Being online, either chronically or occasionally, can be a pretty overwhelming thing sometimes, and if we aren’t careful, our feeds can quickly become rather depressing. But luckily, sometimes just a meme or video of a ridiculously cute animal is enough to snap you out of your doomscroll, lift your spirits, and begin to restore the best kind of order to the algorithm. Because if you’re anything like me, one video of a baby goat eating a cherry—and then surprisingly gracefully spitting out the pit—is never enough. You go looking for more, and your feed quickly (and miraculously) catches on.
The cherry-eating goat I just mentioned is just the most recent gift I received from a friend whose algorithm was clearly on the right side of the internet gods that day. You see, my friend and I don’t chat all that often these days—adulting, man—but we do share memes—animal ones, of course—pretty consistently. Often there are no frills or strings attached—no “hello, how are you” or detailed life update is needed. Just an animal caught doing something cute or mildly chaotic is usually enough to check in and let the other know: I saw this and thought of you.
And that’s really a large part of the beauty of memes. Sure, they might be silly, and some might dismiss them as trivial, but as Theodora Blanchfield, AMFT, writes for Verywell Mind, “they’re an important social currency and way of communicating online in this day and age. These small, often funny pieces of content are important for their ability to share ideas quickly and succinctly as well as foster a sense of connection and feeling seen.”
That’s because although memes come wrapped in “quippy sayings or observations,” she says, “at their core they’re still an exchange of ideas, just in a very easy-to-digest format.” In this way, they aren’t just disposable jokes—they can function as small, low-effort acts of connection that help maintain relationships over time. Reflecting on her own friend who sends her memes, for example, Blanchfield says, “It’s a tiny reminder that she’s thinking of me and still feels connected. These moments help us keep building our emotional capital, rather than waiting until one of us has something important enough to pick up the phone about.”
It turns out there’s a name for this practice of ours. And as if the animal kingdom hadn’t already given us plenty to be thankful for, we apparently have the Gentoo penguins of Antarctica to thank for it too. Writing for Yahoo Life, Amelia Edelman explains, “Pebbling is the social phenomenon of sending people memes, videos or links to show you're thinking of them. A funny cat video, a recipe, an article you simply have to share ... if you’re DMing it to your pal or partner, you’re pebbling.”
The name comes from male Gentoo penguins, who methodically search for the smoothest, most perfect pebble they can find before presenting it to a potential mate during courtship. If she accepts, Mark Travers, PhD, writes for Forbes, “the pebble becomes the foundation of their nest, and symbolizes the beginning of their life together.”
