognize many of them and not know what they are really from.
cheers.
Thanks, Houllebecq. I'm always trying to figure out where references come from but the only real source on the internet for pop culture is encyclopedia dramatica. And that website, at the best of times, has trouble separating the truth from the porn (and lies).
This is an interesting topic.
Im assuming Boxxy's fans were mostly teenagers?
Yes, but not as many as you'd think. There's a special place in the internet's heart for young, pretty, vibrant girls. Boxxy is everything the neckbearded, basement-dweller, programmer nerd is not, no matter how old they are.
She is cute :)
i was a fan of her and im proud <3 haha, idk whats there to hate about her, wheres the tolerance in people today jeez, just learn to laugh and smile, shes adoribly cute, who knows, what she could have done! and now shes gone :/ boxxxy! our fallen queen
I am saddened by the backlash against Boxxy. She illicits strong reactions by those that like and dislike her. The ones that hate her are malcontents anyway. She's adorable and vibrant. (a la Perry Gripps She's a Young Girl Talking About Herself
If you want to explore memes, the people at www.rocketboom.com run a site www.knowyourmeme.com that explains many of the more prevalent memes. You may also find the Weezer song Pork and Beans to be of interest. Make sure you watch the newly updated one. It has more memes than original
HI freezepop, congratulations! Well Boxxy has made her way into this weeks hubnuggets list. To know more about this, do click this link: http://hubpages.com/hub/hubnuggets-jan30-2009
I have never heard of memes before. :) Do vote and ask your friends to come and vote for your hub too.
uh, thanks, ripplemaker. Boxxy spreads.
And Marky, thanks for the tip. That's a good site. It's still not as comprehensive as I'd like, but good for what it explains. I always wondered where the leek spin came from.
This is great, and I thought Boxxy was cute. I had no idea, but you're right it's an interesting insight into the internet and to how people respond and 'take care' of things which annoy them, although harmless in the bigger scheme of things - simply because they can. It reminds me of the 'tall poppy syndrome'. Thanks - great hub!
This whole topic fascinated me from start to finish -- first, I didn't even know what a meme was until I read your Hub; next, I thought Boxxy was cute; and then -- wouldn't ya just know snotty human behavior spoils whatever it can. . . Thanks for writing this.
Hey - knew nothing of Boxxy. Thanks for the information.
A lot of people don't know about memes, it seems, but they are so much a part of the underlying culture of the internet. It's almost like the internet is its own country these days. With its own language (leetspeak), its own culture, its own kings and queens, its own citizens, its own rules (or lack there of).
I hadn't thought of it like that - certainly not for the internet. I thought the societal memes naturally spilled over to internet. But they seem altogether a little different - or perhaps just 'accentuated' online?
Damn. These bastards are mean. I think she's cute (a little heavy on the eyeliner though). It's an interesting social phenomena that people would go to such lengths to put something so trivial out of commission. The an hero story is a heartbreaker. Really. It's not funny, cute, or clever, and I'm sure these backwards, warped people think they are all that and more, when in fact they are sick in the head and soul--an I ain't no preacher!
I am really liking your stuff and plan on reading it all. I still haven't checked all the links to sites hidden in the text and comment of this hub. You know, I don't think I have come across an actual definition of a meme, but if I understand correctly, it is a person or saying or thing or whatever that shoots to internet superstardom seemingly overnight and then just as quickly disappears. Is that right? Or is it just the rise in popularity that is the meme, and how long it stays at the top is irrelevant to it's meme status? Why is it called a meme?
Anyway, thanks for getting me to spend far too much time here. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'll be back.
If I may answer this a little FPM: Chris, my understanding of memes is that they are a broader cultural phenomena related to ideas that are spread and transmitted. Internet memes as I understand are narrower - pretty close to what you've described. Hope this helps.
Thank you, Lifebydesign, that does help. It's a facinating subject to me though I have just learned of it.
Sorry guys, busy weekend. Now, I’m by no means an expert on this sort of thing, just someone who’s been around it a lot. The way I see it, internet memes are not too different from societal memes. Memes, by the way, are just pieces of culture that are propagated from one human to another. Useful culture (ie. parenting practices and religion) gets repeated and spread from human to human. Culture deemed not useful is selected out and forgotten.
Internet memes are different in that they spread infinitely faster than memes previously did and, as well, internet memes generally don’t teach us better ways of teaching children or improving our lives. They’re mostly about entertainment. Funny things are repeated, unfunny are not. Boxxy, for a short while, was incredibly interesting to a large number of people. But as some decided that her novelty had worn off, she was gotten rid of. Other internet memes, on the other hand, such as lolcats, seem to be around to stay. A meme stays a part of our cultural conscious so long as it is still considered relevant to us (Lolcats still make us laugh).
Im not sure if the concept of a meme is really delineated by this hub..although I love box-who doesnt it! -xy
My conception stemmed from Dawkins and a meme being an ideavirus.
After seeing a viral video,explained as a meme I decided to look up the current def. and it seems like it fits...maybe because its 3am and im still loaded from the superbowl and currently in a hot tub, i liked boxxy-this once
thanks for sharing
hmmm...
Never heard about this, but I think that was ok. I'd seen the word "meme" used a lot, but didn't know what it meant. Now I think I do... sort of. Anyway, I watched about 45 seconds of the video and Boxxy seems like a typical teenager to me. I don't love her or hate her, just not interested. However, I'm sure many companies would love to know "why" she became popular so that they could copy it. Nice hub.
They already are interested. You're exactly right. Remember a movie that came out called 'snakes on a plane?' Don't worry if you don't, it was a terrible movie. But what was notable about it, was its use of memes and viral advertising to spread the word about it. They made youtube videos. Spammed forums with catchphrases. People spread the word of the snakes on planes from one end of the internet to the other.
The movie was intensely, hotly anticipated. But then, of course, when it came out, and word got around on how bad it was, interest instantly evaporated just as quickly as it rose due to the same mechanisms that made it popular. Just goes to show, advertising is one thing, but if your product doesn't live up the hype, its going to disappear just as fast as it was made popular.
Hi FreezepopMorality,
Yes, I remember that movie, but didn't know they used this type of advertising. Cool. I never saw it and heard it was bad, so I think you're right, even with all the "coolness" and "hype" in the world, it's hard to put lipstick on a pig. :)
Ha! I haven't heard that one in a while.
OK, let"s drop all this "meme" nonsense. The word is "fad". It is a fine word that covers the problem. We don't need this silly "meme" garbage.
Hmm, I kind of agree with you. The word did start out as a 'buzz' word to describe the new stuff that was happening on the internet. But these days, its getting pretty widespread acceptance. I tend to think it's gone beyond fad and into general acceptance these days.
Boxxy rules. Lets hope she returns making videos
Wow. She is hyper. I actually never heard of her before.
I think it's a shame what these people did to her. She's just a kid trying to have some fun. Maybe I feel so strongly because I secretly love her (she's everything I could want in a girl), but whatever.
That being said, I hope she one day comes back to YouTube.
I <3 u, Bawksyy!
I hate the Bawksy thing; one of the reasons I left my trolling 4chan behind. She is cute, awkward, and odd; all endearing traits. But she is nothing special. Memes are rife in sarcasm and counter-sarcasm. I guess she makes for a good one.
your all just jelouse because shes hoter and more popular than you and you cant stand to have somone like that around
^
This is the best comment ever. Not just because the comment is pointless and borderline chris-crocker (LEEEEEAVE BRITTANYYY ALLLLLOOOOONE!!!!!) but because of it's hilarious grammar and spelling.
Kudos, internet random, you made me smile.
His grammar and spelling may be hilarous but it seems he's got a point baby :)
Seeing this tempts me to start a counter-meme, "BBB (Bring Boxxy Back)". After all, the anti-Boxxy lot broke the law in trying to find her, unless I'm mistaken (which, regrettably, is entirely possible), so I say... BRING BOXXY BACK!
Seriously? She didn't even want to be that famous. Sure, every teenage girl has a secret desire to be famous, but I'm pretty sure her's was stopped right away after several threatening comments were made.
Is it any of the CBRC's business what 'Boxxy' does? She herself is NOT bothering you, it's people who promote her. Why would you go so far as to blackmail her (Which is, by the way, ILLEGAL)???
Seriously. it's not her anyone should worry about, it's the CBRC and their lunatic compulsive whack job members. Seriously, guys, get a life and stop bothering and blackmailing some girl who pisses you off. It's not like she cut your toes off or something.
I'd Only Just Heard Of Boxxy From Youtube .. Watched One Video And Loved Her. Then I Heard All The Horrible Things People Were Saying About Her. Then Came The Story That She Was Dead. I'd Only Just Heard Of Her, But I Was Strck With Sadness.. Then I Hear Its Not True .. So .. Im REALLY Confused. Is It True?
I'd love to see a study of internet Memes. Or at least, a comprehensive objective history of them. They are very illuminating, showing us how bizarre phrases in language, or just unusual pictures, can create a chain social reaction that spread globally.
I know adults now who never use the internet that are familiar with lolcats and some other mainstream memes. I used to stay up on 4chan way back when, seeing these memes appear right before my eyes, and now they're everywhere. It's quite amazing.
I just don't see why people had to attack her and stuff, when it wasn't even a serious video. She just made it for a friend of hers. It seems pretty idiotic on why they had to attack her for it. And Roxie no she's not dead. CBRC hacked her within a few days, and made a video for her telling her to never make another video. Or they would release all her information. If they where so bothered then they could have simply stopped viewing the video.
^ Agreed... man, some people...just gots no love and souls
why those stupid CBRC nerds gotta be all hatin on a 16 year old girl fo! They spineless foos, don't see them making no funny random videos on youtube! I spit in thy face CBRC HRRRRRRR PEW! Fags... >: (
I like the history of the internet, but wow, you guys.. the commenters... make this site paintful - wait till 4chan finds it.
CBRC=uberfags
This is one of the darkest, creepiest stories of the web that I've ever heard. I didn't involve Boxxy never posted in 4chan, and I am given to understand that three videos on her youtube account were all repostings of the videos that she had posted on Gaia after she had gained attention. So in other words, someone else could have easily opened that account, and she may never have posted on YouTube. There's no evidence that i know of that she sought the attention and yet she became the target of the haters' rage.
These douchebags only had about 2 billion places on the web where they wouldn't have to see Boxxy's video.
T's entirely possible, maybe even likely, that by the time the CBCR terrorists got to her, she had already had a bellyfull of being an internet celebrity, and had no intention of posting anymore, but regardless, using the web to coerce and threaten a child makes you a little better than pedophile, and maybe just a little less sympathetic.
Of course, her fans are just as twisted. One released a video that claims Boxxy is sending them a coded message in her one inadvertent appearance in someone else's video. No, the boxxy lovers are sick fucks. They're just not bullies.
Done great work here.I really glad to read it.Thanks.........
/b/oxxy for president!
I'm 17 and I'm not a basement dweller,gamer,nerd,dork,geek I'm a 17 year old kid who goes out with the guys has a few beers and works on our trucks. The first time I saw a Boxxy video I was kinda like wtf was that then I watched all of them and I am a Boxxy fan she is cute, funny, and ppl who dont wanna see her stuff turn it off its that fucking simple. excuse the language but I thought it was a nice touch to get my point across. LOVE YOU BOXXY
This sad story has really brought down humanity to a new low i am sorry i even clicked the link, i too was sad to see the painful r.i.p. video. this has to be stopped its going way out of control. as far as we know those haters very well may have murdered her, the hate coming from her negative commenters was very real and the threats are real, the evidence is in her site. and question why isnt her site shut down. part of me wants to believe she is alive and well somewhere continuing to loving the world but we'll probably never know what happened to her, then again she may be sitting back and enjoying all the mystique she created, which is what we can only hope is happening
I know that no 1 cares but BxxY was and will always remain my queen
houelebecq, why do you hate her? why would anyone hate her? just for being a girl and saying she loves her friends? get a life guys.. she should have lasted. she was just herself... and of course people on this earth say: "just be yourself" ... she was, and what happened? people wanted to kill her, said she should burn in a fire, and showed pictures, videos, and other media that showed people slitting her throat. Why? What a world to live in...
I'm 51, and I think Boxxy is just about the most fascinating person in the world. We have ample evidence that in real life the girl in the video does not talk like that, or act like that. She was not "being herself". It was a joke, and a joke of considerable sophistication. Most people still haven't gotten it. The first time you see Boxxy, your brain hurts, but if you watch it a few times, the whole thing crackles with irony. Everything she says sounds like a catch phrase.
The whole story of Boxxy is an intriguing lesson in web politics. Boxxy was a living icon of innocence and joy that sent the internet tough guys, those "Tits or GTFO" slimeballs who make YouTube and 4chan so brutal, stewing in their own crap for once. She intended nothing like that, of course, but the thought still makes me smile.
Boxxy is definitely an act. The girl that created her is really talented and apparently an aspiring actress. Hopefully she can overcome the whole 4chan mess and really develop her talent/craft and graduate from being just a MEME into someone really accomplished. Good luck to her!
omg i
i can't figure out if this girl is really smart or really stupid. i guess that makes me mediocre HA.
and this will probably happen again someday.
There is no doubt that the only real source on the internet for pop culture is encyclopedia dramatica .
She was just a troll, check knowyourmemes.com for END of the story
Utter retarded bitches who say she was a troll and the ones who went out of their way to hack her are just miserable little jealous bastards who will probably commit suicide when they get caught fucking children!
I've only just heard about her but posting a few videos for your friends isn't being a troll especially when they were found a year later out of her control. Factory and any other spastic alike are just backward trailer park junkies!
I'd like to get my hands on the douches that blackmailed that chick...
boxxy is queen
Boxxy is very pretty but the issue about meme is so passe and insignificant. I don't think people will really give a time about this viral issue with a lot that has been going of bigger concern to them.
I don't understand this whole "camwhore" and "troll" business. How is her posting videos for her Gaia friends trolling or whoring? And his whole "she Is my queen!" business is probably not the response that would make her want to come back.
Wow. Seriously if you dont like the videos then ignore them. whoever formed that thing to take her out must have no life at all. I mean its just videos. Stupid Fucktards is what they are. she liked posting videos, big deal. Stupid mother fuckers that need a damn life.
But i could higher them to take down justin bieber..... hm...
Anyways.. anyone who wastes time just to get a girl to stop posting videos on the web, especially when shes doing nothing offensive, really needs some mental guidence.
-Blud KoA
(RuneScape FTW)
only true no lifers would do such a thing
and the haters are just a sad bunch of bitches
not saying this because im a fan or whatever
i dont care about stuff ike this because i have a life
i just comment when stereotypes talk bullshit
WOot RUNESCAPE
I think that blackmailing someone, unless he is REALLY hurting other people in some way (and NO, if you get "offended" by someone because you don't "like" it, it's YOU who are acting racist and intollerant), is an act of vileness.
Humanity is coward and vile as a whole, and backmailing a 16years old because you don't want her to "become too much present in a free space" (remember, in internet you are free to choose were to go, like in life), is an EVIL act of a LITTLE man/girl.
I can suggest at stupid sites who try to "destroy" teenagers for theyr popularity to move to more "mature" battles, since we live in a difficult, ugly and dying world/civilization?
damn. boxy is like hot and awesomely crazy. i loved her videos. i wish she would comeback
She looks crazy.
This is such a waste of time!I mean trying so hard just to make a person stop posting videos???first of all it's immature and pathetic! and second those people must have no lifes!!Did Boxxy do anyhting to them???no she didn't!so why don't you haters leave people alone to live their lives???Gosh!Is that so hard to do???aparently for a person who has no brain... one question!: What is 'memes'???
duuuuude wtf is there to hate about boxxy im so sad the she got threatened T-T man i just dont get it
Wow...I just saw one of her videos and started researching her and found all of this...It just goes to show you that alot of people on the internet have no life...I liked Boxxy
The thing that I find especially interesting is that Boxxy's story does not follow the usual path of memes like LOLcats. Usually memes peak early and die slowly. Boxxy peaked, seemed to die, but then began a long, relentless climb into ever-increasing fame.
At the end of January 2009, about two million people had seen at least one of her videos, or had seen a remix (there were several hundred) based on them.
Now, September 2010, I estimate at least twenty million people have seen Boxxy in a video, and there are close to 4,000 remixes and commentaries. We're at the point where close to 1.5 million people discover her each month.
You can actually trace the Boxxy phenomenon's fall and subsequent rise by the dates of the comments in this thread. The story isn't over yet! It may continue for years to come.
Boxxy is like her videos A little toned down. Nice Pretty girl. She could probably become an acctress . But what you see is a Big part of who she is. How do I know she is my Neighbor...............
This video shows the back story and the evidence and pictures provided by 'Boxxy'
The return of Boxxy or a clever Troll?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiR2GpMMvw4
Is it fake?
If so then this Ebay auction is outrageous claiming to be selling Boxxys bag and the highest bid so far is $25,000!!
The video got removed but has been re uploaded here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEjQteSvb24
BOXXY IS BACK!!
Memes come from people making mistakes or repididly saying (typing something) and it becomes remembered. such as "an hero" such a sad story gets ruined because one person didnt know proper grammer and 4chan ran off with it for their own "enjoyment." memes are basically things in real life like the "unoffical rules of parenting" they're no real rules but it is socially accepted "guidelines"
Boxxy's back btw, might want to add that to this topic
Is ignorance ok? No its not. Ignorance is unacceptable
she`s backkkkkk! yay!
So it looks like it's the rise and fall and rise of Boxxy! Wooooo!
Yo I'll believe she's back when she makes a video
yo if i got famous like dat and i got threatened id still post cuz once they hack me id say ok come to my hous if u noe where i live i will pay 4 u 2 come here then id beat the fuck out of them. hell if i knew them now or ever id beat them senseless then id b like ok hack me now if u can remember how to use a computer
ps i noe she is was just 16 but so am i and i would beat them into coma :)
oh yeah and if i had 2 beat their ass 4 boxxy cuz she is the best nd cheers me up when im sad:) lol thnx boxxy
Boxxy ruined 4chan. completely ruined it. ever since 2009-2010, 4chan has been full of 16 year old children thinking they are badass because they are on 4chan. 4chan used to mean something. anonymous was once actually a force that stood for something. all that is left now are those 16 year olds, trying to stand on the shoulders of hackers, trolls, and meme-setters that came before them.
So does she have a twitter or anything now?
THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!
THIS IS A DENIAL FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH!
WE SHOULD DEFEAT CBRC!
BOXXXY, OVERRULE!
Boxxy, my queen and thine, hath returned! Her new channel be BodaciousBoxxy. My fellow trolls, rejoice!
There was no reason to threaten her, I really just don't understand it. It's very odd, she was not even on the level of some of the other net celebs like Chris Crocker, what is the big deal?
I likewise don't understand why people adore her so much besides her being cute, which she is. To me she's just another cute teen girl talking about herself, nothing more, nothing less.
how people grows up stupid these days...
LondonGirl 3 years ago
does it matter if people are unaware?