The Internet, being the most popular media channel, the importance of which is constantly growing (since acquaintance with it and immersion in its information environment begins almost from early childhood), in addition to being informative, it also performs a recreational function. In this regard, the use of emotionally expressive images in the news feed becomes very relevant. The more shocking the picture, the more interest it can arouse among users, while the most popular images can later move from the rank of short-lived to the rank of "long-lived", repeatedly reproduced memes. Readers have a definite reaction to this or that visual image and there is a completely natural desire to view the message for confirmation of their feelings and expectations. In the modern digital age, the means and channels of communication are changing. Today there are several approaches to understanding the meme: reductionist, semiotic, communicative (meme as a component of communication), linguistic. The first interpretations of the meme as a replicator of cultural information belong to reductionists.