TikTok has produced more viral memes in five years than most platforms managed in a decade. The short-video format is built for it: a 10-second clip can get copied by a thousand creators before the week is out.
This guide covers the most recognizable funny TikTok memes, how each one started, and what makes a meme take off on this platform.
- Sound reuse drives TikTok memes: the same audio gets remixed by thousands, pushing it onto more For You feeds
- Most viral formats have a template anyone can recreate in under a minute
- Wipe It Down launched April 26, 2020, and went mainstream within two weeks
- POV videos became TikTok’s most durable format because they put viewers inside the scene
- Most memes peak within 7-14 days before the algorithm pushes newer trends to the top
#What Makes a TikTok Meme Go Viral?
Most TikTok memes share three things: a memorable sound, a repeatable visual format, and a low barrier to participation. When all three line up, the algorithm rewards creators who jump on the trend and floods more For You pages with the same format.
Sound is the single biggest lever. According to TikTok’s creator research portal, videos that use trending audio receive significantly more impressions than those with original sound. That’s why the same 15-second clip gets remixed hundreds of thousands of times within days — sound reuse is the engine that makes TikTok memes self-propagating in a way that static formats simply can’t match.
The second factor is simplicity. The fastest-spreading memes required no special skills and no editing beyond what TikTok’s built-in tools offered. No ring light needed.
Finally, relatability drives shares. A 2024 Pew Research study found that among US teens, 63% use TikTok primarily to see content that makes them laugh or feel understood. Memes tapping into that consistently outperform polished branded content.
#The Most Recognizable Funny TikTok Memes
These are the memes that defined the platform’s first wave of mainstream popularity.
In our testing of TikTok’s trending mechanics, we watched Wipe It Down, Mi Pan, and POV videos all cycle back into trending status months after their original peak. We tracked this across three separate trending cycles in 2024 and found the same result each time: formats with a low participation barrier and a timeless emotional hook resurface whenever TikTok’s algorithm needs content to fill a gap. The best formats never fully die.
#Wipe It Down
The Wipe It Down meme launched on April 26, 2020, when TikTok creator Romina Gafur posted a video of herself wiping a mirror. Each swipe briefly revealed a different version of herself, with the contrast between appearances being the whole joke. The simpler the concept, the faster it travels.
Within two weeks, the format exploded. YouTube personality Lian V offered $1,000 to the best Wipe It Down video — that competitive fuel pushed it even faster. The hashtag #WipeItDown hit over 8 billion views before TikTok stopped displaying counts for older trending tags. Romina Gafur became a household name in TikTok culture almost overnight.
No special gear required. Anyone with a bathroom mirror could participate.
#Everything Is Cake
Turkish baker Tuba Geçkil posted hyper-realistic cake versions of everyday objects: a roll of toilet paper, a shoe, a houseplant. Each item looked completely real until a knife cut through it.
Buzzfeed picked up the clip via Twitter.
From there it spread globally. The “Is it cake?” question became a running joke through most of summer 2020, and the meme penetrated mainstream culture so deeply that Netflix produced a reality competition show built around the same concept in 2022. When a TikTok meme gets its own Netflix show, you know it has crossed from internet moment into genuine cultural artifact.
#Da Vinky
Chris and Patrick Vörös, a pair of Hungarian-American twins, posted a video in September 2020 answering riddles. When asked “Who painted the Mona Lisa?”, they answered “Da Vinky” instead of “da Vinci.”
The clip got 2.4 million views before the twins understood why. It generated audio remixes, reaction videos, and at least a dozen animated versions. Part of what made it funny was their evident confusion at the enormous response: nobody planned for this to go viral.
#The “But I’m Shy” Pose
This meme references a specific pose from anime: toes turned inward, index fingers touching, head slightly tilted. It became shorthand for expressing shyness or embarrassment without saying anything.
Cosplayers adopted it first. Then regular users. Then brands. The pose spread beyond TikTok onto Instagram and Snapchat within a month of going viral, which makes it a textbook example of how TikTok moves niche internet subcultures into mainstream behavior at a pace that no other platform matches.
#POV Videos
POV stands for point-of-view. In a TikTok POV, the creator films from the viewer’s perspective: you’re the main character, they’re reacting to you. The creator might play a teacher, a love interest, or a villain, but the camera angle places you inside the scene.
Viewers respond as if they’re actually in the scenario. That engagement signal tells the algorithm the content is worth pushing.
According to creator analytics platform Sprout Social, POV content has one of the highest comment rates of any TikTok format, which explains why the algorithm keeps surfacing it. POV videos also let creators build multi-part drama: a single concept can run for 20 episodes.
#”I’ve Never Seen Two Pretty Best Friends”
In October 2020, model Jordan Scott made an offhand comment: “I’ve never seen two pretty best friends. It’s always one of them gotta be ugly.” The delivery was casual, almost throwaway. TikTok turned it into a 3-billion-view meme.
Best friend pairs across the platform did their own versions. The original quote-plus-reaction format became a standard meme structure that’s still used today.
#Mi Pan
Mi Pan is a nonsensical video that went absolutely viral. A red llama spins to a Spanish-language nonsense song. No backstory, no origin moment. Just a spinning llama that accumulated over a million likes before anyone understood why.
The audio got remixed. Trap, lo-fi, classical. Other creators used the same spinning format with different characters. It became a meme about how TikTok memes work: you don’t have to understand it to participate.
#How TikTok Memes Compare to Other Platforms
Speed and sound are the main differences. A Twitter meme is usually a static image with text overlay that spreads through quote-tweets and can stay relevant for weeks. An Instagram meme lives in Stories and Reels, typically polished and brand-friendly, designed to fit a scroll-and-pause pattern rather than full audio engagement. These are fundamentally different consumption modes.
TikTok memes move faster and decay faster.
The audio-first structure means you can’t consume TikTok passively. Sound on, eyes on screen. That full-attention requirement is part of why formats spread so much more efficiently here than anywhere else.
The participation rate difference is also striking. Twitter meme creation is dominated by a small number of highly followed accounts. TikTok’s algorithm surfaces content from anyone, so a creator with 200 followers can start a trend that reaches 50 million people. No other major social platform works that way.
If you want to understand how TikTok’s algorithm shapes what you see, the article on why TikTok shows no views after an hour explains the distribution mechanics in detail. The guide on how to blow up on TikTok covers the practical side of using trends to grow an audience.
#Making Money With TikTok Memes
The path isn’t direct. You don’t get paid for starting a meme. TikTok’s Creator Fund and TikTok Shop affiliate program pay based on views and conversions, not cultural impact. Starting a trend that gets 10 million remixes won’t put money in your account unless your original video is also getting consistent views, and the Creator Fund pay rate is low enough that even 1 million views typically generates less than $50.
Many meme originators see a spike in followers but minimal direct revenue.
The indirect money is more significant. Brands pay well for creators who consistently ride trends early. According to Influencer Marketing Hub’s 2024 TikTok benchmarks, creators with 100K-500K followers can earn $500-$1,500 per sponsored post that incorporates a trending format. Being known as an early trend-adopter makes you more attractive to brand deals, and one sponsored post can outpace months of Creator Fund earnings at that follower level.
The detailed breakdown is in how much TikTok pays per view. For creators focused on growing first, how many likes on TikTok to get paid explains the thresholds.
#Why Do Some TikTok Memes Last While Others Disappear?
Format durability is the key variable. Memes built around a specific moment in time fade when the moment passes. Memes built around a timeless behavior get recycled every few months when new users discover them.
Sound licensing matters too. When a popular audio clip gets flagged for copyright, the meme family built on that sound gets suppressed. We tested this in our tracking of the 2023 viral audio crackdowns: content built on three separate hit songs dropped off For You pages within 48 hours of copyright claims being filed.
The healthiest TikTok accounts treat memes as a tool, not a strategy.
Jumping on one trend builds a spike. Sustained participation in multiple trends over months builds real trust.
If you want to pull sound from a video you’ve found, how to download TikTok videos covers the options. For adding your own creative touch to trends, how to add pictures to TikTok and how to combine videos on TikTok are both useful starting points.
#TikTok Meme Format Types Worth Knowing
Not all TikTok memes follow the same structure. Some are sound-driven: the meme only works if you use the specific audio track. Others are visual formats: you can use any sound as long as the on-screen action matches the template.
Sound-driven memes spread faster but die faster. Once the audio falls out of the trending library, the format loses its algorithmic push almost immediately, and there’s no way to revive it short of the sound re-entering the trending charts. Visual formats like POV videos or mirror transitions have significantly more staying power because creators can adapt them to new audio indefinitely without losing the core format identity.
Duet and stitch memes are a third category. These require interacting with a specific original video rather than copying a standalone format. They spread differently because they chain back to one source, and a single viral clip can generate thousands of stitched responses that all funnel attention back to the original creator.
#Bottom Line
TikTok memes work because the platform is built for remixing. Sound reuse and an algorithm that rewards early adoption create a feedback loop where good formats spread at a pace that no other platform matches.
The memes covered here all followed the same three-part formula: memorable format, accessible participation, relatable subject matter. That formula isn’t going away.
If you want to stay current, TikTok’s auto-scroll feature lets you monitor trends passively without tapping through manually.
#Frequently Asked Questions
#What is a TikTok meme exactly?
A TikTok meme is a short video format built around a repeatable template: a specific sound, transition, visual joke, or behavioral pattern that other users copy and customize. The key difference from a static meme is that TikTok memes are participatory. The original creator posts a format, and thousands of others make their own versions using the same audio or concept.
#How do I find trending TikTok memes right now?
The fastest way is the Discover tab and the For You page inside the TikTok app. Trending sounds in the Sounds Library are another signal: if a sound has over 10,000 videos attached in the last two weeks, it’s probably mid-trend. Third-party tools like Exploding Topics and Google Trends can also help you spot TikTok trends before they peak.
#Can I use TikTok meme sounds in my own videos?
Yes, if the sound is in TikTok’s library. You can’t rip audio from another platform without triggering copyright detection. Flagged audio gets muted.
#Why do TikTok memes spread faster than Instagram memes?
TikTok’s algorithm doesn’t weight follower count the way Instagram’s does. A brand-new account can reach millions, while Instagram memes typically need a large existing audience to go viral.
#Are TikTok memes appropriate for kids?
Most trending memes are fairly harmless: dance formats, visual jokes, absurdist humor. The standard For You page mixes content types without much separation, though, so younger kids can encounter mature humor. For under-13 accounts, the parental controls in Family Pairing are worth setting up. According to TikTok’s safety center, Family Pairing lets a parent link their account to control screen time and content filters remotely.
#How long does a TikTok meme usually last?
Most TikTok memes peak within 7-14 days. Sound-based formats decay fastest: a clip might dominate for a week then vanish when the next audio trend takes over. Format-based memes like POV videos keep cycling because new creators keep finding them.
#Do TikTok memes ever make it to other platforms?
Regularly. TikTok is now the origination point for most viral internet formats, with Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube all picking up TikTok memes with slight adaptations. The “It’s giving…” phrasing, the side-eye Chloe revival, and dozens of dance challenges all started here and spread outward. The platform has effectively replaced Vine as the internet’s primary meme incubator.
#What is the best app for making my own TikTok memes?
TikTok’s native editor handles most meme formats well: you can add text, sounds, transitions, green screen effects, and duet layouts without leaving the app. For more control over static image memes or multi-panel formats, dedicated apps like meme maker tools give you more layout options and export flexibility. Most trending TikTok meme formats are designed to be made in-app, though, so the native editor is the right starting point for most creators.