a thing about the 2000s internet is that most memes were originated on 4chan. before know your meme (also a bad website), encyclopedia dramatica was the resource for looking up memes, and they were highly pedantic about what counted as a "meme" (you can imagine the kind of thing they liked) as well as positioning themselves as authoritative on the matter
4chan's position as meme tastemaker was usurped by Black Twitter around the middle of last decade.