Memology: The Language of the Chronically Online

Besides resilience, humor, and workplace boundaries, one of Gen Z's most powerful skills is speaking in Memes. Because we are the first digitally native generation, we grew up with enough viral memes and videos to literally create our own language. This language is being dubbed "Memology", and we're obsessed with it.

As a generation, I think most of us are at least proficient in Memology. However, we all have that one friend who is always referencing something from the internet. Whether they're making a face from a viral meme, reciting a quote from a Real Housewives franchise, or saying something like "homeboy's gonna like – get it", they can literally reference the internet for days. This friend isn't just proficient in Memology – they're fluent.

The best part about this language is that older generations typically are always less than proficient in it. As a Gen Zer who works in corporate, I've been able to use it in the workplace with a peer and literally witness a Millenial not know what we're talking about. I can't lie, it's a fun feeling.

While it's been around for a while, it's safe to say that Memology has reached a new level in 2025. It now literally has dialects.

The first dialect of Memology is definitely centered around the "Classic Meme", which are highly expressive still images of people, cartoon characters, or animals.

In the past, people would add text to these images and tell a relatable story about them such as "When your boyfriend says ___." or "When I'm at work and my boss asks me for __." In 2025, however, these images typically stand alone and are used in the comment sections on TikTok and Instagram to respond to the content. You probably also have that one friend who replies to your texts exclusively with these and seems to have an endless camera roll full of them. See my favorites below:

The second dialect is a bit more verbal. This is the dialect of the "Chronic Quoter". Think of those people who can literally always think of something from the internet to quote. No matter the conversation, they have a reference. This friend likely watches a ton of reality TV, watched both YouTube and Vine growing up, and has one of the most humorous FYPs (For You Pages) on TikTok.

The third dialect of Memology is even harder for outsiders to understand. Let's call it the "Viral Audio Knower". If you're on TikTok or Instagram Reels, you know that most trends have one or two popular sounds that they use to categorize the content. These sounds can be real songs or even random voice recordings that went viral. If you have that one friend who always has one of these sounds in their head and walks around all day yelling things "girl throw that wham in a circle" or "shake it to the max", this is likely their sweet spot.

While there are likely many more dialects I'm not even privy to, these are definitely the most popular. I do have a couple friends who are extreme memers and literally follow tons of meme pages filled with dark humor and for the sake of this article, I'm going to leave those out. However, if you think of any other categories of Memology, feel free to hit me up.