SpongeBob Memes Are the Language of the Internet. Here's Your Definitive Guide.

Memes are the spice of online life. They make us laugh, they make us feel like insiders, and just when you find yourself sliding into a pit of despair about the state of the Internet, they make it seem generative and democratic. So why are Spongebob Squarepants and his kooky friends the starring characters in so many of them? We have a theory--namely, that Spongebob's sensibility is tailor-made for the Internet. The show is surreal, nonsensical, frantic, slapstick, phantasmagoric. Sounds a lot like life online, doesn't it? For anyone who's been living under a rock (hey, if Patrick can do it, so can you), we've done a deep dive into the weird world of SpongeBob memes to celebrate the beloved cartoon's 20th anniversary.

Are you ready, kids? (That's the part where you say: "Aye-aye, captain!")