The amount of time for which a
meme is considered "spicy", or in other terms, trending. Based on the amount of time something
will last before it decomposes, but with regards to memes.
Memes have varying shelf lives, lasting from a few days to perhaps even a few months, depending in its spice factor.
If a
meme goes beyond this point, it is considered dead. Although they may undergo impromptu resurrection (lasting a week at the most), all memes
will reach their graveyard and respective gravestones and cannot return to the internet shelf.
The shelf
life of a meme is not entirely accurate or precise. Memes can be shoved off the shelf faster than the shelf
life predicts, thereby accelerating it far beyond expected through use of external factors. For example, if Weird
Al parodies it, or Facebook user (particularly Facebook moms) post it to the general public, then the meme dies faster and the shelf
life is decreased exponentially. This is mostly unpredictable.
Shelf
life is considered the best way to judge the lasting effects of memes (good or bad).
------------------------------January, 2018------------------------------
Person 1: "Hey you heard about that new Ugandan Knuckles
meme? It's everywhere on VR Chat!
Person 2: "Nah it's a January meme, automatically making it terrible. It
will only have a shelf
life of about two weeks. At the very least, it won't survive this month."
